www.lonewolfproductions.ca Over the course of the season, between other riders shoots I have been busy shooting my own section for Lone Wolf Productions.ca. While I love shooting and promoting the site, I felt kind of weird writing an article about myself. Luckily Dylan Sherrard stepped up to the plate and wrote an article for me! Needless to say I am very appreciative of his kind words, and also a little embarrassed by a few of them. I would also like to thank Karl Heldt for editing/filming this one, along with Florian Feise for being our photographer/filmer. I couldn’t have done this one without you guys.
Now, without further ado, I hand this article off to Dylan.
As he shakes his head little bits of dust flutter from his short blond hair. Glowing amongst the gold grass and the red, dead trees he turns to the left, shedding light on the gnarly markings of his arm. They are only birthmarks, but without knowing, one could easily confuse them for severe road rash. He takes a step toward me. Dust explodes from beneath his feet and leaves a trail burning in the air as he makes his way closer. I set down the camera and raise my hand toward him. High five. Another pillow of dust clouds my vision. His sky blue eyes pierce mine and he begins to purse his lips. "That was so rowdy!" His voice echos to the floor of valleys on either side of this ridge we stand on. Smiles make their way to the faces of all in attendance and laughter is quick to follow. We have just successfully captured the first burly move for Lone Wolf Productions.ca and Matt Brooks couldn't be happier.
I first met Matt five years ago. It was my maiden voyage to Kamloops and I was staying at Steve Tuchiwsky's house. While eating cereal on his couch and witnessing Travis Pastrana land the first double back flip on a dirt bike I caught my first glimpse of Matt. He strolled into the living room raving about how insane such a stunt was and waving his McDonalds bag in the air. Back then Matt had long hair and stainless spikes extruding from his eyebrow, nipple and the tip of his ear. He had a small vocabulary consisting mostly of profanity and words like, "sick", "gnarly", and "stoked." And he drove a small white truck that he painted himself. He worked at the Mill and always had four day weekends, which was ideal for riding as much as you want. Matt starred in New World Disorder that year and rode at events like Crankworx and the Adidas Slopestyle.
These days Matt has short hair and his piercings have long grown over. His speech stems from a polite seed and he has acquired a lot of larger words. He has graduated from business school and works in an office. He owns his own website (
www.lonewolfproductions.ca) and drives a bigger truck with a factory paint job. Matt's professional appearance and occupation may suggest that he is all grown up, but he is still the same guy he was the day I met him. Some of his new, more grown up features have really helped him propel his mountain bike career to new places. Establishing solid relationships with sponsors and piloting your own online media project doesn't happen by accident for slackers. Matt works hard and he is a true professional both on and off the bike.
Being friends with Matt has been a pretty exciting ride over the years. I always enjoy watching people grow and change and Matt has been no exception. Seeing someone progress through as much change as Matt but still somehow maintaining the same carefree attitude toward his life and riding is really unique. Most people wither as time goes by. They lose interest, allow problems in life to get the better of them and forget what makes them happy. But Matt has always rode along with his head high, searching for the next sweet trail to ride down. I can only hope that as the years continue to go by and his hair turns gray, Matt will keep killing it the way he always has.
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