Tues 6th may 2008.
An OPEN Letter from Steve and Paul
“What can we say…first off a very big thank you to the British riding public for supporting this series. We had no idea that after round 1 which was supported to a fair standard that round 2 would blow sky high with interest and support.
The main reason for this we feel is the fact that we have invested heavily in the awesome Television coverage on SKY SPORTS and also that the Worlds best rider David Knight has made it a priority to become the GBXC champion.
There are a few things we would like to be made known to the riders and the spectators that have got involved with this series.
The first being that contrary to the general opinion we are NOT being paid to put the series on the box, we are paying almost £30k for this series to show on your televisions and after committing to raising the profile of XC racing in the UK in the initial GBXC series press release, we think we are achieving this. The first round that was shown on the TV impressed everybody and the viewing figures on that were astonishing, in the millions!!!
David Knight is NOT being paid to ride the series, he is giving something back to the sport in the UK and the swaying factor in this was also the fact that once again those to little letters are involved…”T.V”
We (Steve & Paul) are very pleased with how it is starting to take shape, However we are both big enough to realise when we are making and have made silly mistakes and when situations could be improved.
The work that has gone into both of these opening rounds is quite simply amazing and unless “Joe Public” had been there in a behind the scenes role, then he would never understand the amount of planning and logistics behind the whole GBXC scene.
We were short of manpower at round 2 admittedly, purely because of the sheer size of the circuit and also the huge volume of riders that took part.
However the staff that we did have are simply the best in the UK at what they do and we can’t thank them enough. You will now see at round 3 that there will be more marshals and more ambulances and more general enquiries personnel around and also that more recovery vehicles will be on hand to bring back in stricken bikes etc…This is all stuff we are man enough to say we need to improve in and certainly will do so.
Another point we need to make clear is that GBXC is promoting XC racing, NOT Enduro’s. There is a massive difference between the two and the seasoned “Enduro” rider that loves his slow and technical stuff will not find much of that type of going at these events.
We put out a very honest Press release pre event, last week, explaining this yet we still had moans and groans from some riders about it being too fast….not too dangerous we might add, but too fast, some of these comments came from riders that should no better as the sports ultimate professional David Knight said “Yeah it’s fast, but it was dead good and what XC racing is like in the states, I LOVED IT!”
XC riders have to face all kinds of different conditions and the weather in one instant can change all that. Put up and shut up or don’t come XC riding is our opinion on the matter.
The events are run fair and square with no messing around and out of the 1700+ people that were there last week we think maybe a handful went home with a gripe, not a bad ratio.
So there you have it, we know where we have to improve, we have been honest and true to our word by bringing in the TV and raising the profile and we will continue to do so, Get ready for round 3 in Mid July as that will be an absolute cracker!!
In the meantime look forward to an awesome hour long round 2 special on SKY SPORTS 2/3/and Xtra in the next 11 days…
Ps…big thanks to Gareth Hockey and “fridge” for there help in running this venue…they kept to every promise they made!!
See you at the round 3 guys and girls..
Steve & Paul.