124 – Riding On The Sunny Side Of Life with Julia Hofmann
Todays Guest:
Riding On The Sunny Side Of Life with Julia Hofmann
On episode #124 we are chatting with Julia Hofmann and if you haven’t heard of Julia you are missing out. But don’t worry, we have her on the show to share her story and get you stoked about getting out there, riding bikes and making your passion your full time gig. Julia can be found at her very cool website www.sunnyrideoflife.de were you will find all types of great content from her travel blogs to videos capturing her relationship with her sponsors and love for two wheels.
Julia didn’t grow up on bikes and didn’t really get into the mountain biking scene until her late teens. It all happened when Julia got a lend of a downhill bike (yes the first mountain bike she tried was a downhill bike!) headed to her local hills with a few friends and after a day of pedalling she was hooked. It didn’t take Julia long after that initial ride to purchase her own bike, actually it was only one week later when she popped on EBay, found a bike she and her friends thought would be great and made the purchase. The unfortunate thing was that the bike arrived in pieces but with Julia’s background in working around old cars she knew a thing or two about turning spanners and after a quick visit to her local bike shop to ask some advice on how to best build up a bike, she was soon offered a mechanical position helping fix up bikes and sell components.
Julia may not have seen it at the time, but this was the start of a new mountain bike driven lifestyle that she would quickly fall in love with. It took a number of years to get to where she is today but that simple visit to her local bike store changed Julia’s career path and would eventually lead to her living a mountain bike lifestyle she never thought was possible. So put your feet up and have a listen as we chat about working and converting an old Land Rover into a mountain bike travelling hotel in sixteen weeks, riding bikes for a living, working with sponsors, travelling the globe to ride bikes, making films, guiding and heading up bike camps helping get people stoked on riding and having fun.
Enjoy the ride!
Find Out:
- How Julia got into mountain biking on a downhill bike
- Why Julia loved and got bitten by the mountain bike bug
- How she got offered a mechanic job at her local bike shop
- Why this lead to her working with Cube
- How after a short period of time she was teaching skills courses
- Julie’s love for design
- What she calls her old Land Rover
- How Julia converted her Land Rover into a travelling mountain bike camper van in sixteen weeks
- Where Julia has travelled and her favourite place she has visited (this will surprise you)
- What it was like riding down a volcano in Bali
- How she got involved in teaching lady bike camps and how this has evolved into mixed camps
- The brands Julia works with and their relationship
- How to find out more about what Julia has planned for the near future and get one one of her camps
Julie is hands on and she seems to have been like that from an early age. She learned how to drive a car at age eight and that love for things on wheels has never left her. She fixes her own Land Rover, works on friends cars and enjoys getting engine oil below her nails. Julia studied design and for her Bachelor Thesis she designed, made and converted her beloved Land Rover so she could travel in a little more comfort. Of course her first concern when designing the interior was how she was going to store her bike inside, as when travelling alone she was nervous about getting it stole. I have linked one of Julia’s videos below so you can witness this process for yourself and how smartly she has designed the inside with hidden compartments and loads of storage. We as mountain bikers love a good camper van, its a place to take your passions on the road, park them up and enjoy whatever that network has to offer and not have to worry about where you are going to be resting your head that night.
Julie has travelled all across the globe to ride her bike. She mostly does this with the help of her sponsors, may it be for a product shoot or a curtain type of promotion but one thing is for sure, Julie loves every minute of it. We chat about what she has experienced on her travels, the type of trails she has ridden and the size of a team she normally travels with. Julia has a great relationship with her sponsors. She has been working along side them for a number of years and helps test and develop product, along with photo shoots and demo days etc. Julia really loves this side of the industry and gets a great buzz from seeing her recommendations making it through to final production. When we recorded the show she had just returned from driving around Germany and visiting her sponsors. Of course she done this by herself in her Land Rover and was happy to do so.
Julie has been guiding and working in bike camps for a number of years and if you check out the camp dates on her website you will see how busy she is. This is a growing part of what Julia now does, keeping her super busy and her calendar full. Julia really enjoys the bike camps, she loves getting people out on bikes, learning new skills and ending the day with a huge smile on their face. Like most mountain bikers we just enjoy riding our bikes, getting out in nature and enjoying good company and if Julia can help people achieve this, she is more than happy.
So put your feet up and find out more about Julia, her sponsors, why she loves her Rocky Mountain Slayer so much and her advice on how to follow your passions and turn work into something you enjoy and can’t wait to do everyday.
Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy the show!
To Connect with Julia:
Website: www.sunnyrideoflife.de
Instagram: julia_sunnyrideoflife
Facebook: julia.hofmann.754
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Thanks so much to Julia for coming on the show and sharing her story with us!
Thank you once again for Listening. You all rock!
Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show!