Hi, I'm Matthew.

I learned to ride a bike in Shanty Bay, one of those small villages off of Lake Simcoe. It was fun, but I never thought too much about it. It wasn't until I moved to Yonge and Finch in Toronto that something shifted. My mother and I went out biking in the East Don one evening. Honestly, I was caught off-guard by the whole experience. The sights of the ravine and the sounds of the river were mesmerizing. Pink-orange sky ahead, warmth on my face and wind in my hair. I remember stopping in an open meadow and thinking: how is this so close to home?

The second thing that changed my perspective was the first time I rode from my home all the way downtown to Lake Ontario. It seems so silly writing about this ride because in hindsight, it's nothing particularly demanding, but it was what it meant. Before the ride, I severely underestimated how much ground you can cover on a bike. But suddenly, the city had no walls. I can go as far as I can go. Every increase in fitness, every extra kilometre of range I built up, meant more of Toronto or beyond, was mine to explore.

Over years of riding Toronto's trails, I kept running into the same problem: the existing resources were either dry and data-heavy or completely outdated. I just wanted to capture the way I experienced biking in the city, and I wanted others to be able to experience it too. So I built the thing. Just a site that tells you what the trails are like, written by someone who rides them.

When I'm not on the bike, I'm probably gardening, working out, building creative projects, or chilling with friends & family. I do at least one century ride a year, I've logged over 3,000 km across Toronto's trails over my lifetime, and I still think a bike is the fastest way to get around the city. I've also definitely gotten a flat at the worst possible moment. More than once.