Julia Revitt is one of the new recruits at Bike Magic and she will be contributing features and reviews throughout the year. A qualified nutritionist and a passionate mountain biker who travels far and wide in search of great trails, Julia knows what works and what doesn’t when it comes to both bodies and bikes.

We’ll let Julia introduce herself:

Hello! I’m Julia, a sports nutritionist, mountain biker and runner. I spend half my time in the Alps playing on bikes and running in the mountains and the other half in the UK earning some money to pay for it all.

I’ve been riding bikes since 1996 and have been going to the Alps on holidays and for summer seasons since 1997. I have spent two summer seasons and too many holidays to remember in Les Gets. I’ve seen it change from a sleepy little village that lets you take your bike on the lifts to ride back down again to what it is now; a hugely popular mountain biking destination.

Early in my mountain bike career I raced cross country and came 3rd in the Whiteknuckle Spring Series. Then in 1997 I attended a weekend with a group called ‘Women on Wheels’ where I learnt so much. We learnt how to index gears, to race downhill and sleep in a tent with 10 other women I’d only just met.. I went on to help out at the next meeting in Nottingham and had the privilege of meeting Tracey Moseley. We were teaching a group of women to ride down some crooked wooden steps when TMO came along and rode UP them!

The last four summer seasons have been spent in Chamonix, France at the foot of Mt Blanc – this is my spiritual home. I love the atmosphere, the trails, the coffee shops and the croissants. If I won the lottery, Chamonix would be where I would live permanently.

I’ve personally owned 5 mountain bikes and tried many more, from my first hard tail – a Scott Tahoe to my beloved Orange 5. I built up several of these myself from the frame to get the set up that I liked. I recently bought a 1970s Raleigh from eBay for £9.99 and gave it a new lease of life and use it to commute around town.

During the 2012 summer season in the Alps I hired some different bikes to try in the bike parks of France and Switzerland. I really liked riding the bike parks but missed the old days of packing up your lunch and heading off up the trail to discover what lay ahead. I hired a downhill bike and a couple of freeride bikes – I rode one or two with the brakes switched round, French style, which was interesting…

I also love to run. I’ve completed lots of 5k and 10ks and a few half marathons in the UK, France and Switzerland. I ran the Swiss Alpine half marathon twice – 21k all uphill – pretty tough.

I became interested in my health after finding asthma was holding me back. I looked into it, practiced what I had learnt and haven’t had asthma since. I then moved onto nutrition and found that if I ate healthily I could ride and run faster, longer and recover quicker.

So in 2008 I qualified as a sport nutritionist (after qualifying as a Nutritional Adviser and passing an Anatomy and Physiology exam with flying colours). I found the science fascinating and applied it to my own life, which has resulted in a steady, healthy weight with no dieting. I have tonnes of energy, sleep well and am relaxed, happy and healthy.

I started a blog around this time (www.findyourbalance.co.uk) which I still use now. It’s about healthy living, mountain life, bikes and running.

I have found first hand that eating and drinking the right foods, at the right times in the right quantities will help you to have more energy to enjoy life, maintain a healthy weight and recover quickly so you can do more.  There’s no point going for a ride to lose weight if you get home hungry, too tired to cook and end up eating junk food because its easy. That’s where I come in.

I’m going to show you what to eat and drink, explain how it will affect your body and ultimately, improve your riding.