Mtb’s movers and shakers select their favourite places to ride

Wyn Masters is a downhiller from New Zealand. He cut his teeth on the World Cup circuit before turning his talent to the EWS but he’s probably best known for Wyn TV, the YouTube channel he presents for GT Bicycles, and the #wynswheeliewednesday posts on Insta.

Read more: Best mountain bike tyre deals: Maxxis and Schwalbe

My best trail

“My Best Trail? Wow that’s a tough one. I’ve been lucky enough to ride and race all over the world, so it’s super-hard for me to pick one. But I’d say the first one that comes to mind for me is Rude Rock in Queenstown, NZ.

“Rude Rock gets its name from the rude-shaped rock (you probably get the picture) that lies within sight of the beginning of this trail. The trail begins up by the Coronet Peak Ski Area car park with views back over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, and the reason it hit my mind first is the amount of epic early mornings I’ve witnessed up there. Filming video as the sun rises, the true feeling of calm you have being up above the clouds, the unreal sunsets you get at the end of a big summer day of riding… it’s just something that needs to be seen.

“And that’s before I even dig into the flow of the trail. Originally built by Evan Winton and Tom Hey in 2013, it follows the contours of the alpine land really well to create an epic natural-feeling flow that very few trails have. And you can ride the whole thing without a pedal stroke being needed. It’s probably one of my favourite flow trails with a few natural gaps to be sent along the way too, and even has a seated road pedal (or shuttle if you must) back up to the top. If you haven’t ridden it, it’s definitely worth checking out, especially on an early summer’s morning or late evening. Queenstown mtb club continues to develop that area too, and you can link a few more trails to make a good loop of it, or even pedal from Queenstown over the top of Ben Lomond saddle and down the Moonlight track if you really want a full-day adventure.”