For those that enjoy the local Cowichan Valley mountain biking scene they already know how amazing the trails are here. For those that don’t know about the region, local rider, racer and trail builder Trevor Thew is putting Cowichan on the map.
Cowichan Valley Mountain Biking
Mount Tzouhalem, Maple Mountain, Richards Mountain, Cobble Hill and the renowned Mount Prevost are all names that come to mind when talking about the Cowichan Valley mountain biking scene. World class trails in stunning forests located on the beautiful mountains of Vancouver Island, one can’t help but fall in love.
Local World Cup Downhill racer Mark Wallace has been putting his hometown training grounds on the map for the last few years with growing success on the world stage. Additionally the formation of the Cowichan Trail Stewardship Society has really created a profound impact on the development, advocacy and awareness of the Cowichan Valley Mountain Biking possibilities. The CTSS have even managed to have the BC Bike Race make its very first stop in the valley in 2018.
Cowichan Valley Trail Builder Racer & Rider : Trevor Thew
In 2018 the person helping spread the word and interest in Cowichan Valley mountain biking is born and raised rider Trevor Thew. I first met Trevor when he was a bike mechanic at a local shop where he kept my downhill and all mountain bikes dialed in. Trevor grew up riding, racing and building the local trails that many locals have grown to love.
Over the years Trevor fine tuned his skills racing on the island, throughout BC and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. In 2018 though he set his eyes on the world stage taking the leap to ride the World Enduro Series which is the fastest growing segment of mountain bike racing currently.
With his eyes set on the world stage Trevor reached out to me to shoot photos for him on Mt Prevost. I was more than happy to help out and do what I could to help him in his race efforts and get further recognition. Those photos also were recently used in a great article by Terry McKall over at Canadian MTB .
Trevor Thew: Wild horses and sketchy shuttles in South America
The next time you are in the Cowichan Valley keep your eyes open for Trevor as he might just go zipping by you. Otherwise the trail you are riding down might have just seen his shovel and craftmanship with that golden loam. You can follow Trevor’s race season on his Instagram account @TrevorThew
Trevor Thew Mt Prevost MTB Photo Shoot
Here are the images that I shot of Trevor on a gorgeous spring day here in the Cowichan Valley. We headed up to Mt Prevost to catch the action on the most challenging (and fun) downhill mtb trails in all of Vancouver Island.
For more of my photography work be sure to click over to my images at Chris Istace Photo Gallery
Looks amazing! And that guy is seriously shredding hard – nice pics!
Trevor grew up on two wheels and it shows in his ease of riding technical terrain like this.