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The Chris Davidson diary
Chris Davidson is a former mechanic for Bontrager Racing Service, now in the service of Shimano Multi-Service.
His diary entries give us a look inside the pits and an insight into the mind of a mechanic.
NORBA Series #4, Mt. Schweizer, ID, USA, July 26-27, 2003
Day 1 - Thursday, July 26: R&D day
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After the flying Wednesday night to Spokane, we got up early (~6:00am) for the last 75 miles to Sandpoint and NORBA #4 at Schweitzer Mountain. It is super beautiful country up here, lots of tall pine trees and grassy meadows. Sandpoint is a town of about 6,000 people and it sits on the edge of a lake, surrounded by peaks which include Schweitzer. From the town, this small two lane road climbs nine miles up 11 switchbacks to the top where the ski resort sits. For the top there are amazing views of the town and the lake below. Amazing setting for a race, but as my fellow mechanic noted, this is about the most remote course for spectator access on the series.
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The tech area is extremely narrow, due to the fact that the grade where they carved out the ski resort base in really steep. Thursday is always an R&D day for the riders, checking out tires, suspension settings, etc. The course here is very dusty; the pro riders are talking about leaving gaps of 30 seconds on the descents, because running any closer to the rider in front of you is impossible due to the dust. Being stuck in the pack at the start is going to be costly, and make a high finish very difficult. Some riders were talking today about wearing masks to make breathing in the dust easier.
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This should be an interesting race in the XC events. The Canadian posse is here, with Roland Greena and Filip Meirhaeghe, and a strong American contingent including Todd Wells and JHK. The elevation here is moderate, and there is only about 800 feet of climbing a lap, so the dust should make the pack riding interesting.
At the World Cup in Canada, Shimano introduced the SAINT group for the gravity riding and we have a demo bike with the parts on it. Lots of questions about the group, which is not a complete group, but rather hubs, cranks, brakes, and a rear derailleur. The parts are really well built and should fill the gap for the high end gravity riders. The parts allow the rider to add the drivetrain parts of his/her choice, really making the complete bike spec flexible.
Lots of easy rides for the pros today, then resting, massage or hanging out in the trailer. On the way to dinner tonight we passed Filip on his road bike climbing back up the the ski resort from Sandpoint. We dined with some of the boys from Rock Shox/SRAM at a local Italian place in town, with the Kona team was sitting next to us. This quiet restaurant was being overrun for the first of four nights in a row by carb-hungry cyclists. Even the chef was helping bring out plates to the table.
More from the tent tomorrow.
Thanks for reading,
CD