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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
Day three at the Giro della Toscana
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Double day. Double the craziness, double the transfers, double the helping of pasta. Today started at 6:30am with packing the truck and then brekky at 7:00am before leaving at 8:00am for the first of two stages. Still had some odds and ends to sort out on the bikes in the daylight before the stage. My riders all come from different teams, so there is an array of different equipment. The Buitenpoort mechanics like to joke that no two things are the same in my camp. Got the girls rolling then settled into the back of the car for a quick 70km stage with 3X up the hill to Monte Carlo. The climb was pretty straight forward, but the descent was a killer: narrow, twisty and steep. The kinda descent where in the car I put one hand on the ceiling [to brace for the head impact as I get airborne over bumps] and put the other arm out the window to grab the rear wheel of the spare bike on the roof rack [ensuring that it doesn't separate from the car]. Good times.
The circuits were over quickly and the girls whisked away to the hotel to shower, eat and sit before the next stage. I was left solo with the box truck to navigate to the next start town, setup and clean/tune bikes for the second stage. I am amazed how everything shuts down here in Italy from 1:00pm till 4:00pm. When I got to the town, I was unsure I was in the right place because it was so deserted. I set up in a parking lot and went to work. Over the next three hours the start area was literally built up around me from nothing. By the time the girls showed up it was like I had parked in the middle of the whole race headquarters.
The second race went OK; all our girls are still intact save Meredith Miller, but she came here with some pretty serious injuries from a previous crash. The big prize is next week in Madrid, so we are worried about keeping everyone safe and healthy.
Back to the hotel and gas up the vehicles. Tomorrow we start at 2:00pm, so I get some time tomorrow to work on the bikes in the daylight. Need to wash the race caravan car as well; I didn't get to it last night. Dinner was better tonight at the hotel - even some dessert to finish off the day. I forgot/failed to mention the visitor we had at the truck during the prologue yesterday. Our soigneur, Gary Beckett, is from the UK, and David Millar [ex-Cofidis rider] happened to be hanging out at the prologue. Gary knows David, and brought him over to meet some of the girls on our team. David created somewhat of a stir among some of our riders; I heard a 'he's cute' in there somewhere!
I got one picture today of the whole team on the rostrum. They called up the team for introductions before the second stage. A variety of different shorts, the same jersey. Hopefully we will see that jersey on the podium in Madrid as this is a great group. I need to do some laundry, and my euro cell phone is 'taking the piss', but I'll get to bed tonight before midnight and tomorrow we have an afternoon start. It's getting better each day. More tomorrow.
Chris Davidson
