3, November 2009

Greetings -

So what really happened atmo? We (the Richard Sachs Cyclcross Team) had what best could be described as
a Code Red these past several weeks. To paraphrase Nicholson in A Few Good Men, "You have the luxury of not
knowing what I know atmo...".

The only issue here is that we ( the RS 'Cross Team) have a strong list of sponsors and suppliers who entrust us
to use and race on the equipment pool supplied. It's that simple. Not that I need to cite this or quote myself, but the
general guidelines we adhere to were reiterated in a blog entry before the race schedule even started. And - all of this
was a reiteration, and NOT words heard from me for the first time. That blog entry can be viewed here.

I have no desire to make this personal, or to posture, or to unring the bell so to speak. Since last weekend I have seen
several articles about what happened, I have been pointed to at least four forums threads about what happened, and I
have been sent links to two online film clips about what happened.

So what happened? It's simple. No one "left the team". A series of events occurred - a series that I could never have scripted,
and one that I have never encountered since I began running a team going back now several decades. On a personal note, it
saddens me that all of this surrounds the sponsors. The RS 'Cross Team has a wonderful list of industry suppliers. All who
sponsor 'cross deserve the best, and atmo the best involves a degree of loyalty, commitment, and professionalism that was
sorely lacking by one of our riders this autumn.

Here is the recent email string that regards an incident that some of us have lightheartedly relabed, ColeGate.

Read top to bottom:

On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 5:35 PM, Richard Sachs wrote:
yo amy -
re the usgp races/podiums...
all the pics i sent to cole and their pr peeps were well received and they
were on their way to trying to get the usage rights for some quick promo
stuff when a light went on. someone noticed the front hub and the doubt
was cast that these were not their T-38s in the pic. what's the deal?

ps this is one fire i may not be able to put out.

EDIT STARTS HERE -

Poof - they're gone atmo. After having the email string that was pasted here live on my blog
for two days, I am deleting the texts. Why? This issue has taken on a life of its own and that
was not my intention. For being a catalyst in that, I apologize. The rest of it is simple. We (the
rider involved, the RS 'Cross Team, the sponsors, and some from among our inner circle) lived
a situation since the second week of September. As it happened, no amount of swapping out
parts, fedexing parts, discussing the salient features of parts, etc. be it over the phone, at race
venues, using face time, and - of course, via emails - no amount of dialogue was able to change
a situation that should never have been one in the first place. Our team is well organized and even
better supported. To exhibit the indifference to a sponsor that I encountered this autumn makes
me sad and I also think is bad for all parties involved. After living this for nearly seven weeks, I did
what should have been done at the front end: I issued an ultimatum (for the first time ever in my
running a team). As of a week ago, all of that became history and occurred behind closed doors.
This past Sunday night, I read an online account of what supposedly happened. I say "supposedly"
because atmo it was a one-sided text made to sugar coat what was a private arrangement. I was
okay with the story because I expected it to disappear into the ether. What happened on Monday
was that the link to the story got passed around, and the facts or half-truths contained therein became
fodder for more speculation than I felt any of us involved merited. Rather than plant a story, or go to
the press, or discuss/debate it on the various message boards now giving it a life, I decided to write
this (above) blog entry and tag on the email string that regards the issue at hand.

To mine a message board post quote that appeared a day ago, "I can see why he posted the emails.
He didn't have to give his side of the story, he gave the actual story. We all wanted to know what was
going down, and now we do." Exactly. If you read what lived here for 48 hours, you know the facts. If
you missed it, all of this becomes hearsay. I entered the fray because it was hearsay that I wanted
to counter with the truth. Having done that, I have opened wounds that rival the contretemps that started
all of this in the first place. For that I sincerely apologize atmo.

END OF STRING