‘The Nomad’ follows Cory Wallace’s wildly different take on a world-travelling race schedule

Cory Wallace is perhaps the most interesting man in Canadian mountain biking. The Nomad, a new film about the Jasper racer, is here to prove it.

Recent years have witnessed Wallace summit Mount Kilimanjaro by bike, bikepack across the Serengeti, tour across Madagascar, win races in South and Central America, earn WEMBO 24-Worlds titles in Italy and Scotland, Everest in the shadow of Mount Everest, all on top of a full race calendar in North America that’s included LifeTime Grand Prix, BC Bike Race, and mountain bike and gravel events across Western Canada.

It’s almost exhausting just to think about but, The Jasper, Alta.-raised endurance racer has a list of wins, accomplishments and adventures every year longer than most will collect in a lifetime. These adventures take him all around the globe, though on a very different route than the usual World Cup circuit. And, while many elite racers rack up frequent flyer miles, Wallace takes a very different, more connected approach to travel that frequently sees him bikepacking between races, often staying with locals along the way.

That approach is the subject of a new film, The Nomad. It focuses on Wallace’s recent trip to Guatemala as a window into his world-travelling ways.

“My first trip to Guatemala was back in 2008 while on a bike tour through Central America from Panama to Mexico. Guatemala struck me as an adventurous place, ideal for my nomadic life on a bike. There was a high energy level with action everywhere, big volcanoes, jungles, highlands, and what looked like endless cycling routes through diverse landscapes,” says Wallace. “Each year I return the relationships deepen, new acquaintances are made, and it gets tougher to leave. I’ve also started to venture to the far-off corners of the country, finding some amazing places around Lago Atitlan and up in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes Mountains.”

The Nomad: Cory Wallace

Interestingly, this is the second Nomad film made about Albertan mountain biking this year, perhaps showing that wandering is deeply engrained in the Western Canadian mindset.

This long-overdue look at Wallace’s wonderful wandering existence is the work of renowned adventure film creators, Stirl and Rae Media Haus. Here’s what Kona, Wallace’s long-time sponsor has to say about The Nomad:

Cory Wallace loves to combine adventure, racing and travel. The two-time Canadian…