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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.
The long day
Tour de Georgia - Stage 2 - April 17: Thomaston to Rome, 217.2km
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Longest stage of the tour today, 217km, with a couple of finishing circuits with a nasty steep climb. 11:00am start, to facilitate the long day and instead of the tailwind of yesterday, it was a headwind all day.
My day went something like this:
6:00am: Wakeup, shower, pack, then downstairs to the parking lot to pump tires, load cars and roof racks.
8:30am: Wait till the riders filter down.
Next was an hour transfer to the start town. An hour before the start, I pull bikes down from the van, setup wheels and do final checks. Then into the team car for the stage.
A five hour plus stage and then some extra time waiting for our star of the day (see below).
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Load bikes, transfer to the hotel. Wash, lube, tune and load the box truck.
It is now 8:30pm. I missed dinner, the soigneurs brought me back some food. Shower, load some of my own laundry, borrow a team car and go to the store for a few personal items, return to the hotel, hang up laundry, get online, go to bed at 11:15pm. My day was tiring, but in contrast, easy.
The real hard day was taken on by our rider Glen Chadwick. He got in a break about 15 miles into a 135 mile stage and powered it for over four hours. The break of three reached 10 minutes on the field at one point. Glen won both of the bonus sprints (including a $1000 cash prime) while in the break, then dropped his two companions in the last 25 miles.
Solo, he made it one kilometre from the only KOM on the route, the first time up the hill on the finishing circuit. He rolled in a little behind the stage winner, but had a great attitude about his day, even in the face of some less than intelligent chasing by some teams that brought him back. He was the race today, he brought the goods. Full props Chady.
Made my day look easy.
Tomorrow I will give you a tour of my office during the stage: the back of the team car.
Till then, take it easy.
Chris Davidson
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Chris Davidson
- Main street Thomason, Georgia. Start point for 135 miles of racing today.
- Toyota United directeur sportif Harm Jansen talks about the stage strategy with Ivan Dominguez.
- Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net) was in the break yesterday and sits near the top of the GC this morning.
- Toyota United goes green with a hybrid Prius caravan car this year.
