I am trying to figure out the email contact information for someone I
met at yesterday's Guangzhou Shimano Bikers' Festival which
unfortunately starts with actually trying to figure out his full
name. I wandered off with the intent of coming back with a notebook
and pen only to discover that the crash one of my friends had suffered
that morning had resulted in a broken wrist and in keeping my friend
company I never wandered back.
I'm fairly sure his name is Stephen something starting with an R. Not
quite 100% sure given my lousy ability with people's names but fairly
sure.
He and his Chinese wife are currently living in Hong Kong/Shenzhen
area. They've been there for perhaps two or three months. One of the
projects he is involved with is putting together an amateur race
series in the Shenzhen area with closed-to-traffic courses every
weekend. I had asked him if he had done anything with the Hainan
people considering how pro bike race the local government currently is
and, not knowing anyone in Hainan, he had not. This is why I was
supposed to give him my contact information. I specifically wanted
his contact information because his very pretty lugged steel frame was
custom built by a frame builder in Shenzhen and he said at the time
that although he didn't have the man's contact info on hand he would
be able to get it to give to me.
I think he's named Stephen something starting with an R is a retired
professional racer who was on the Motorola team. He participated
three times in the Tour de France and once in the Vuelta de Espagna.
The talk on site (which was not actually confirmed by talking with the
man or any of the people he was there with) was that he took a stage
win in the Vuelta. No idea which years this was. Very certain that
he was with Motorola.
He came to the race with about thirty or forty other people all of
whom were wearing matching Cycling.TV jerseys. With the exception of
sixty pink and white polka dots for Ecurie Tianya (my club) their's
were the largest concentration of matching jerseys. This year's
bikers' festival had over 600 people but mostly they came in smaller
groups of five or ten or even twenty and even if they did come in
larger groups they tended not to be in large matching groups.
I've already had a wander round cycling.tv's website and have already
sent an email that may or may not get me anywhere with them. I'm also
following a few other leads that I know though, for the most part, the
people I saw at bikers' festival who I already knew but did not
actually travel there with are Guangzhou based rather than Hong Kong
based and not in my phone (cause it isn't like I'd be in their city
and have the time to see them at anything other than a bike related
event where I'd already be seeing them).
Can anyone help?
Even a pointer to someone who knows someone would be useful. Like I
said I've got a bunch of leads to follow up on and with less than two
dozen laowai at the event it shouldn't be too hard to eventually track
him down.
-M