Marian
October 31st 08, 09:33 AM
Same only with pictures at
http://www.chineseye.com/path-users-usr_center&option=blog_show&blogid=391&userid=1406.html
The cars have arrived. Shiny four passenger sedans with garish logos
and pictures and things plastered on the sides. Soon enough the team
names will go on the windshields. In front of the office, for some
strange reason, it's starting to look like a bike race parking lot.
(Could it possibly be because it is a bike race parking lot? Nah...)
I don't know who the vehicle sponsor was at the first Tour. I didn't
really get involved in the race until the last minute and, with the
exception of Stage One, I spent all of my time on the Supply Bus or
the Sweeps Bus. I liked the Sweeps Bus better as I had a chance of
almost getting to see some of the action.
At Qinghai Lake I was banished to the secretariat same as I'm going to
be at this race. We left well ahead of the race in a battered van
that had been around for a while. No fancy sponsored vehicle for us.
But last year, like this year, the vehicles sponsor was definitely
Haima Automobiles. Now, I probably shouldn't say anything bad about
them because, after all, they are one of the sponsors and if they
weren't providing all these lovely cars and advertising then there
would be less money to go around to do things like pay my salary.
But.... the cars suck.
I expect a QQ or a Chery to suck. Any one of the mini-cars that sells
for less than the scrap steel would probably go for should suck. If
you pay less for your car than I (or my sponsors) paid for one of my
bikes then you deserve to have a car that sucks. But Haima, although
Chinese made, are not cheap. Before it became it's own business, the
factory was originally Hainan Mazda and the cars, while not as
expensive as a real Mazda, still look distinctly like their
forebearers.
Last year I spent the whole race in the wonderfully amazing envious
position in the back seat of Com 3's car translating for him and his
driver. I could see everything. There really was no place that could
have had a better view of the race other than perhaps a photo-moto or
a helicopter. It rocked. Getting in and out of the car was a bit
difficult since the driver side rear door couldn't open from the
outside and the passenger side rear door couldn't open from the
inside! It wasn't just that car however, there were at least three or
four other cars that, for some reason or another, I sat in at some
time over the course of the event and two of them also had problems
with doors.
The team cars arrived yesterday. We've had ten vehicles already for
the last week. Five of them have problems. On one car the gas tank
jammed shut. On another car the odometer consistently reads 20kph
below the actual speed or what we assume the actual speed to be.
Either Haima isn't hoping to make any customers out of any of the
people who will be using the cars, or they simply don't care.
The advertising value of a convoy of polished Haima cars with Haima
advertising going on provincial tv and the national sports channels
every night for a week and change is enough for them. They don't have
to also provide us with cars that consistently work.
-M
http://www.chineseye.com/path-users-usr_center&option=blog_show&blogid=391&userid=1406.html
The cars have arrived. Shiny four passenger sedans with garish logos
and pictures and things plastered on the sides. Soon enough the team
names will go on the windshields. In front of the office, for some
strange reason, it's starting to look like a bike race parking lot.
(Could it possibly be because it is a bike race parking lot? Nah...)
I don't know who the vehicle sponsor was at the first Tour. I didn't
really get involved in the race until the last minute and, with the
exception of Stage One, I spent all of my time on the Supply Bus or
the Sweeps Bus. I liked the Sweeps Bus better as I had a chance of
almost getting to see some of the action.
At Qinghai Lake I was banished to the secretariat same as I'm going to
be at this race. We left well ahead of the race in a battered van
that had been around for a while. No fancy sponsored vehicle for us.
But last year, like this year, the vehicles sponsor was definitely
Haima Automobiles. Now, I probably shouldn't say anything bad about
them because, after all, they are one of the sponsors and if they
weren't providing all these lovely cars and advertising then there
would be less money to go around to do things like pay my salary.
But.... the cars suck.
I expect a QQ or a Chery to suck. Any one of the mini-cars that sells
for less than the scrap steel would probably go for should suck. If
you pay less for your car than I (or my sponsors) paid for one of my
bikes then you deserve to have a car that sucks. But Haima, although
Chinese made, are not cheap. Before it became it's own business, the
factory was originally Hainan Mazda and the cars, while not as
expensive as a real Mazda, still look distinctly like their
forebearers.
Last year I spent the whole race in the wonderfully amazing envious
position in the back seat of Com 3's car translating for him and his
driver. I could see everything. There really was no place that could
have had a better view of the race other than perhaps a photo-moto or
a helicopter. It rocked. Getting in and out of the car was a bit
difficult since the driver side rear door couldn't open from the
outside and the passenger side rear door couldn't open from the
inside! It wasn't just that car however, there were at least three or
four other cars that, for some reason or another, I sat in at some
time over the course of the event and two of them also had problems
with doors.
The team cars arrived yesterday. We've had ten vehicles already for
the last week. Five of them have problems. On one car the gas tank
jammed shut. On another car the odometer consistently reads 20kph
below the actual speed or what we assume the actual speed to be.
Either Haima isn't hoping to make any customers out of any of the
people who will be using the cars, or they simply don't care.
The advertising value of a convoy of polished Haima cars with Haima
advertising going on provincial tv and the national sports channels
every night for a week and change is enough for them. They don't have
to also provide us with cars that consistently work.
-M