The 5 Best Freeride Backyards In Mountain Biking
Pretty much every mountain biker at some point has dreamed of living on a plot of land with enormous jumps. How cool would it be to go out the back door and ride?
For professional riders, that is a reality. In fact, it feels almost like a requirement of the job.
See five of BIKE's favorite freeride backyards (in no particular order) below.
1. Brandon Semenuk
Trek Bikes
Brandon Semenuk is considered the GOAT of freeride due to his successful Slopestyle career, his record four Rampage titles, and his prolific video output.
It only makes sense that he would have a slopestyle course in his backyard. It is such a high-level track that it was featured in the mountain bike film Revel in the Chaos. See him put it to full use below.
2. Matt MacDuff
Sam Reynolds
Matt MacDuff is a freerider who also owns a trail building business. It stands to reason that he would put enormous and well-built Jumps in his yard.
In addition to a large jump line he also has a large air bag. Where better than to learn tricks? Watch Sam Reynolds ride MacDuff’s backyard below.
You can keep up with MacDuff's build progress on his YouTube channel as well.
3. Matt Jones
Matt Jones
Matt Jones is a British YouTube star. He is a prolific dirt jumper so his backyard leans into that style. Watch him get the first hits on his property below.
Confusingly, he also has a spot he calls the compound. This is a separate space with a large airbag as well as some jumps.
Though it is not technically his backyard, we will include it because it is cool.
4. Reece Wallace
Giant Bikes
Reece Wallace is a Canadian freerider who lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
A couple of years ago, he bought his property and turned it into a freeride compound. It was not easy, as there was a lot of debris from the previous owners.
The yard was enough of a mess that it took 6 months to clear it out! Thankfully, Wallace was able to and now hosts an invitational competition on his property! See a breakdown of his backyard below.
5. Brett Rheeder
Bike Magazine
Brett Rheeder is a freerider from Ontario who now lives in British Columbia.
He, much like Semenuk, is a former Slopestyle rider with multiple rampage titles and a very long video part resume. He of course has a Slopestyle course in his yard as well. See it below in the short film Beautiful Idiot.
Honorable Mention: Brendan Fairclough
Brendan Fairclough does not have a large set of jumps in his backyard. However, he deserves a mention on this list for one reason only: his jump over his house.
Before he tore down the aforementioned house, decided he was going to build a ramp to jump over it. He added plywood and made a case pad before getting his brother to give him a tow-in on a dirt bike.
Even with the tow, he did not have the speed and came up spectacularly short. Not even the shoddily constructed case pad held him. Watch the video below.
The best part of the video is when he is laughing about coming up short, but seems to be planning to try it again.
At this point, a woman, presumably his wife, steps in and puts the kibosh on it. Though he does not have the same setup as some of these other houses, the spirit of freeride lives in the Fairclough backyard.
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