I really love the high altitude venues on the NORBA circuit, putting the 'mountain' back in mountain bike racing, writes pro mechanic and Cyclingnews diarist Chris Davidson. Up this far in the mountains you can always count on one thing; rain in the afternoon, every afternoon. We definitely got the rain this afternoon, and there is no doubt about the altitude here, just try and pedal and it hits you.
Thursdays are always really low-key at the venues. This year there is a tonne of construction going up on the mountain at Snowmass, and this has led to some changes to the race courses from last year's event. The 'tech area' is a series of tiered parking lots on one side of Snowmass Village. These lots are long and thin and this arrangement breaks off the community that is the usual pit area at a NORBA. The barriers for the start/finish area run right in front of our trailer. We will get to see all the racing up close, but it will be hard to racers who need our services to get to our trailer. The volume of service should go up substantially tomorrow.
