Jordan Matthews has been riding and racing bikes in the North East all his life. He has devised hundreds of routes in the region, and has become something of an expert in gravel cycling in Northumberland and the North Pennines. There aren't many roads, bridleways or tracks he hasn't ridden in the area. He has worked in the bike industry since he was 16, as a bike builder in a shop, a mechanic at Recyke y'Bike, a cycling charity, and then for an adaptive cycling charity, working with people with disabilities. From 2021 to 2023 he was Cycling UK's Cycling Development Officer for the North East region, working with community cycling clubs in the area, and he later worked for the North East Combined Authority as an active travel officer, working alongside the seven local authorities, including Northumberland, to help them deliver their active travel plans for the region. He now works with a gravel cycling events company as events manager for the North of England and Scotland, organising and running over 20 events each year. His writing has appeared in Cycle magazine and he contributed routes and advice to Huw Hennessy's book Cycling in Northumbria (Bradt, 2023). Gravel Rides Northumberland is his first book.