The Shimano camp
Photo: © Chris Davidson

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.

2005 diary entries

World Championships - Madrid

•Day 5 - Final day at World's and the post race travel
•Day 4 - Showtime at worlds
•Day 3 - D-day for the road race at Worlds
•Day 2 - A great day all round
•Day 1 - Getting set up for the ITT

Winding up for World's - Giro della Toscana

•Day 6 - Italy to Spain via France at 100km/h
•Day 5 - Here comes the rain
•Day 4 Pt II - Into the night...
•Day 4 - Euro cars, Euro racks, Google sites and random thoughts
•Day 3 - Day three in Toscana
•Day 2 - Everything in Italy happens slowly
•Day 1 - Joys of the travelling mechanic

Snowmass NORBA - Aspen

•Days 1-3 - Storms in Aspen

USA Cycling Women's Camp - National Training Centre

•Days 3-6 - Bike washing and plenty of riding
•Days one and two - Future champions

US National Road Championships - Deer Valley, Utah

•Men's and Women's Elite races - Three days at home

NORBA #3 - Deer Valley, Utah

•Day 4 - STXC time
•Day 3 - Birthday celebrations
•Day 1 - Back in the dirt and loving it

Wachovia Liberty Classic

•Day 3 - Sunny Sunday
•Day 2 - Showtime!

Grand Tour de Montreal and Montreal World Cup - May 27-June 2, 2005

•Day 8 - Finally! And off to Philly...
•Day 7 - One to go
•Day 6 - What a team!
•Day 5 - Twice the excitement, Twice the fun, Twice in the sprint!
•Day 4 - Pro quality down-time
•Day 3 - Time to shine
•Day 2 - More rain
•Day 1 - Rain on Mont Royal

NORBA NCS Series #2, McDowell Mountain Park, Arizona, March 17-20, 2005

•Day 3 - Fast and furious STXC
•Day 2 - Protos & pits controversy
•Day 1 - Desert sunshine and new gear

NORBA National series #1 - Texas, March 3-6, 2005

•Day 4 - "Dipped in sh*#"
•Day 3 - Here comes the rain
•Day 2 - Mud & new gear
•Day 1 - Riders assemble
•Day 0 - Travel troubles

2004 diary entries

10th 24 Hours of Moab - Moab, Utah, October 16-17, 2004

•Last wrenching adventure

Interbike 2004 - Las Vegas, USA, October 4-8, 2004

•The dust, wind and lights of Las Vegas

US National NORBA Championships - California, USA , September 23-26, 2004

•Last NORBA, so they put us beside SRAM

NORBA National Series finals- Durango, Colorado, August 26-29, 2004

•Day 4 - August 29: The future is bright
•Day 3 - August 28: Cool tech rolls out
•Day 2 - August 27: A little 'Gold Bond'
•Day 1 - August 26: Cruising Thursday

Junior Road Nationals - Park City, Utah August 21-22, 2004

•Stone cold at the junior nats

NORBA National Series #7 - Snowmass, Colorado, August 5-8, 2004

•Day 4 - August 8: Real drama, real food
•Day 3 - August 7: XC greats of all ages & tech protos
•Day 2 - August 6: Short-staffed at Snowmass
•Day 1 - August 5: Sloping off to Snowmass

NORBA National Series #6 - Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho, July 29-August 2, 2004

•Day 4 - August 1: On a high
•Day 3 - July 31: A plethora of MTB tech-porn
•Day 2 - July 30: Shimano's FBI
•Day 1 - July 29: Easy on the eyes, hard on the ears

Boise Twilight Crit, Boise Idaho, July 24, 2004

•Boise Town

Women's Talent Identification Camp, US Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, USA, July 2004

•Finding hidden talent

NORBA National Series #4 - Mount Snow Resort, Vermont, June 17-20, 2004

•Day 4 - June 20: Rowney's last stand
•Day 3 - June 19: No business like Snow business
•Day 2 - June 18: Rain wreaks havoc
•Day 1 - June 17: "East Coast" welcome; Shimano send the home team

Wachovia Liberty Classic, Philadelphia, PA, USA, June 6, 2004

•June 10 - Rest and random thoughts
•June 6 - D-Day: 10 hours till Philly

CDM Cycliste Féminine de Montréal & Le Tour du Grand Montréal, Canada, May 29-June 3, 2004

•Day 6 - Tuesday, June 1: People are starting to crack
•Day 5 - Monday, May 31: The inside scoop
•Day 2.75 - Wednesday, May 27: Back Door Internet Café, Port Huron
•Day 1 - Monday, May 24: First stop: T-Mobile Service Course

NORBA NCS Series #2, Sonoma, CA, USA, May 14-16, 2004

•Day 4 - Sunday, May 16: Wind and pain
•Day 3 - Saturday, May 15: A freak occurence
•Day 2 - Friday, May 14: Strong winds play havoc
•Day 0 - Thursday, May 13: A slow day in the California sunshine

NORBA NCS Series #1, Waco, TX, USA

•Day 1 - Thursday, March 11: New course, old faces
•Day 2 - Friday, March 12: Puttin' the 'pro' back in professional racing
•Day 3 - Saturday, March 13: Kudos to Kabush
•Day 4 - Sunday, March 14: Nice guys finish first

2003 diary entries

NORBA Series #4, Mt. Schweizer, ID, USA

•Day 1 - Thursday, July 26: R&D day
•Day 2 - Friday, July 27: The power of a second, third or fourth opinion
•Day 3 - Saturday, July 28: Dust-fest royale
•Day 4 - Sunday, July 28: Hmmm... interesting, very interesting...

NORBA #1 - Big Bear, California

•Day one and two at Big Bear, NORBA #1
•Days three and four at Big Bear

2002 diary entries

Tour of the Gila

•Getting prepped for Day One - loading the truck for the prologue
•An easy day at the TT - working stage 1
•Flat fixing frenzy - A tough day at the stage 2 road race
•Thorny issues at the Inner loop RR
•Gila Monster road race - Wherry's amazing exploding derailleur

HP Women's Challenge

•The battle of the parking lot - jockeying for dominance at the team hotel
•Brooke & the giant killers - sleeplessness rewarded by riders massive efforts in Stage 1
•Saturn turns it up - and it's quiet. Too quiet
•Crash city - after the calm, the storm
•Saturn train a-coming - the powerhouse asserts itself
•Diesel power - bad stuff down the drain

Interbike 2002

•Demo Day at Interbike - Can I ride a bike mister?

24 Hours of Moab

(Almost) no sleep 'til Sunday - 24 hour racing is nearly as much work for the wrenches as the riders