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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.
September 20, 2007
Tour de Huff and 2007 comes to a close
Well it seems like the 24 hour continuous sleep, wash, tune, eat cycle has come to the end and the Tour of Missouri is over. It feels like it only just begun a day ago. Well since I last wrote, we had an Individual Time Trial, which served to solidify the race general classification for those in the Stage 2 breakaway, a couple of 200 km road stages and a circuit race. The 2007 Tour de Huff ended without a Brad Huff stage victory, but not without some Huff drama (see the crash up close here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI2MHASMxg8). Check out that asphalt surfing on his head. I have to hand it to Brad, he gave it his utmost in his own backyard for a stage win and ended up only a little short. Brad is a great guy, I know his biggest victories are yet to come. Maybe Tour de Huff 2008?
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As for me, following a weird series of logistical twists, I ended up heading back to New Jersey with two team vehicles on Sunday morning meaning I missed the last stage. As has been reported by now, the Navigators Insurance team will stop at the end of this year and this race will be its last. It has been a long season, as some of the riders we had here for this race were full gas back in February at the Amgen Tour of California. As it turns out one of the soigners for our team got ill, plus the logistics of my flight home from New Jersey on Monday dictated that I leave early Sunday morning for the 20 hour drive. I drove the team's motorhome towing a trailer with one of the caravan cars on it. In this way one staff member can get two vehicles to an event. The final circuit race on Sunday only permitted one team caravan on the course, so it worked out best.
So as I landed at home in Salt Lake City on Monday night and picked up my toolcase from the baggage carousel at the airport, I realised that my 2007 wrenching has come to a close. I am relieved to not have to tote the tools into another airport again this year, but I will miss a number of people that I interacted with at the races. With two of the teams that I worked for this year coming to an end (TEAmLipton, and Navigators Insurance) the riders and staff will be reshuffled again for 2008. Although in what looks like a down employment market for professional cycling in the United States in 2008, I am worried about all my friends finding a spot.
Las Vegas is the next stop, the trade show should be interesting this year. I imagine that I will see more riders there this year than in year's past, as there are still a large number of unsigned names. As for myself, I have a number of things in the fire for 2008. I have always tried to give my duties 100 percent at the races and help those other staff members around me; I trust my future employment opportunities to these principles. I hope that there will be opportunities on both the road and mountain biking for me next year, Vegas will be the first big step in clarifying that picture. Plus this year should hold some extra fun with the CX and the criterium to watch during the show.
So on to Vegas and 2008! Thanks for reading.
Chris Davidson
