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Wrenchin' in the USA: The Chris Davidson diary 2007
Chris joins us again in 2007 to report on life on the road turning the wrench for a variety of teams both in dirt and on the road. Formerly with Ford Cycling in 2006, Chris has also worked for such teams as T-Mobile, Equipe Nurnberger, Quark and Mercury in the past, as well as neutral support programs with Shimano, Pedros and Trek.
As 2007 holds some new challenges for Chris, some things will stay the same. One of those will be his informative diary contributions on Cyclingnews, where you'll often receive the inside scoop on all things tech and a look at life behind the wrench.
May 10, 2007
Back in the dirt, too many tools
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Hello Cyclingnews readers, Chris Davidson back on the MTB scene with a return to the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) in Fontana, California this past weekend. This has been an interesting year for me so far, as I 'keep it interesting' by going back and forth between road and MTB work.
As I wrote earlier in the year, my 2007 was not a lock after some behind-the-scenes changes with the team I was supposed to spend the year with. I ended up heading to the first NMBS with a new team (Kenda/X-Fusion/Titus) under the same management as my last year's team (Ford Cycling). However, I knew that Phoenix would probably be the last event with this organization for me.
I then went to the Tour de Georgia with the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, to come home and start calling around again to see what other options might be available. Sure enough, Kenda/X-Fusion/Titus came back to me with some new funding and made me an offer for the rest for the season. I had to move fast, with NMBS #2 and #3: Santa Ynez and Fontana, on back-to-back weekends. While it was not possible to make the first race back, I was able to get to Fontana.
MTB racing again
Time to re-apportion the toolcase and supplies. Due to the constantly changing tool requirements of road versus mountain bike, re-sorting the toolcase has not a small task this year. Colnagos with Campy 10 speed for Georgia left me looking for a long 10mm hex socket bit for the new crank/BB configuration, and a T25 and T35 tool for the brakes and chainring bolts.
As both road and MTB evolve in separate ways (and in some of the same ways, i.e. more Torx fasteners) I have had to source more tools to cover all the bases. In this regard, I was very fortunate last year at the NMBS at Sugar Mountain. I wrote then about meeting a really nice guy there at Sugar, Glenn Kalnins, who was a racer and Cyclingnews reader. He walked up to me at the venue and introduced himself. We talked for a while and I answered his questions about our bikes and my equipment. I really enjoy the tech side of bike racing where fans can interact directly with the riders and staff.
Well to spring forward from that meeting with Glenn to today, we have kept in touch since the Sugar race and it turns out that Glenn is a marketing manager for a tool company that is owned by Snap-On. To my delight Glenn has been sending me tools to try for the past eight months. It does not get better than this if you are a mechanic. Nirvana.
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This leads me back to my current problem: repacking my case for different events. In a time where gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon in the US, the airlines are now very rigid about the 50lb limit for pieces of baggage. Given my working situation this year, I have had to fly with my tools to each race.
When I first packed my toolcase for Phoenix with what I though was only the MTB specific stuff I would need, my case came to 65lbs. No good. I had to pack an extra bag to carry some of the tools in order to get my case down under 50 pounds. Georgia should be simpler I thought, road stuff is less involved, but not the case. My tool case was still overweight and I required a second piece of luggage to re-distribute the tool weight around.
It turns out that Glenn works and lives in Georgia, and he showed up at the first stage finish with some more items for me to try. Yikes, more weight! Glenn was nice enough to come out to Atlanta for the last circuit race and pick up some of my tools and ship them back home to me, as I was now over weight and over the baggage limit.
So why the dilemma? Can't I just get away with the minimal tools and save weight and the excess baggage charges? Unfortunately now that I have some specialist tools that I did not have in the past, I don't want to give them up. Having the right tool for the job really does make my work easier.
At Georgia I could see where it would actually save me time daily to have some additional tools. It is really hard now to leave some stuff at home, at the expense of less clothing and other items in my baggage, the right tools really do make a worthwhile difference.
Fast forward to Fontana. I am taking care of four female and two male athletes for Kenda/X-Fusion/Titus. Eight race MTB bikes, plus a few others, and one rider also brought his road bike for the weekend. No lack of work. But with my expanded tool collection and a few other tricks, I have enough time get all the bike work done and to ride twice a day.
Take home message
1. The right tools for the specific job are worth the extra expense, and hassle
to have when you need them (go buy more tools).
2. The right tools leave you less fatigued and with more time at the end of
the day (go ride more).
3. You never know who you might meet at a bike race, so take the time to be
friendly to curious others (do unto others...).
I am so fortunate to have met Glenn at a bike race, I could not ever imagine being more excited about packing tools for a race now.
So next up for me is NMBS #4 at my home venue, Deer Valley. But I have been entertaining other projects, which may involve more road racing. Until then, go tool up!
Chris Davidson
