141 – Chasing Racing and Sending It with Professional Mountain Bikers Syd & Macky
Todays Guests:
From a successful YouTube channel, to living in a van, to creating the worlds first MTB board game called, ‘SEND IT!’, we chat with Professional Mountain Bikers Syd & Macky.
On episode #141 we are chatting with Syd & Macky about being professional mountain bikers, chasing the race scene in their van, breaking bones, crashing out, sponsorship, YouTube and their very exciting (and awesome looking) MTB board game called SEND IT!.
I have been following Syd & Macky for some time on their YouTube channel, tuning in and seeing where life has taken them. What attracted me to their channel was the fact that it was attainable, real life, down to earth and not glamorised by everything being sunshine and roses all the time. I could relate to them, the issues they were having are issues we all could have, there is fun times, laughter, great riding, awesome trails, but there are also cuts, crashes and tears. And this is what is so good about their channel, they show you all sides of real life chasing the race scene from their van.
We also chat about their new mountain bike board game called SEND IT!. The idea for the board game came about after Macky had a pretty nasty crash (see show notes below) and had to spend some time recovering and not riding his bike. So after playing board games to pass the time he was surprised to find out that there were no specific mountain bike board games out there, so he and Syd decided they would simply have to make their own, and SEND IT! was born.
We chat about how you can get involved, get your hands on the game and much much more. Thanks for being here, enjoy the show!
Find Out:
- How Syd & Macky got into mountain biking
- When Macky first started racing and came second in his first race
- Why and when Syd and Macky decided to turn pro
- How Syd and Macky met through mountain biking
- Why they decided to follow the race scene by living in a van
- What Syd & Macky really think about van life
- Why racing means so much to them
- How they work with sponsors
- Why they decided to start a YouTube channel
- How they make a living through sponsorship and YouTube
- How the idea for a MTB board game was born
- The process involved in bringing this idea to life
- How successful their Kickstarter campaign has been
- How you can get your hands on the game (yes, they will deliver to the UK)
- How to best follow Syd & Macky and find out what they are up to
*SORRY MACKY!*
I am sorry Macky, but we need to chat about your crash which led to you and Syd producing your own mountain bike board game. I know it is a sore point and footage you would prefer to erase from the cyber web permanently, but I think people will want to know the story behind the idea and what made you and Syd produce this exciting new product, that is all fairness has been missing from the market.
So lets start by saying that Syd & Macky are both really good mountain bikers, they both compete in XC, downhill, enduro and everything else they can find, and I have seen them making some huge drops, flying over gaps and killing it on technical stuff. So when I first seen the footage of the crash it just didn’t click that it was Macky, I didn’t see it through his feed so I was not aware it was him (see crash episode and footage below). But when I was getting caught up on their YouTube channel and watched that episode, I was blown away that this was Macky. It basically looked like he did not know what was on the end of the drop and that he had never seen it before. We chat in good detail on the show about what happened, how Macky came to misjudge it so badly and the aftermath of his injuries.
But, every cloud has a silver lining, and off the back of his injury, some spare time, a love for board games, frustration with not being able to ride, and seeing a gap in the market, SEND IT! was born. It took Syd & Macky a number of prototypes and many countless hours designing the game to what you see today, but the end result looks amazing. The game has went through many changes from it’s original design and with the help of friends playing the game and suggesting changes here and there, the game has become better to the point that you don’t really need to be a mountain biker to understand and enjoy playing the game.
To help launch the game Syd and Macky decided to get the necessary funds they would require by starting a Kickstarter campaign (see below). This has been a huge success and they met their target in 8 hours. However, if they meet a couple of higher targets they will be able to make the game with 3-D characters and change a few more things to make it even better. I love the idea of this game, it makes so much since for us mountain bikers, either waiting in the car park for the rain to stop before our ride, or simply chilling with friends and family on those lazy days, we can still have have a bit of mountain biking in our lives. I also love the fact that in this digital world we are still seeing products like this being produced and Syd & Macky have added a very cool ‘No Phones Allowed’ comment on the game rules!
So when you take that next spill and have to take some time out, keep your chin up because you never know what will happen next. You may just come up with that next great mountain bike product. So tune in and find out what it is like to run a YouTube channel, race professionally, be living a van life and be the founders of a new mountain bike board game (see below for how you can get your hands on SEND IT!).
Thanks for tuning in!
To Connect with Syd & Macky:
Website: www.sydandmacky.com
YouTube: sydandmacky
Instagram: sydandmacky
SEND IT! Website: www.senditboardgames.com
SEND IT! Instagram: senditboardgames
Get Involved: SEND IT! Kickstarter Campaign: send-it-the-mountain-biking-board-game
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Thanks to Syd & Macky for coming on the show and sharing their awesome story!
And thanks to you for being part of the show!
Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show.