Getting Prepared

Well it was a fast start to the season and I found myself from doing nothing to doing everything. In two weeks I would build 20 bikes and fit tyres to 62 wheels and prepare all the spare materials for in the truck. The teams first races have been run and won [but this blog is not about race reports] and although it wasn't the start I'd hoped for, the team was looking good for the season. I actually started this post while in Croatia when I was in bed sick, the last thing you want while at a race. Lucky for the 3 training days between the two races I could afford to rest. I had plenty of work to do with wheels still to glue up, but rest was more important at this time. With this job, it's not like you can just take the rest of the day off and go home for a day or two. So you rest when you can, it's not a good feeling spending the day feeling like shit, sitting in the car for 3 plus hours feeling even more shit and then standing in the cold washing bikes for a further few hours til the sun is down. After some heavy antibiotics I was feeling much better after the 3rd training day, but then Philippe got it and then a couple of the riders got it, not the best start.
I think what led up to the sickness was the rush of work, read on and it will give you an idea of what it is like to quickly prepare to get my season going.

Lindsay was in the UK for work when I left for Norway, so I had to lug my toolbox and bags first by bus into Eindhoven then by train to Amsterdam for my flight. Off topic, here I bumped into BMC rider Alexander Kristoff , he was on the same flight to Stavanger to do some training at home before Paris-Nice. We didn’t really speak much at the Worlds but he is a friendly guy to talk to. Mind you he was not so friendly when his bike had arrived in Stavanger broken, the chainstay in two. He said the team had not prepared the spare bikes yet so he had to fly with his training bike for now. Packed in a soft bag it was never going to withstand the carelessness of the baggage handlers, especially with the way it was packed for him. Soft bags are ideal for travel due to their light weight, but you really have to pack the bike properly with extra padding, not exactly rocket science stuff but maybe worth another post.

The reality soon came that there was not really anyone to pick me up. Morten said he’d try to arrange something while he was in Spain. But since he had the key to where I was staying I really had nowhere to go. I got the feeling thou he never did really organize anyone, but then felt bad when his flight was delayed and missed his connection at Oslo. So I had to wait 5 hours. My accommodation was fixed just days before when one of the riders [Joffi-aka Johan Fredik Zeisler] was good enough to give me the use of his apartment while he was on the camp in Spain, so I would call his place home for the week I was there to work. The next day I was straight down to Racing Depot to start work on the bikes. I only put the three spare bikes together and my back was already killing me from standing at the workstand.

a stack of new Ridley frames to play with.

A week was not long to get everything done, but I had a plan to make things go efficently. The first day was just a short day with a little organizing and assembling the spare bikes, the next day would be a full day of bike building. Once I got my work area set up I was quickly rolling through the bikes like an assembly line, thou just a one manned assembly line. After two days my feet were killing me. When you stand at the workstand for 8, 9 hours a day it feels like you have shin splints sometimes. When I come home from days like that it is a great feeling just to take your shoes off. After two full days all the road bikes were built. I was given a key and alarm code for Racing Depot so I could work as long as I wanted, since everyone goes home at 4. A ten hour day is not unusual for me. I also needed to work over the weekend so not to lose any days preparing, no point taking days off when work is to be done. By the weekend all TT bikes were either fully or partially built. The weekend was also the perfect time to have the truck in the loading dock of Racing Depot so I could prepare it for packing as some old materials had to come out, thou with the help of a few guys from Racing Depot it had to be pushed into the dock as the start motor was stuffed. Sitting 5 months in a Norwegian winter was not good for it I guess. The riders had ransacked the truck for any useable spare materials so there was not too much to sort through, so it was soon ready to be reloaded. The last major thing to get ready was the spare materials, so with some shopping up the aisles of Racing Depot I soon had most items. By the end of the weekend I was feeling I had everything organized, the stress level was coming down. Monday there was not much left to do so I had spare time to build time trial bikes for the local Sandnes team. Tuesday our 4ZA wheels arrived and I quickly wondered if I would now have time to get them all ready as this was the day I was due to leave. But with the truck needing a new start motor I would not be leaving before Friday, then was the next ferry so Friday would be the day to now leave, this gave me some extra time.team bikes almost ready to go.


Philippe arrived in Stavanger on the Monday to collect the first team car, then Tuesday he had to drive 300km to Kristiansand to catch an afternoon ferry. He then drove through the night [arriving at 5am] to get home. So home for two days then he had to fly back again on the Friday to collect the second team car. While he was going back and forth I had time to glue up the race wheels, which is normally a several day process. First a layer of glue on the rim, then leave to dry overnight. Then do a layer on the tubular base and also leave overnight. Next day do a second layer on the rim and a second on the tubular and leave again overnight. Then you do a third layer on the rim and stick the tubular on, pump it to the max and leave for at least two days before riding. Now repeat that 36 times, it takes a few days but a few days I didn’t have. The spare wheels were easy, tyres and tubes, a cassette and 1-2 hours later and you’ve done 7 pairs of wheels. It must be luxury on a pro tour team to have 2 months to do all this, me on the other hand, about 3 weeks.
Friday had come and it was time to load up. I had to grab a few more spares and then spent most of the day just loading the truck. That night, two hours after Philippe’s flight landed we were on the overnight ferry to Denmark to start the 1000km drive home.
the truck on the lift getting a servive before its long season on the road.


Sunday I had something on so no work would be done this day, then Monday I had to drive the truck two hours away into Belgium to have it serviced and a roadworthy check done. Tuesday I could finally finish gluing the race wheels. I also had to go through my wash equipment, make sure the hoses aren’t split, have enough connections and check that everything works on the truck. The stress level was up again but you live up to the fact that some things you just don’t have time to do. Wednesday I gave the truck a wash [I never go off to a race with a dirty truck] and then went to Ridley to pick up the rest of our 4ZA wheels, more gluing. Then run around and get a few bits and pieces before repacking the truck for the trip. By 6pm I was finished and feeling like I was a little closer to being ready to go on the road, last thing to do before going two and half weeks away was pack my bag and spend what little time that was left with Lindsay.

Now I'm home for a bit and this weekend get to do some riding. Linds and I are off to the Tour of Flanders tourist ride. An organised ride that covers the route of the ToF, thou we will just do the 75km loop with just a few of the cobble sectors. We will do it with a group of people from Norway that are customers of the teams sponsor, so should be fun and I will post on it soon.

Til then,
Mark