I feel like it has been a few years since I worked the race. Maybe the last time was with SRAM, maybe a team… I don’t remember. After so many years of working races they tend to blur together. I often joke with others about being places now, which I had been to before and never realizing I had actually been there before. It’s like a weird déjà vu when it happens.
The last World Tour men’s program I worked for was the Liquigas team, a bunch of young punks back then. It was fun learning Nibali and Basso some American. This year, I have been invited to work with the Trek-Segafredo team and I’m excited. I just repacked my tool roll, and after so many years I discover that I have too many tools. I have to ask myself if I need a particular tool or if I just like to have a particular tool because I love it… eliminating duplication of tools for travel is key!
I don’t particularly miss going to race after race, I still travel enough to forget the places I’ve been. I’ve been making an effort to save the good places I’ve eaten in my phone so they pop up when I return to an area and save me hours of time pondering life’s food choices!
What’s great is that I get to work with Aaron Fairley who was just knee high when we sent him to Europe in 2009 or 2010 when I worked at USA Cycling. I don’t think he ever came back, honestly, and he is probably more Belgian than our good friend George Noyes (George went over back in the 7-11 days and made it his home)…
I love jumping into a program that is organized and I can tell you from the communication I’ve received so far, this team has their shit together. I have a full itinerary with lodging, staff, riders, travel and more. Aaron has outlined clear expectations for my role as a mechanic with their program.
It’s things like this that make me say yes to the work, they never said can you do it for free, they never failed to reply to a question, they provided details that make the decision really easy.
If you’re going to live the #promechaniclife, then figuring out exactly how to balance that for your health (physically and mentally), your family, your finances is an important piece of the puzzle.
I’ll report back after the event with photos and stories, at least the ones I can remember!
