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Wrenchin' in the USA: The Chris Davidson diary 2008
Chris joins us again in 2008 to report on life on the road turning the wrench both in the road and MTB scene. Chris signs on with the new Team Type 1 squad for 2008; Chris has also worked for such teams as Navigators Insurance, TEAm Lipton, T-Mobile, Equipe Nurnberger and Mercury in the past, as well as neutral support programs with Shimano, Pedros and Trek.
As 2008 holds some new challenges for Chris, but 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 as a professional mechanic.
February 16, 2008
Quest for more speed – Day one
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So as I was heading to the airport in Salt Lake on Saturday I was reading the first results from the Tour of Langkawi, and two of our guys made the front group on stage one and were in the fray, fighting for the 'V'. What a great way to kick off the season. It looks like Matt Wilson won the first two intermediate sprints on the road and was the 'virtual GC leader' on the way to the finish. Glen 'Chady' Chadwick was in there, too, and that guy always has the nose for the break. In all, a great start for our new team, almost halfway across the world from where I am now.
For me, I was heading to Mooresville, North Carolina, [the centre of NASCAR country] in the quest to make TeamType1 even faster in 2008. We are going to spend the day tomorrow running three of our guys through the A2 wind tunnel [www.a2wt.com] with the goal of making them even faster in the Tat's. Today, I went in to the tunnel for a little orientation and preview of the setup for the testing tomorrow. As it turns out, a former mechanic with TeamSportsInc and the Saturn Cycling Team works at A2 as their expert in testing bicycles: Mike Giraud. Mike gave me the tour today and we discussed the protocol for testing helmets, bikes, wheels, skinsuits and positions for tomorrow. I have a few pictures for your viewing, a little preview of the work we will be doing tomorrow.
I will have a better look tomorrow inside our testing session, now I have to head to the airport for an athlete pickup. Back at the hotel tonight I will be assembling bikes from flight cases, as we start tomorrow at 7:00. Until then, thanks for reading.
Chris Davidson
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Glenn Kalnins / J.H. Williams Tool Group
- The controls and the digital camera feeds from inside the tunnel span three screens at the A2 control centre.
- The wind tunnel is a pretty massive structure from the outside.
- Mike Giraud from A2 and Chris Davidson of TeamType1 discuss some of parameters of the testing inside the tunnel.
- A2 offers some of the leading bicycle-specific wind tunnel testing.
