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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.
Chris' diary entries will show you what life is like inside the pits and an insight into the mind of a mechanic.
NORBA NCS Series #2, Sonoma, CA, USA, May 14-16, 2004
Day 2 - Friday, May 14: Strong winds play havoc
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Another beautiful day in northern California that started calm, but ended with very strong winds. There was both mountain bike racing today with the Semi-pro, U23 and Junior men, and road racing taking place on the car race track. The winds played havoc with the road racing, and added an additional factor to the off-road racing. Even with the start of racing today, the traffic in the tent was slow today. It appears that the promoters have packed all the racing into the two days of the weekend in order to get the greatest crowd exposure.
The men's and women's pro fields are going to be a little less than 100 percent full for this event, as a number of the best Americans are in Europe chasing the all valuable UCI points in a quest to gain a berth in the Olympics in Athens. A number of non-American riders are also in Europe in prep for the upcoming World Cup. It is an interesting gamble for some riders like Todd Wells, currently third in the American points chase for two available spots, who is here in Sonoma hoping to grab maximum points. More on this tomorrow as the first points get handed out.
In hanging out I the tent today, I got a closer look at Travis Brown's Trek hardtail from yesterday. It turns out that the frame is made of the 120 carbon, not the 110, but that it coming. The word is that it will reduce the weight of the frame by up to a half a pound. Interesting to note on Travis' rig is the lack of a steerer tube top cap. A number of pro bikes have shown up in the Shimano tent sans the starnut/topcap for 'weight saving', but this was different. It turns out that Travis' bike is sporting a fork retention device, much like found on the Time Avant road fork. This device controls the tension on the headset, such the starnut/topcap is not necessary. On Travis' bike, this setup allows the stem to be removed quickly for travel, without losing the correct adjustment on the headset. Svelte.
The real fireworks start tomorrow. All categories of mountain bike racing, with road racing happening simultaneously in the middle of the venue. It should be a much more active day in the service tent. Stop by and introduce yourself.
Thanks for reading,
CD