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Canada versus The World: 2020’s best mountain bike videos

Can the Cancuks hold off the collective effort of ... everyone else?

One silver lining to the lack of a regular race season this year is a surge in amazing videos. All the riders that would be racing or traveling to big contest events have been putting that energy into making exceptional videos. Instead of cutting it down to 10 best mountain bike videos of 2020, we thought it’d be more fun to pit Canada’s best riders against, well, the whole rest of the world.

Because we’re not above stacking the deck in our own favour, there’s nine from Canada and seven from the entire rest of the world. There’s plenty of big hucks and high speed riding, as you would expect. But there’s also more reflective pieces, film fest entries and creative trials riding.

Canada’s entries range from Alberta, Quebec, Ontario to B.C. They’re up against entries from Sweeden to Spain, Chile to the U.K. (and one Canadian in Japan). So who did 2020 better? Canada? Or everyone else?

Canada’s best of 2020

Brandon Semenuk – Raw 100 V6

Semenuk is a perenial inclusion “best of” lists. In 2020, its hard to just picking between his own videos. While Cascade and Lightspeed in Japan are thrilling, Red Bull’s RAW 100 is a series Semenuk has made his own.

Tom van Steenbergen – Wild West

In less than three minutes, Red Bull Rampage “Best Trick” winner Tom van Steenbergen delivers multiple world-first tricks. From massive airs to tech moves, it’s all delivered with style. Wild West more than lives up to its name.

On FallingMiranda Miller, Andréane Lanthier Nadeau, Brittany Phelan

Josephine Anderson collects three elite female mountain bikers, including a world champion downhiller and an Olympic medallist, to delve into the darker side of our sport. On Falling earned rave reviews on the film fest circuit and even caught the attention of The New Yorker.

R̩my M̩tailler РI Am Back Shreddit

Rémy Métailler’s made plenty of content in 2020 for his youtube channel, the standout being his trip down to North Van to ride the some of the Shore’s scariest hidden secrets with Steve Vanderhoek. But, for I Am Back, he is, as the title suggests, back to full on movie production. Métailler is full gas on Squamish features most mortals would never dare ride. It’s palm-sweat inducing with music, it’s somehow more intense with no soundtrack.

Matt Bolton – Big Wild

Staying in Squamish for a moment, we have Big Wild, the product of Matt Bolton’s COVID trail building project. It’s an entire trail built buy a guy who didn’t think the rest of Squamish was freeride enough. Naturally, this is the same Matt Bolton that made headlines sharing a near-vertical granite slab with a rock climber, so his idea of normal is … skewed. But, to show there’s method to the madness, Bolton and Métailler got together to break down each and every feature on the Big Wild trail.

Sarah Hornby – Choosing to Live

Shifting gears again, we have Sarah Hornby’s Choosing to Live. Made in the memory of her late husband, Canadian bikepacking advocate and pioneer Ryan Correy, Choosing to Live document’s Hornby’s parallel physical and emotional journey to connect with Corry’s legacy.

Mark Matthews – Changing Seasons

Another 2020 trail building project, Changing Seasons is the product of months of Mark Matthews efforts digging and sculpting “Sharknado.” See if you can pick which of the distinctive trail features earned the trail its name.

Forrest Riesco – Off the Clock

Forrest Riesco’s Off the Clock made this list just 22 seconds into its two-minute run time. The Sunshine Coast local shows what a racer can do when not focusing exclusively on World Cup speed. The film came out before we all found out racing would be postponed. Which is too bad – if this is Riesco’s relaxed pace he would have been flying when he got back between the tape.

The Rise – Partymaster Tour series

Mountian biking isn’t always about going faster, jumping higher, doing cooler tricks. Sometimes is should just be about having a really good time with your friends. That’s why The Rise crew travels with their own live band, partying their way through Ontario and Quebec for six full episodes of good riding and even better times.

The World’s Best of 2020

Danny MacAskill – Gymnasium

Who would have guessed way back in January that we’d all be riding inside as much as MacAskill does in Gymnasium? Good thing he makes it look incredibly fun. Every Danny edit is thrilling to watch, this one is no different.

Gee Atherton – Ridgeline

When Dan Atherton says “This is probably the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen Gee do on a bike,” you know it’s going to be wild. Ridgeline combines the Atherton’s efforts, Dan on the shovel and Gee on the bike, to make one of the most edge-of-your-seat cliff-side runs we’ve seen in a while.

Andreu Lacondeguy – Roots

We’ve all spent more time closer to home this year. For Andreu Lacondeguy, its been a chance to slowdown his relentless travel schedule and reconnect with his Catalunya home. Turns out, there’s amazing riding there, too.

Emil Johansson and Martin Șderstr̦m РSound of Speed

Two of the world’s best slopestyle riders take on Järvsö Bike Park. How could this not be great?

Amaury Pierron – B.C. Virgin

One World Cup downhill’s fastest riders set loose on B.C.’s Retallack Lodge. Pierron is stunning to watch anywhere. Putting him on the top of a remote mountain summit in the Canadian backcountry only makes it better.

Pedro Burns – Sound of Speed in Chile

Enduro World Series racer Pedro Burns tours through the high alpine mountains and urban jungle of his home in Chile. Both environments are totally unfamiliar to the standard mountain bike edit, and the contrast is fantastic. As is Burn’s riding. Very worth the watch.

 

Commencal – CZ3 – the third La Chillzone video

CZ3 is the third installment of Commencal’s La Chillzone series. While Hugo Frixtalon, Thomas Estaque, Amaury Pierron, Paul Couderc and Pierrick Lannes are among the world’s fastest riders, they also know how to cut loose. If the hot tub convertable didn’t sell you on this video immediately, their riding will.

Well, what do you think? Can Canada hold its own on its own against the best the world has to offer? Either way, it’s been a thrilling year of watching mountain bikes from our couch at home.

Bonus round: Honourable mention Canucks

Above is – unbelievably – the short list. There were so many more outstanding videos this year that could have been included. Vaea Verbeeck’s excellent reflection (and riding) on chasing perfection, Still Growing, for instance. Or Matt MacDuff and Brayden Barrett-Hay picking apart Ontario’s Joyride 150 in Calm Before The Storm. Or Dirt Chix reflection on community and motherhood in mountain biking in Making Time (which only moves to honourable mentions because it technically came out in 2019).

Every big product launch seemed to happen in Kamloops this year, too. Matt Hunter, Mattew Miles and Harookz epic Stumpjumper EVO project is easily the best release video in years. RockShox and The Black Collar’s release for the new Zeb fork was more riding focused, but the riding was incredible. Not far away, Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team shone on the new 2021 Altitude in Vancouver.