Pretty Cool Jersey Experience (Cycling)

[canjond]

As many on the board know, besides vintage baseball cards, memorabilia and autographs, I'm a big cycling fan. This weekend I had quite a cool experience that I wanted to share with the board. It just goes to show how cool professional athletes can be.

Jack Haig is a very talented young professional cyclist that races for the World Tour team, Mitchelton Scott. Here's a recent article about him (Haig a Future Great).

Needless to say, Haig is somewhat active on social media, and a few months back, he had posted about how he enjoyed chocolate bars from around the world. I contacted him through his online profile and told him about a new chocolate company that opened up in Brooklyn, NY and offered to pick him up a few bars and send them to him. He was about to race the Giro d'Italia (the Italian Grand Tour - one of the "Big 3" along with the Tour de France and the Vuelta in Spain), so I asked him if he would be willing to save me one of his race numbers as a trade, which he said he would.

Fast forward to today. I received a package in the mail from Andorra. I was a bit confused as to what it was, but when I opened it, I found this inside as a thank you for the chocolate bars. Included were Haig's used kit (jersey, race number plates, warmers and musette bag) from the 2018 Giro, and a set of brand new race kit (gloves, socks, vest, etc) from the team. Talk about an incredible response! Cycling may not have the following here in the US that it has in Europe, but for a cyclist to give away his used jersey from one of the sports biggest races is quite amazing. It would be on par with Aaron Judge sending his playoff jersey to a fan.

[bobfreedman]

Jon, I too am a cycling fan as we have briefly discussed and that is phenomenal! What a great gesture from Mitchelton and a priceless keepsake for you. It does not get any better than this. Congratulations 🍾🎈🎉

[Leon]

This was moved from the memorabilia section because it is such a cool story more eyes should be on it. Congrats Jon. I think we all love to hear this kind of ending.

[jb67]

Pretty cool that he would do that. Thanks for posting.

[edjs]

I think I would have to send him more chocolate bars. That is really cool.

[Big Ben]

I am a cycling fan as well. What a great story!!!

[Buythatcard]

Great story.

I am in Brooklyn twice a month and love chocolate. I would love to check out this chocolate.

Where in Brooklyn is this chocolate factory?. What is the name of chocolate?

[canjond]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Great story.

I am in Brooklyn twice a month and love chocolate. I would love to check out this chocolate.

Where in Brooklyn is this chocolate factory?. What is the name of chocolate?

Raaka in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

https://www.raakachocolate.com/

[steve B]

That's fantastic!

Most of the riders are pretty cool. Either from appreciating the fans more or being aware of the sponsors even as amateurs. Either way they're a lot more accessible than athletes in the major US sports.