120 – MTB Travel Made Easy with MTB BEDS
Todays Guest:
Richard Wilford – Owner and Founder of MTB BEDS – The mountain Bike Holiday Company
On episode #120 we are chatting with Richard Wilford the founder and owner of MTB BEDS about how the idea came about to start a mountain bike holiday company (not something you do everyday), what the challenges have been like and where Richard finds the passion to still be in love with mountain biking even after working in it 24/7.
We also chat about how MTB BEDS can help find you that perfect mountain bike trip you have always been dreaming about, the many different options and packages they offer and why MTB BEDS works at making your trip the best mountain biking holiday possible, plus tons of other great stuff of course!
Richard has a great story to tell. It’s one of those feel good stories, were somebody followed their passions, worked hard, taken every opportunity when they have arisen, taken the odd calculated risk now and then, and made their dreams become their reality. In saying that, I don’t think Richard was ever really dreaming of founding and owning a mountain bike holiday company, it just kind of naturally went in that direction.
So tune in to hear more about how MTB BEDS was started, how it can make your mountain bike holidays have more riding and less hassle, and what future plans Richard has for MTB BEDS.
Enjoy the show!
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Richard fell into mountain biking of the back of being a very keen snowboarder, and after working a number of years at ski resorts over the winter he had the opportunity to stay and work over the summer. This is when mountain biking became that passion he never knew he had and things quickly got Richard thinking about how he could stay more summers and make a career from mountain biking. Richard was already renting out a large villa for a number of staff that worked at the local ski resort over the winter and had built up good experience on how this worked, but now he was thinking summer visitors, and how he could do the same for travelling mountain bikers.
Richard quickly got to work, but he knew he would need to have more to offer and needed to rent out more local accommodation that he could then rent out to mountain bikers wanting to stay for a weeks holiday. After negotiations with a local property owner Richard struck up a deal and his first rental season to mountain bikers was a reality. Things quickly grew from there and soon Richard would be running around managing a number of properties including, sorting lift passes, transport, guides etc..etc.. it was huge hours and a massive amount of dedication and commitment, but Richard pulled it off and it has grown every year since.
From the beginning Richard knew that he had to offer mountain bikers that little bit more, so he made sure that the properties available had garages were you come work on your bike, lock it safely overnight and also not have to bring a dirty bike into the apartment. He also offered bike washes and tools at every accommodation to make sure you could keep your bike in great condition over your stay.
Over the years Richard has built up an awesome network of local businesses to help him run the different aspects of his company, everything from local guides to airport transfers and it has worked out amazingly. MTB BEDS employs local people and is well involved in the different local community meetings regarding the increasing travelling mountain bikers coming to these resorts. This is hugely important to Richard and he feels that working closely with the local people and local groups makes things much better for everybody involved. We chat a good bit about this and how making a number of small changes for both visiting bikers and local community’s can help the local areas benefit from this relatively new mountain bike tourism boom.
It was great to get Richard on the show and tell us his story about MTB BEDS and what it can offer us mountain bikers searching for that awesome MTB holiday. So sit back, relax and lets have a chat with Richard about, broken heals, electrical equipment floating in pools, awesome trails, great people and how to follow your passions and enjoy the ride in the process!
Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy!
To Connect with Richard and MTB BEDS:
Website: www.mtbbeds.com
Instagram: mtbbeds
Facebook: MTBBEDS
YouTube: mtbbeds
Resources in this Episode:
Morzine
Finale Ligure
Aosta
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Thanks so much to Rich for coming on the show and sharing his story about his mountain bike holiday company – MTB BEDS
And thank you once again for Listening!
Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show!
Did you enjoy this episode and want to hear more? Check out the episodes below:
