Seventeen years ago, Matt Roy broke his ankle. Sitting on the sidelines while his friends skated and wakeboarded, he picked up his first digital camera just to stay connected to the action. "I literally fell into photography," he writes us from his Miami studio, where he's sporting a cast on his wrist due to a recent cycling crash that proves he's still very much still in the action himself.

That broken ankle launched what would become a career documenting the intersection of movement and sweat, from Miami's overlooked but thriving cycling scene to the endless run clubs that pop up weekly across the city. Read more on Matt, below.

Courier: Who is Matt Roy, the elevator pitch?

MR: I'm going keep this pretty simple: I'm a freelance photographer who dabbles in video, based in Miami but spends time in Denver, and loves to shoot anything that moves and sweats. It's really as simple as that. I gravitate towards the endurance and wellness space but not limited to it.

Courier: The broken ankle story feels like a pivotal moment. Can you take us through that period and how it shaped your photography?

MR: Yeah, it was definitely a pivotal moment in my career. As I'm putting this together, I'm actually sitting here in a cast with a broken wrist, two weeks post-surgery. I definitely didn't have this on my bingo card for 2025...

As far as the broken ankle being a pivotal moment, for sure. I couldn't participate in the sports at the time that I was doing—skateboarding, wakeboarding, and the whole fitness thing. I had just gotten my first digital camera, so this was 17 years ago (this month). I wanted to still hang with my friends so I just started bringing my camera along on the boat, to the skate park, street skating. The photography quickly took on a life of its own- I spent all my free time shooting, experimenting and learning the craft.

Courier: You have deep roots in skateboarding culture, but now you're also embedded in Miami's cycling scene. How do those two worlds connect?

MR: I'd love to say I'm still rooted in the skateboarding culture in Miami, but over the last handful of years I've just gravitated away from it. To be honest, I just couldn't handle the beating that my body took from skateboarding as a mid-to-late 40-year-old athlete. I found cycling about eight years ago, and it just slowly transitioned from skateboarding to cycling- it was way easier on my body.

Luckily, there's a massive cycling scene in Miami. I think I got the same adrenaline rush from cycling as I did from skateboarding. I got big into racing crits, just kind of banging bodies, high-speed thrills. I do have a bunch of friends that went from skateboarding to cycling. I see that transition a lot in the action world; skateboarding just beats the sh*t out of your body. Cycling is a little more friendly on the body. Of course, until you crash and you're stuck with a broken wrist...but that's the risk we take every time we go out, which is pretty similar to skateboarding.

Courier: Your photography philosophy is about being "centered in the moment." How does that translate when you're shooting fast-moving cyclists?

MR: Photography is all about being in the moment. Whether it's captured through motion or emotion, I want every image to feel alive and authentic to whatever sport or activity I'm shooting. Even in a still frame, I believe there should be a sense of movement, whether it's through the hair blowing, a little motion blur, or just the energy of what's really happening. I want photos that feel true and full of energy.

Courier: You're vocal about Miami being an underserved scene in the fitness and running worlds. Tell me more.

MR: Yeah, I really do feel like Miami is such an underserved market or overlooked market. I've always joked about it, especially with skateboarding previously. We were the red-headed stepchild. Everyone loved to come here, film a part, film some clips, and then leave. But as far as there being actual industry here, there really isn't any industry here. Everything's based in New York, L.A., or San Francisco.

I see that in the running and cycling scene as well. I think because it's flat- no climbing, no altitude- people don't take it seriously and we're often overlooked. What we do have is just heat and humidity and fast, massive group rides with high-level competition. What people don't realize when they come here is you're never not on the gas. There's no descending, no coasting, no breaks on the legs. I think people get pretty surprised when they come here and how hard our rides are.

We also train 365 days a year, no days off; in Miami, you can run and ride here all year round. Pick a day, and you can join in on multiple group rides and or multiple run clubs- the amount of run clubs and run training clubs that have popped up is wild.

Follow along with Matt Roy as he captures the running and riding scene in Miami (and beyond).

P.S. If you look closely, you may notice that the cyclists had switched up their Left and Right socks. We design our socks anatomically- meaning, they're meant to be worn on the foot they're designed for- but on account of this being the 17th time we've seen the socks on the opposite foot, we're realizing just maybe the markers aren't obvious enough. For all future socks, you'll be able to locate the "L" and "R" super easily for perfect fit every time. Yay for feet clarity!