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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.
Grand Tour du Grande Montreal and Montreal World Cup - May 27-June 2, 2005
Day five; May 30 - Twice the excitement, Twice the fun, Twice in the sprint!
First day of the Grand Tour du Montreal and we had two stages: - a prologue and a crit. Rain was in the forecast, but in the end we were spared the worst.
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I got going this morning with a car wash and a quick change into riding clothing to accompany the girls on the 40 minute ride to the course. All our girls were on their road bikes with no aerobars, so no special prep. They also were exempt from the UCI bike inspection, which can be painful if nothing else. Our girls, Arndt and Wood, were among the early leaders in the TT, but later some of the other strong riders with TT bikes, aero helmets and disc wheels sent the finish times lower. We got away with 7th and 12th as our best finishes. A quick trip back to the residence and I began cleaning up bikes.
Rain started pounding down and quickly the crit was becoming a scary prospect. I keep checking the radar every 30 minutes to see the progress of the storm and it looked like it might be past us by time the crit started. The team decided to change travel plans for the crit and we all went in the cars. When we got there the crit pavement was dry and the skis looked good. I had a cyclingnews.com reader seek me out and introduce himself before the crit started; this is always a cool experience for me.
With about 30 minutes to start I headed down to the neutral service pit to drop off some wheels and a bike and for the first time in my memory, the Mavic neutral service guy was uncooperative. Not cool. I took my spares back to our team vehicles and waited for the start. There were time bonuses available tonight that are important to our team, so the girls were motivated. The race was fast from the gun, but at the halfway sprint, Oenone Wood came good and scooped up the time bonus. Later in the race, the only interesting move was Lynn Bessette going solo for a while.
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Down to five to go, and the blue Nurnberger train came to the front and started to drive it. The laps ticked down and in the confusion of a prime sprint, Wood came off the wheel and powered down the front straight, locking up the victory. Problem was there was one lap to go. Entering turn one she realised that the girls behind her were still racing and she quickly realised her mistake and got back in. Out of turn four for the last time [for real] Wood dug deep to come through for the victory, AGAIN!! This was truly unbelievable. I have never before seen someone misjudge a finish and win again the second time. Truly remarkable.
Dinner and some wine to celebrate and it was 11:00pm already. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the worst stage here last year in Rigaud; hopefully we will have better weather this time around.
Nurnberger is going to make the race really hard tomorrow. I get to watch it from caravan spot #3, and Wood will be wearing the green points jersey for us.
I cant wait!
Chris Davidson
PS: Grace Fluery [QUARK] today did a time trial ride she didn't believe she was capable of. At the end of the day she was on the podium. Grace combines those characteristics; ability, modesty, kindness and honesty, that make you feel really happy for her when she does well. And in that, her name is very fitting, she embodies it. Grace.
