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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.
Giro della Toscana - Italy, September 13-18, 2005
Euro cars, Euro racks, Google sites and random thoughts
It's actually day five here right now, we are in the middle of two stages today. Last night was a late one - 1:00am for me. The mechanics from Buitenpoort lent me a halogen light so I could work late last. The stage yesterday finished in Volterra; killer little town/walled city on the top of a hill south of here. Epic views from the top of a hill that has had inhabitants for 1000 years. Longer transfer after the stage to get back, then a late night. The double stage today made it an early morning. Simple circuit race this morning and now I sit midday, getting ready to wash/tune/lube again.
Brain getting foggy, so here are some random topics that have been drifting through it:
Euro cars. Insane little machines going 130+kph on the autostrada. Google a Fiat Panda or a Mercedes A140. I have eaten bigger meals than those. They are parked everywhere on the sidewalks. The autostrada seems like a video game at rush hour.
Euro racks: You have seen those racks on the top of cars at the Tour. They hold 40+ bikes and 100 wheels. Handcrafted by fine local craftsmen, these are rather interesting. Usually all steel, they weigh a ton. Every wondered how they attached to the car? Suprisingly very low-tech. See the photos. I am surprised that more of these don't rip the factory racks off of the cars that they are attached to. I hope that it does not happen in our case, as the rental car company has my credit card on file for the deposit.
Random thoughts: My euro cell phone has been a pain, partially due to my inability to understand the error messages in Italian. Finally got it back working today just in time to have the battery run out. Grrr...
Rental cars: We got a diesel wagon. It's our team car and caravan car. It has the rack mentioned above on it. It gets great gas mileage, but has little power. Most cars here have less than two litre motors. I feel for the riders who got dropped on the climb to Volterra yesterday cause riding in a caravan of small diesel cars clutching and braking on a hill is horrible. All these little puffs of black smoke and burnt clutches. Makes riding a bike no fun. And you are worried about the time cut so you are not going easy.
Time to go - bikes to wash, car to prep, another stage this evening, another late night, another...
Chris Davidson
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Chris Davidson
- Our humble abode in Italy
- Our team caravan vehicle for the race
- I have one spare bike for all the riders we have at the race, on the race car
- Rack mounting: keep it simple and universal
- Rack and roll: plenty of carrying capacity and weight up there on the roof
- Got to deal it up right even if it is a rental
