From mtbiker@u.washington.edu Tue Jun 23 12:25:57 1998 Received: from jason03.u.washington.edu (root@jason03.u.washington.edu [140.142.77.10]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id MAA59984 for ; Tue, 23 Jun 1998 12:25:56 -0700 Received: from dante28.u.washington.edu (mtbiker@dante28.u.washington.edu [140.142.15.102]) by jason03.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id MAA12932 for ; Tue, 23 Jun 1998 12:25:55 -0700 Received: from localhost (mtbiker@localhost) by dante28.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.04) with SMTP id MAA44964 for ; Tue, 23 Jun 1998 12:25:54 -0700 Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 12:25:54 -0700 (PDT) From: "T. Erickson" To: uwracing@u.washington.edu Subject: Yet another perspective. (fwd) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE now here's a great story of summer adventure. Hope all ayalz is havin a great summer wherever ya are. Keep me updated on your own personal adventures as well. Busto ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 14:42:48 EDT From: RADQUER96@aol.com To: Patrick.Bentson@PSS.Boeing.com, johnb@pmiseattle.com, Katie_Blincoe@misd.wednet.edu, grundem@msn.com, charlied@icat.com, mtbiker@u.washington.edu, loren.hanson@attws.com, Mark.Hanson@wwireless.com, James.Hendricks@PSS.Boeing.com, griz@wolfenet.com, scottk@ms.kallback.com, johnk@nw.ering.com, splatman@u.washington.edu, jacks@icat.com, corynord@nwlink.com, jeff.tschumperlin@nordstrom.com, Bikewidow5@aol.com, davide@MICROSOFT.com, DFElske@msn.com, DOUG.ROBERTS@wwireless.com, JBrown3384@aol.com, CCarte@puget.com, joebrown@u.washington.edu, Michael.Mitchell@polar.fi, SJensexp@aol.com, Tim@northwave.com, TEllswrth@aol.com Subject: Yet another perspective. The following is a story from Christophe Essayan. Sorry if I butchered the spelling of your name Christophe. If any of you don't know Christophe, He = is one of us Washingtonians. And my friend. He just happens to be a damm good mechanic too. I ran into him wrenching his backside off at Seven springs PA= =2E He had much to tell. SO I lent him the Laptop for an evening. And here is what he gave us. Please forward it to anyone you think wants to read it. Dale =20 =09Where am I? Oh, yeah....... Seven Springs outside of pittsburgh, stop nu= mber two on the NORBA circut, but race number twelve for me this year. Hello to all my friends back home, greetings from the international racing circut! = I am with the Volvo/Cannondale team this year, a pinnacle point in my carrer = as a professional race mechanic. This is my sixth year on the road, and by fa= r my busiest. I am covering both the World cup XC and DH races as well as th= e Norba races. My schedule spans from the early season openers at Catus cup = and Sea Otter all the way through the world=92s in Mt. Ste. Anne, this septembe= r. Crazy. But unforgettable. The team this year comprises all the familiar names: Myles, Missy, Alison. It also includes new faces: Cadel, Alla, Andreas, Oscar, David. =20 =09WE, the mechanics, have a big job this year and so we divide the work an= d focus on the team effort. For DH, each of us covers a particular job: drivetrain, suspension, cartridge rebuilding, wheels and tyres. Much like = an F1 team. On the XC side, we divvy up riders and see them through the race. There have been five WC XC so far, four on the European continent at Portug= al, Budapest, St wendel and Plymouth. I have found myself working with Cadel, A= lla and Alessio the most this year. Cadel, so far has two WC wins, in Portugal = and Plymouth, England. I cannot convey what It feels like to see a rider win o= n a bike you have built and prepped.. at first it is a feeling of business like relief, ok he=92s accross, I need to fight my way through the crowd of spectators, then past the officials guarding the press/finish tent, through the phalanx of photoghraphersand reporters... exchange his fresh spare bike for his race rig, so he can spin down afterward, then back to the truck, wa= sh and check it over.. The crowds here are amazing, the press is very ambitio= us: in Portugal the national TV network filmed me working, then asked me a few questions, at St Wendel the German BIKE magazine sent a reporter and photoghapher to cover the backstage work behind the racers, I was amazed at the intrest as being in the publiceye is rare in the U.S. The knowledge an= d fervor of the fans is really amazing. Back to my main story: =09Next comes the feeling of elation, realizing that the bike I am washing = has just won and my handiwork played a significant role....Cadel soon returns t= o the truck, with the biggest smile on his face, thanks me and I know I am no= t dreaming... That moment is perhaps my strongest memory of this sping=92s European Campaign, and It happemed twice... =09That is the crux of my work, the single moment of accomplishment, the re= ward for ten, twelve, fourteen hour days, weeks on end. Thousands of kilometers= of driving, both in Europe and North America, I could go on but instead let me give you my personal experience behind the DH races: =09Nevegal. The name is mythical amongst those on the race circut: It is a benchmark by which you are judged: have you done it? Do you really know? A high hill facing the Dolomites north of Venice, it is known for it=92s bad weather, steep nearly inpassible decent and brutality upon equipment. I washed bikes for half a day and built suspension cartridges for the other half. Missy and David were flying that week, which was incredible to see, ballet smoothnes upon a bike bucking it=92s way down a sick course. =20 =09Les Gets: a storm blows in an hour before start time. I must rush up to= p to the start to change tyres and Missy=92s brake pades before the run.. I am c= aught on an open lift in an electrical storm, hail beating at me sideways, arcs o= f electricity shooting through the fog, causing the lift to stop, leaving me hanging, exposed for a minuite or two and wondering about the insulative ability of IRC tyres... The start tent, usually reserved for riders privacy= , is packed with everyone, seeking shelter. Riders on trainers, their buzz fo= rms a background for anxious conversation in five languages. Mechanics are bus= y changing tyres and equipment, the stress of time is omnipresent. While Lar= i, our Swiss mechanic changes tyres, I change Missy=92s Brake pads. Rock Shox Disc... I have seen this done but never done it myself, I supose that there= is a first time for everything..... That done, next arrives Oscar and David, our Spanish armada. Oscar=92s fro= nt Hope has unexplicably lost its function on the way up the lift.... Lari and= I scranble to fix this problem minuites before his start... we end up opening the system, filling the resivoir with water and it works...when you dont ha= ve brake fluid at the top of a French mountain, you get pretty inventive. I = am blown after that afternoon=92s activity, missy ends up taking the overall W= C lead and Oscar make it safely down the hill.. I still have to pack for our trip stateside, and clean up our work area, but at least all the staff pitc= hes in to get the job done fast. =20 Two days later am in Pittsburgh, tool box and siutcase in hand ready to be= gin again. Hope to see you all at the WC in Snoqualmie! Thanks to Dale for lending me his computer and encouraging me to write a bit.. Thanks to all my friends f= or supporting me on my way to this place.. I hope you are welll.. See you soon= =2E=20 Christophe ciao! .