I hear Vero approaching before I see her. The sound of tires slicing through the dirt is unmistakable. Suddenly, she flashes into view, scrubbing over the step-up, practically landing in the next berm before floating effortlessly over the six-meter road gap in front of me. I can make out an infectious grin under the full-face helmet as she whistles past. The grin says it all – this is what Veronique Sandler lives for!
We are at Revolution Bike Park (affectionately called “Revs”), a UK riding hotspot nestled in the rolling hills of Mid Wales and located a 30-minute drive from Oswestry. Around me tower huge, gravestone-like sculptures. However, these aren’t odes to the deceased but a stunning collection of lips, landings and berms, crafted by hand and shaped to perfection. “Pretty sweet line, ay?” Vero asks, pushing up for another run. I can’t help but agree. This line at Revs really is something special. It was created for Vero’s latest film project, VISION, which documents her journey across different riding spots in Europe and concludes with the creation of this dream line that carves through the Welsh forest in front of us.
We wanted to create a line for people to get stoked on even after the filming had finished!
But how did Vero get here? What is the story behind one of the most exciting and progressive riders in the world of mountain biking?
Veronique Sandler (Vero for short), was born in Auckland, New Zealand. But during her early childhood, it was horse riding, not bikes, that she devoted her time to. Her passion for riding mountain bikes was ignited when she moved to the Kiwi riding hotspot that is Nelson, at the age of fifteen. Vero credits her younger brother Leo for getting her started on this new path and the local MTB club quickly had her hooked on the sport. Vero soon started competing in regional Downhill events and podiumed at her first-ever race. The seed had been sown.
The last of Vero’s teenage years were spent chasing the dream of becoming an elite Downhill World Cup racer. “Racing was the only thing to do back then,” she explains. After being selected to race the Junior DH World Championships in Champery for New Zealand, Vero abandoned her university studies and dedicated her life to following the World Cup circuit. She spent three years racing all over the globe during the summer, returning to New Zealand to work during the winter. Vero’s results were consistently placing her in the top 10 or 15. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep the dream alive.
No one seems to care about racing unless you’re top 5 in the womens.
After racing the 2016 season, Vero couldn’t afford the flight back home to New Zealand and decided to spend the off-season working in South Wales. This was the start of a new chapter. “I took the off-season to chill, with no intention of returning to World Cup racing,” she tells me. During their first winter in the UK, Vero and her brother were introduced to the 50to01 crew and their laid back attitude to life on two wheels. 50to01 were making a name for themselves with their lo-fi riding edits full of jibs, tricks and good times. Vero started filming a few riding edits for her brother and boyfriend Max, but it wasn’t long before she ended up on the other side of the lens. “I just filmed my brother and Max a couple of times and got really into it, so I thought maybe I should make an edit myself.”
Vero’s riding edits spread like wildfire. Her style and attitude on and off the bike caused her following on social networks to skyrocket and she was drawing a lot of attention from brands and fans alike. Despite her rapidly increasing exposure, one thing was clear to Vero from the start: this was not a new path she was going to doggedly pursue, but rather a welcome by-product of doing what she loved.
I never thought, ‘I am going to try and go down this path now.’ I was just like, ‘This is fun and I’m gonna do it,’ and then people liked my videos which was sweet!
After three years of dedicating everything to racing World Cups had resulted in no sponsorship, the sudden interest she received from brands was initially shocking.
When I raced, I tried so hard to get sponsored every year but no-one was down for it. And then as soon as I started not trying to do anything, people actually started coming to me. It doesn’t make sense!
While the concept of media-athletes or “free-racers” has been around for a couple of years, the niche is still very much male-dominated. Vero hopes that what she is doing will show girls and women around the world that racing is not everything, that there are other paths to follow if you dream of riding bikes for a living.
“I think it’s hopefully opening other girls’ eyes to the fact that you don’t have to race to make it as a rider… I’ve got nothing against racing, I just feel like there are so many girls that are unreal riders but don’t manage to put it together at the races. I feel like I sometimes sound like an advocate against racing, but I’m definitely not. I think it’s so sick but personally, I didn’t have the race head… I’m just trying to say that if you’re not a good racer, or don’t enjoy racing, then you don’t have to keep pursuing it. There are other ways to be someone in this industry!”
Despite having a massive Instagram following that is about to hit six figures, Vero has been able to keep the same relaxed and fun-loving attitude she’s had since the very beginning. In today’s world, social media easily becomes a burden for athletes as they feel pressured to deliver content in order to stay relevant. Vero tells me that she finds it easy to generate fun content because the process is so enjoyable. The lack of stress and pressure let her keep every ride fun, meaning that despite being a full-time athlete, she can still ride for pleasure.
“I feel like I’ve got it pretty dialed for that side of things because I never really stress about Instagram. I’ll go out and ride what I want, even if I know it won’t be anything special to go on Insta… When I come across a section I and think, ‘Yeah this will look sweet,’ I’ll try and get somebody to film it. But I never go out thinking I have to get clips because I haven’t posted for a few days…”
As I begin the long drive home, I reflect on my brief yet insightful visit. There is nothing pretentious or fake about Veronique Sandler. Despite her incredible skill and ever-increasing social following, she is still in it for the fun. Everything from her bubbly excitement to her infectious stoke is 100% genuine. In a world where social media is often used to portray a fake, idyllic lifestyle, Vero’s authenticity shines bright. She is living her dream: riding bikes, having fun and keeping it real!
You can keep up to date with Vero’s adventures on her Instagram page.
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