Despite never having bikepacked nor travelled abroad before, the Christchurch teenager set himself a challenge of riding to each round of the European rounds of the Enduro World Series, and then racing on the same bike.
His story captured the imagination of the public and the industry and, with the help of his bike sponsor and a Givealittle page, he extended his adventures to take on the Canadian and US rounds, and then back to Europe for the remaining rounds.
With Matt wrapping up an immense final European challenge just before we went to print, we caught up with the gritty kid to hear some of his crazy experiences clocking up thousands of kilometres riding and racing across the UK, Europe and North America.
BLOCK ONE
Tweed Valley, Scotland to Val De Fassa, Italy, via Petzen Jamnica, Slovenia
Distance: approx. 2628km (including race days)
Duration: 21 days
Average distance per day: 126km
What I was most worried about before the trip:
I was probably the most concerned about whether I'd actually make it each of the rounds because of the long distances and short turnaround between them. Racing was the whole point of this trip, but I'd never ridden big back-to-back days, let alone bikepacked before. I didn't fully understand how things would work, where I'd fuel myself or where I'd sleep. I had to work it out as I went.
My parents weren't too stoked on the idea, but I think I somehow convinced them to be OK with it. They're happy it's worked out for me.
My biggest day on the pedals:
I completed a 325km day through Germany, which, on paper, was the biggest day. But I think the most intense day was race day at the opening EWS round at Tweed Valley, Scotland. I was stressing all day because I knew I had to leave straight after the race to start the 1600km trip to the next round, and spent most of the liaison stages trying to figure out ali the logistics.
