She Couldn't Afford a Flight Home. So She Built a Backyard Bike Park Instead.

Jennifer Miller · 2026-09-15

### From World Cup Dreams to a Backyard Built by Hand Few riders embody modern freeriding as creatively as Vero Sandler. But her career didn't begin on the sport's biggest stages. It started with a shovel in her hands. We visited her home in North Wales to talk trail building, community, and why great riding begins long before the drop in. What we found wasn't just a rider's house—it was a life reorganized around dirt, jumps, and the people who show up to ride them. ### A Garden That Looks Like a Bike Park The small, unassuming house sits tucked into the green landscape of North Wales, surrounded by meadows, rolling hills, and trees. But the scenery isn't what grabs your attention. It's what rises up just beyond it: Vero's backyard. With its huge jumps and perfectly sculpted berms, it looks more like a full-blown bike park than a garden. The ratio of living space to playground is honestly ridiculous—and that's exactly what makes it perfect. Mountain biking didn't just find a place in her life. It became the foundation everything else was built on. Even on a random evening, life revolves around that backyard. It has hosted several Backyard Battles, and it's easy to see why. Immaculate jumps, perfectly shaped berms, and a shipping container that doubles as storage and a start drop. This backyard is something special. ### An Open Door, Not an Exclusive Club Vero isn't riding alone tonight. Her partner Sam Hodgson is here, along with Kade Edwards and Kaos Seagrave. It doesn't feel like a staged lineup of stars. It feels like an ordinary evening in Vero's world, where the freeride elite drop by for a jump session and everyone else just watches in awe. Sandler moves through this little world with remarkable ease. She's warm, open, and always smiling—but never focused solely on herself. While people send jumps, chat, and play with her dogs, she's constantly looking out for everyone around her. It quickly becomes clear that Vero doesn't just want to ride herself. She wants everyone to ride. She wants everyone to have fun. She wants everyone to feel welcome. That atmosphere is what makes the place work. For all the spectacular lines, Vero's backyard doesn't feel like an exclusive training ground. It feels like somewhere friends come together. Everyone is welcome, everyone digs, and that's what gives the place its energy. ### The Accidental Turning Point The idea that Wales would one day become that place for Veronique Sandler was never part of the plan. As a teenager, the Kiwi had just one goal: to race the Downhill World Cup. After being selected for the Junior World Championships, she dropped out of university and threw herself fully into racing. For the next three years, she followed the World Cup circuit, spending summers racing around the world before returning to New Zealand each winter. After the 2016 season, she couldn't afford the flight home to New Zealand. So she stayed in Wales for the winter and found a job. What began as a practical decision soon became the turning point in her career. She stopped riding against the clock and found a completely different side to mountain biking. > "Everything just fell into place without me really planning anything, which is extremely lucky." ### Why Building Comes Before Riding Our visit to Vero comes as part of our test of the new Santa Cruz Nomad. A bike called Nomad—a name that suggests constant movement—meets a rider whose defining story is all about staying put. Vero didn't drift from spot to spot. She stayed in Wales, built something, and that build has become a defining part of who she is. For Vero, riding always comes first. Even so, almost everything that defines Sandler's riding today can be traced back to trail building. She built her first trails as a teenager, and that habit never left. > "Riding is for sure more fun. I build so that I can ride. It's all in the name of biking." That quote sums up her approach perfectly. Building isn't a chore or a side project. It's the foundation that makes the riding possible—and it's what turned a temporary winter stay into a permanent home. ### What Riders Can Take From Vero's Story Vero's journey offers a few reminders for anyone involved in mountain biking events: - Community matters more than credentials. The best sessions happen when everyone feels welcome. - Building local trails creates local riders. Investment in dirt pays off in participation. - Sometimes the detour is the destination. A missed flight led to a whole new career. - Great riding starts long before the drop in. The prep work is part of the sport. Vero Sandler didn't set out to become a freeride icon. She just kept showing up, shovel in hand, and built a life around the thing she loved. That's a lesson worth taking to any trail, any event, any community.