You've probably recently read an editorial by me expressing my feelings about using spotters on the trail. For those readers who didn't see it, I said that I thought that four-wheelers need to DRIVE, not spend all their time relying on their spotter.
I received lots of feedback on this editorial, most of it positive, but a couple that were extremely negative. What got me was that those who wrote the negative letters seemed to feel the same thing – I was attacking the extreme rock crawling events and those who compete in them. One negative letter doesn't mean much, but, when you get a couple and they both address the same issue, you have to go back and see what's written.
I re-read the editorial. The last little paragraph stated that I'd like to see an event where spotters weren't allowed. THAT was what I meant and what I was thinking about as I wrote the editorial. Unfortunately, the first part of the feature looked very much as if I was attacking those who used spotters in the current | rock crawling competitions. That wasn't what I wanted to say at all, as you can't compete without spotters the way the current events are scored. I still feel that on the trail, people need to drive themselves and not rely on others. At the current events, bring your spotter (you can look over your own hood once in a while, though).
When I was at the magazine, I felt that I needed to think more about what I was saying. In other words, put my mind in gear before letting my fingers write the feature. I wasn't very successful at doing that there, and it looks as if I have to work on it harder here at Extreme 4x4. Sorry about any misunderstanding I caused.
By the way, we're thinking of adding a letters section. While we won't be able to answer all of them, we will put up all we can. The only thing we ask is that you give us your first and last name and where you're from. AOL names and E-mail aliases aren't good enough here. Let us know what you think. |
