The end is near

[Martin318is]

and after something just over 2 years, I have decided to resign as a Moderator on CyclingNews' forum.

It is a decision that was difficult as I am very aware of the hard work the remaining Moderators do every day to support this community and doubly aware that my leaving dumps more onto them. The associated stress and guilt is why the decision took so long.

For me, the role in the last year or so became an all day every day task and the enjoyment of helping out had been replaced by the difficulties of reacting to events and personalities on the site. I am not someone who can leave tasks for others generally and had tried to maintain a partial presence by only getting involved sporadically. I have found though that it is a case of all or nothing for me.

Unfortunately, this means I am resigning. Enjoy the forum follks and be nice to the remaining Moderators. They deserve much more gratitude than you probably realise!

 

[Semper Fidelis]

and after something just over 2 years, I have decided to resign as a Moderator on CyclingNews' forum.

It is a decision that was difficult as I am very aware of the hard work the remaining Moderators do every day to support this community and doubly aware that my leaving dumps more onto them. The associated stress and guilt is why the decision took so long.

For me, the role in the last year or so became an all day every day task and the enjoyment of helping out had been replaced by the difficulties of reacting to events and personalities on the site. I am not someone who can leave tasks for others generally and had tried to maintain a partial presence by only getting involved sporadically. I have found though that it is a case of all or nothing for me.

Unfortunately, this means I am resigning. Enjoy the forum follks and be nice to the remaining Moderators. They deserve much more gratitude than you probably realise!

Martin..... via PM I wanted to say more. I will do that tomorrow. I just want to say thank you and that I apologize for any stress I may have caused you over the past. Take care and be FAST.

 

[mewmewmew13]

cheers Martin. You deserve a break.

It's been an interesting two years around here hasn't it? Glad to see you are taking some time for yourself.
Thanks for your work and dedication.

see you around

 

[pedaling squares]

Well Martin, you were the biggest reason why I volunteered to be a mod for a while (meaning that you were a positive example), you were a great help when I stared in that role, and you've been a very balanced and calm presence on these boards for a long while. You've done a lot to keep the forum from self-destructing and from keeping the place from being over-moderated. And you had your head firmly up your backside when you closed the uniballer thread! Had to get that in there two years after the fact. Cheers for all the work you've done. Your efforts will be sorely missed.

 

[ramjambunath]

Cheers Martin, I enjoyed your moderation in my short while here (and in my time of lurking prior to that for some reason too). Enjoy the break from responsibilities.

I apologise for being a tw*t, which I have been regularly here.

 

[AussieGoddess]

Martin - I think you have done an exceptional job here.

While people might disagree occasionally with decisions or ideas, no one can deny that you guys all do great stuff at keeping things together and running well.

It can be a thankless and time consuming task, and for you to give so much for a long period of time is truly appreciated.

thank you

 

[Maxiton]

Hope you stick around to post, Martin. Thanks for being a great moderator.

 

[Spare Tyre]

Martin - I think you have done an exceptional job here.

While people might disagree occasionally with decisions or ideas, no one can deny that you guys all do great stuff at keeping things together and running well.

It can be a thankless and time consuming task, and for you to give so much for a long period of time is truly appreciated.

thank you

I think AG sums it up well for me. Thanks, Martin.

Hope we continue to see you here and/or at Velorooms.

 

[Daniel Benson]

Hi Marty,

I just wanted to say publicly how thankful I am for all your hard work, effort and commitment since being a moderator on the website. You've helped set the bar for standards of posting, moderation, and communication and you'll be greatly missed by me, the mods and the forum community as a whole.

thanks for all the help you've personally given me, with the emails bouncing back and phone call.

Hope to see you posting as a regular forum member in the near future.

Thanks

Daniel

 

[Amsterhammer]

I know how hard it is to be a fair and honest mod. Hats off to you for the way you communicated with people, for being an all round good guy, and for succeeding at a difficult and demanding task.

Thanks for all your efforts, and I look forward to your contributions as a regular poster, particularly about GW.

 

[flyor64]

Thanks Martin. You were a gem as a mod and a poster! I hope we don´t lose the latter, while fully understanding your decision to take a break from moderating this here forum! cheers!

 

[Boeing]

thanks and props to the only mod who didn't cloud his or her duties with personal bias and default agenda. you look beyond personalities and and your likes and dislikes, and were consistent. simple reason was never overcome with a moral crusader mentality.

you are the most candid yet objective of them all which takes time and consideration.

Peace

 

[The Hitch]

Chapeau on your years of service to the forum.

 

[simo1733]

Good job Martin.You managed to lay down the law without being patronising.Thanks.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Martin, you are without doubt the only reason why I happily break any vows I made to myself, and post here one more time. Reading that you have called it a day... I can't let that slip by without publicly saluting you for the "job" done, here, on the site that had become part of you, I guess.

I think there are only a handful of people who know how much time and effort you have put into this site, and it certainly has been a pleasure and a privilege to share some of that time with you, up close. Getting to know you a bit better across time zones was a superb additional bonus too.

I do know how personal and hard this decision was for you, so I can only wish that what you get in return (oodles more time to post and read about cycling, stress-free) will begin to make up for what you have earned, and then some.

Like PS said above, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have joined the mod team -for a while- either. And because of you, I have never regretted it either.

Happy retirement Martin.

 

[Martin318is]

Have had my user type reset and this is my 3,000th post. End of.

 

[boomcie]

Errm... Martin calling it a day. I will refuse to participate in unanimous praise, it’s not like he’s deceased.

Anyway, let me start by thanking him for the immense amount of time and effort he's invested into this community. I feel gratitude in the first place, because I realise he has been one of the pilars of this place and I will miss his determination and persistance. I’m sure the CN forums will suffer from his departure.

Despite the endless respect I have for his efforts as a mod, I would be lying if I proclaimed to have been his buddy from start to finish. He and I have been in dispute on numerous occasions in the past. Whether this is due to him or myself is a highly debatable subject (at least in my book), but I'm sure most of you will agree it's entirely my fault.

Much can be said about my personal experiences with Marty as a mod. I have often felt his attitude toward me wasn't entirely unprejudiced. I have received some communications from him that I wasn’t pleased with. At times he gave me the idea that he did not really respect me or that he didn’t care for me. I have often missed a sense of to-the-point elaboration in his direct communication with me. One would argue that mods don’t have the time to communicate extensively with every single user, but extensiveness itself was never the issue here.

Regardless of our substantial disagreements I will generally remember him as a righteous (at times misguided) moderator that had a good sense of relativity. Like that time when he “banned” himself for a day. That was legendary stuff right there.

Thanks for the efforts Marty and rest in peace.