Vero Sandler | Builds Her Own Playground - Singletrack World Magazine

We reckon Vero Sandler is resisting the urge to grow up by spending her summer digging in the dirt and building herself a whole playground.

Remember playing in the sandpit as a kid? Or maybe whiling away hours at the beach digging sandcastles? And then there was always that one big kid who would come and stamp on your creation? The big kids heading to Vero Sandler’s incredible sculpted playground of jumps she’s created are going to be asking her nicely if they can have a go.

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Vero says:

I’ve always dreamt of having a spot local to me where I have the freedom to build an mtb playground without getting in anyone’s way. When a farmer in my area agreed to lease this little piece of land to me during lockdown it couldn’t have come at a better time. After a few months of hard graft with James from Revolution Bike Park working his magic in the digger, we now have a perfect little jump bike line with various options for hips, spines, doubles and even a mulch jump at the end! Hopefully the spot will bring smiles to peoples dials for a very long time.

Vero kindly sent us a bunch of her pics from during the build, so you can get into that summer sometime in the early 90s vibe. Remember that? Sadly, yes, some of us do!

It seems like she’s spent much of lockdown with a shovel in her hand – at one stage her Instagram feed showed she’d even got her mum in on the hard labour. When she’s not wielding the shovel, her and Tahnée Seagrave have been sat at sewing machines, Great British Sewing Bee style, refashioning various items of clothing into the kind of thing only the very young and trendy who can’t remember tie-dye from the first and second times around can wear. Seems like a good life with plenty of play. And of course, when you play is when you learn, and the progression in Vero’s riding is obvious – plenty of new tricks and skills are being added all the time. What would we have seen if there’d been another Formation freeride event? Hopefully we’ll get the chance to find out next year. Right now, sit back and enjoy the show.

While you’re here, you might enjoy this quiet little edit – no music, just wheel buzz, dirt crunching, and plenty of summer vibes.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.