Keeping a sponsor happy

Last year my title sponsor was Fuji Asia. I got a last minute call to do a MTB race in Korea. I thought, "What the heck." and said ok. You've gotta keep the sponsors happy!

A short flight and a long drive later we were in the mountains in the northern part of the country. It was beautiful.

I did the pro race and finished 2nd. I had a mechanical but even without it there was no way I could climb with the Japanese guy from Specialized who won.

This isn't the good part of the story.


After the race, there was the usual draw for prizes. The thing is Fuji Korea had really stepped up and there was a ton of loot. I got a Shimano LX equipped bike for my second place. The winner got a carbon frame (along with our cash). In short, there was a ton of loot.Every participant was given a number with our timing chips and they went into a bucket. Some of the riders had left or had given their chips to other people. Near me was this kid who had a few numbers and, it was pretty clear, he REALLY wanted a new bike!

They kept drawing numbers and people kept coming to the stage and hauling away bikes, frames or wheels sets. I kept watching this kid because he was pretty funny. Eventually, they ran out of stuff to give away and I could tell that this kid was crushed.

The Korean organizer had told me that they could ship the bike to me and change it for the proper size if need be. I asked him if they had kids bikes. He said yes but was puzzled. I told him I wanted to give my bike to the kid I'd been watching and could he take care of it for me. He said he would do it personally.

I dragged the bike box over to where the kid was still standing. His numbers were scattered on the ground at his feet. My interpretor told him that I wanted to give him the bike I'd won. Needless to say it took us 10 minutes to get this kid to stand still long enough to take this picture.
This picture was taken with my camera and didn't come out too well. I'm sure the ones the press guys took were much better.

Did I mention how happy my sponsor was?

They signed on for 2 more years and increased the budget. My job here was done.