Max Knox - XCO

[jcza]

Posted on his Facebook page, I wish him all the best and hope more will follow his example.

 

Max Knox (Specialized) says he does not want to have any regrets the day he retires as a professional mountain biker.

“I want to completely change my focus. The future of mountain biking, actually the pinnacle of the sport, is cross-country racing,” Knox” said.

He was last year’s overall winner of the MTN Series and is currently 2nd overall.

“Internationally cross-country racing overseas has a v...ery huge following.

“Anyone who says that he became a cyclist to make money is stupid and talking nonsense. If you want to earn a good salary, go to university and get an office job.

“I could have done that if I wanted to. I have matriculation exemption to go to University, but I preferred to cycle because I loved it. But I am no longer enjoying myself. I feel at the moment I have achieved all there is to achieve here in South Africa and I feel it’s time to aim higher internationally to further my career.

“One of the reasons is that the quality of local racing is not as good as it used to be when I started out. In the past you had to be prepared to really push yourself to the limit to stand any chance at all to achieve a podium finish.

“Nowadays I am racing at a much slower pace, but I am still achieving good results. I think a kind of road-cycling mentality has developed in mountain biking. Riders are not prepared to race hard any longer and I don’t want to be part of it. It is all about making easy money.

“Don’t get me wrong. The MTN Series is very well organized and it has fantastic races, which have developed me as an athlete and I’m very grateful for them as they have raised the profile of cycling in South Africa, but I feel it’s time for me to take on the international circuit. .

“After riding the TransAlp I realized that I am not that special as a mountain biker. I still need to improve about 1 or 2% and if I just continue to race locally, I will not be able to improve.

“It is like being a big fish in a small pond. The only way for me to improve is to race internationally against faster and better riders.

“I discussed my frustrations with my dad. He pointed out to me that I used to be the South African cross-country champion and suggested that I should take it up again with the aim of representing South Africa at next year’s Commonwealth Games and in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

“I am going to do just that. During the next three years I am going to focus on becoming a good cross-country rider.

“This I can promise. I will give it 110%. The worst that can happen is that I fail and I am not scared of that. It will definitely be better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all.

“I want to be able to look my children in the eyes one day and tell them that I had really tried. I want no regrets when I am an old man.

“My advice to young riders is not to fall into a rut. They should not be scared of having goals and aspirations and they should be willing to put in a 100% effort to achieve them.

“As I have said before, mountain biking should be about pushing yourself and having fun on the bike and fulfilling ones dreams.

 

[TALUS]

Ooh, some serious statements about marathon riding there! He could well be right, but burning bridges is never a good idea.

[Johny Bravo]

True words. I have always been a big fan. Now I can say I respect the dude.

[Cav']

We'll watch this space Max

[Skylark]

How old is Max?

[jimmycool]

I see he was racing under 23 in 2009 according to his facebook page so I guess he is 26 or 27 by now???

[Li Mu Bai]

Max is awesome.

 

I wish him all the best.

[babse]

“Nowadays I am racing at a much slower pace, but I am still achieving good results. I think a kind of road-cycling mentality has developed in mountain biking. Riders are not prepared to race hard any longer and I don’t want to be part of it. It is all about making easy money."

 

Many a folk would just stay in the comfort zone for the easy cash

 

respect bro... wish him all of the best!

[niterider]

Spot on. And well done to him for realising it and wanting to do something about it.

[Clinton H]

Respect !

[enjoi]

All the best to him!

[jcza]

How old is Max?

 

25? Not sure

[Gen]

I wish Max all the best.

[Sean32]

“Nowadays I am racing at a much slower pace, but I am still achieving good results. I think a kind of road-cycling mentality has developed in mountain biking. Riders are not prepared to race hard any longer and I don’t want to be part of it. It is all about making easy money."

 

Many a folk would just stay in the comfort zone for the easy cash

 

respect bro... wish him all of the best!

 

I agree 100% with that statement. We have just seen how our skill levels have dropped in the country. In the past two weeks.

 

Good luck to him and i hope some other riders follow him so XC can get back to where it was.

[sometime]

He's p*ssed off a number of SA riders with the statement above. By all means if he regards their standard as being too low and if he believes his potential is not being realised here, then go overseas. But if it doesn't work out there and he needs to return to SA, he's not going to find too many SA pro's willing to help him getting a place on a pro SA team.

 

But good luck to him - I hope it works out.

[b-rad]

26 yrs old (19870327)

As per UCI...