October 26/11 14:10 pm - Geoff Kabush Interview - 24 Hrs After Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Folds

Posted by Editor on 10/26/11
 

Canadian mountain bike pro Geoff Kabush tweeted it first yesterday - that his Maxxis-Rocky Mountain team was folding and he was looking for a job - and then came the formal announcement today from Rocky Mountain (see Daily News - October 26/11 12:37 pm - Maxxis-Rocky Mountain Ends Team, Cuts Riders Loose). We have now spoken with Geoff from his home in New Mexico, about what happened and what is next.

Canadian Cyclist: This conversation is a little awkward to start; I can't really say how's it going...

Geoff Kabush: Yeah, it's definitely been an interesting 24 hours, for sure!

CC: Did this come as a surprise to you, or did you know that it was going to happen?

GK: It came as a bit of a surprise, this suddenly. Not the Maxxis thing [co-sponsor Maxxis tires pulling out]; I've known for a few months that they weren't continuing, I think it was at the Czech World Cup [in August] that that was definite.

But I've been trying to work something out with Rocky through the factory team, and I thought we were pretty close to making the support and budget work. But I guess the powers that be decided it wouldn't work. It's too bad with the Olympics coming next year; it would have been nice to continue the program with Rocky.

CC: So where are you now? Is there anything that looks good for next season?

GK: I have a lot of irons in the fire; I'm talking with different people about a whole bunch of options. There's possibilities of either integrating with a team or getting the sponsorship to run an independent program. there's been good interest.

It's not going to be a problem getting to the races, but to get the financial support to run a program and have Gary [Wolff, Kabush's long time team manager and mechanic] will take a little more. There's definitely two or three positive options at this point.

I also wanted to say that the national team has been great. They will fill in the gaps for next year as needed. They are supporting me every way they can.

CC: It must be a little sad to see the team end like this.

GK: Yeah, I've been with Rocky for three years, and it's been good, there have been some good memories there. I'm a bit sad not to continue; I had my World Cup win with Rocky, I've been working with them on the bikes, developing the new designs...

CC: What about the immediate future; will we see you at Cyclo-cross Nationals?

GK: 'Cross Nationals are not in the picture, it's not in the budget to fly all the way [to Toronto] with the equipment that I would need to bring. I'm just doing some 'cross for fun, so I'll probably just finish off the U.S. GP series. It's a little more motivating to do well when I'm looking for a sponsor!

Plus, I'm working on plans for next year and getting my training program sorted out because it is such a big year.

CC: What sort of time frame are we talking about before you expect to have things sorted out?

GK: I should have a much better idea in the next week or two which direction I will be going in; it's a matter of figuring out what will be the best fit. I'm confident that it will get sorted out.