Foot in the door… I’m struggling to get on the property

To say that I have my foot in the door of the cycling industry would be a lie. I do have the smallest tip of my big toe in said metaphorical door, but not without some struggles. Today I met with the CEO of Velo Saddles in Dajia. It was an epic trip for a 45 minute meeting, but well worth it… I think. Awake at 4:30AM, I got ready and walked 30 minutes to the train station. Thankfully I wrote down the Chinese character for the village that I was heading to, it was, i think the only reason I actually arrived at the right place. A little over 2 hours on the train I land in Dajia and began walking in the direction of the office (another 25 minutes).

Upon arriving I had an awesome experience trying to convince a security guard to let me inside his gated property. I seriously wish this interaction was recorded. It was hilarious; lots of pointing by me and head shaking by the guard. That’s a hard one to sell; especially when you have a good reason to be going inside (a meeting with the owner) and no clue how to elicit that. Eventually, he decided to call the office. Thankfully, the right person picked up and after a quick word with me, the guard pointed me to the office.

I was under the impression that I was going to be meeting Ms. Yu to discuss the cycling industry. I believe that she assumed I was applying for a job. Uncomfortable and unexpected conversations ensued followed by awkward responses by yours truly. Eventually, she called in her assistant to help translate. It is quite stressful when three Chinese women are rattling off Mandarin for a few minutes and then one looks at you and says five words in English. I know more had to be said than that, but we’ll never know.

In the end, I think it went well. She seems to want to give me some sort of shot. I was asked to do some research on the bicycle industry, target consumers and the current market situation for manufacturers and send it back to her. Where do you find this stuff by the way?

Basically, I’m incredibly lucky to stumble onto this opportunity. Now, I need to not screw it up!

**Please, please, please be careful while driving. Cyclists deserve safe roads at all times. My thoughts and prayers go out to the SC2SC11 riders and the family and friends of Christina.**

I was able to get ahold of a few pictures from Taipei a week or so ago. Sorry for the delay. I’m off to teach tonight and then to begin researching!

Look at all that nature in Taipei!

Taipei 101 - Too much fog to see the top