Video: A Coastal Bike Adventure on the 'S.S. Fun Ship' ft. Mark Matthews and Micayla Gatto

Words: Mark Matthews

For a long time now, my friend Peter and I have envisioned a boat decked out with a roof rack, ready to hit the best riding spots surrounding us here on the Salish Sea. This is how the S.S Fun Ship came about. Forget the ferry frenzy from Vancouver Island; we were dreaming of spontaneity and epic adventures. Mapping out a loop starting from Comox, BC, our course led us to Hornby Island, then Powell River, and a watery skip back to Comox. Fishing, swimming, and riding made every moment a blast. No car required, just floating and riding to where we need to go.




For this video I invited my good friend Micayla Gatto. She recently got her first E-bike and is always up for a rad adventure! Hornby Island greeted us with its trademark fast and flowy trails, never failing to impress. The lightning-quick EP8 motors made it feel like our personal bike park. Despite the slower pace of filming, we managed to still squeeze in a good number of laps.



Onward to Powell River, I have wanted to visit here for years but have never made the trip across the water. The network has very punchy and steep climbs and our whole crew just wanted to stay in boost mode all day. When Micayla couldn't keep up at first we realized her motor settings were way dialled down! This was quickly sorted out with the E-Tube app.

An added bonus was having all our bikes are decked out with the high-durability XT LinkGlide drive chains, smoothing out the ride for us when smashing through the gears. Let's face it, we are freeriders and not the most graceful climbers, nor are we light on components. The added durability and slower, smoother shifting under load is a nice touch to our setups. The trails in Powell quickly became everyone's favourite part of the trip. A big shout out to the Mahoney Mobsters for their trail magic, the high-grade trail work there is seriously impressive.



This was a high point of my summer. I want to give a big thanks to Shimano for fueling this unconventional adventure. The ride inspired us to keep exploring the islands and inlets, E-bikes in tow, ready to carve out more extraordinary experiences in the future. Adventure awaits on the S.S. Fun Ship!


Riders: Mark Matthews & Micayla Gatto
Video and Photos by Scott Bell Visuals

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Videos eMTB Shimano Mark Matthews Micayla Gatto