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Wrenchin' in the USA: The Chris Davidson diary 2005
Chris Davidson is a mechanic for Shimano Multi-Service doing neutral tech support at road and mountain bike races..
Chris' diary entries show us what life is like inside the pits and give an insight into the mind of a mechanic.
NORBA NCS Series #1 ,Tapatio Springs, TX, USA, March 3-6, 2004
Day one - Thursday, March 3: Riders assemble
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Day one at the office for 2005 was quiet and well-paced. The resort hosting the race is a golf specific retreat that is tucked in the hills of south Texas, in a place that would otherwise be some rugged grazing land. Sitting at breakfast this morning, it appears that there is also a collegiate golf tournament taking place this weekend. The restaurant faced the first tee and teams of uniformed golfers headed out on the first of 18 holes. By midday more of the team mechanics had their tents/trailers setup in the tech/parking area. It was starting to look more like a bike race by the hour.
Riders started rolling in all day. Due to the remoteness of the resort, and the early date in the season, not all the team setups are 100 percent on 2005 gear. I talked to Robin (Kona/Les Gets) today as he was assembling new 2005 hardtails and dual suspension rigs for all of his riders. The new Kona rides are special square flared scandium tubes with a little carbon thrown in. More spy photos of the new Konas tomorrow.
The ever smiling Kiara Bisaro (Gears Racing) stopped by wearing her 2004 team kit. Her new 2005 kit will be similar, yet will sport her newly earned world championship stripes. Well deserved.
Chris Sheppard (Haro) is finally riding with two legs after a horrific mid-season interaction with a car last year. His Haro hardtail was sporting the new Manitou R7 cross-country fork. I was impressed, the fork is big and stiff looking, and well under three pounds. I would have snapped some shots of it, but my hands were covered with disc brake oil at the time.
Last in today was the Luna girls, Alison Dunlap and Katerina Hanusova. They beat their mechanic here and they wanted to get in a spin on the course before sundown. They downed their bike bags in the parking lot and started assembling bikes right away. We had already shut down the Shimano service for the day, but a little extra help was in order to get these two on the trail.
The fun (racing) starts tomorrow. I hope to see you there.
Thanks for reading,
Chris Davidson