In keeping with my plan of varying things a little from the straight Q&A, I thought I’d use this week’s column to tell you about my recent visit to the USA Cycling (USAC) Bill Woodul Race Mechanics Clinic last month.

Held at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs from January 12-15, the clinic offers a unique opportunity for shop mechanics wishing to be trained as race mechanics by some of the best in the country. It may also serve to open doors for participants to travel to international races and development camps in support of U.S. National Team riders.

The setting under the five rings with the constant reminders of the Olympic movement and of international competition in the form of sculptures and posted quotes from famous former Olympians is appropriate to establish the tone of the larger context under which race mechanics work.

Ken Whelpdale, a longtime professional team mechanic who last year was a mechanic for Gerolsteiner, including the Tour de France, is now responsible for supporting the Bill Woodul Mechanics Clinic in his new role as Operations Manager of USA Cycling.

Whelpdale keeps a tidy shop - with a bit of memorabilia to keep the place interesting

“This is probably the only course in the world where any shop mechanic can come and be trained as a race mechanic by their national cycling federation,” says Whelpdale.

Indeed, a number of those participating in the clinic would be departing shortly afterward for Holland to be part of the team of U.S. mechanics responsible for the American riders at the World Cyclo-cross Championships. Now how cool is that?

The clinic has been running for 19 years. The late Bill Woodul, longtime chief USCF mechanic (who taught me how to glue tubulars and do other important work on my bike at the OTC back when I was a 22-year-old on the Olympic Development Team in 1980), spearheaded it and used to have the participants over to his house for dinner. Other top-flight mechanics Calvin Jones, Ric Hjertberg, Karl Jackson, Jim Ingram and John Lands were also founding members.

Hjertberg, who now works for FSA but whose name you may recognize as being behind Wheelsmith, says, “Can you believe we’ve been doing this for 19 years? And every single year it looks like it’s not going to happen, but then it gets pulled together at the last minute, much too late of course to send out press releases or anything like that. It’s quite a record though: 19 consecutive years!”

Professor Colin S. (Chip) Howat, Ph.D., director of the Kurata Thermodynamics Laboratory at the University of Kansas, attended the clinic in 1991, edited the clinic manual and exam and now directs the clinic.

“I came back as an evaluator in 1992 to help improve the education,” he notes. “I have frequently taught the Tubular Tire course (Howat is well known for his studies of tubular tire gluing) as well as assisted in improving instruction. I continue to believe that the manual must have one voice to ease communication. So, as any editor would, I rewrite what is submitted (by other instructors, often in the form of class notes) or incorporate new additions into the existing text.”

Specialized is supplying the team

This year, the 12 instructors split the participants into three groups, and constantly taught three different subjects at any given time that the participants rotated into. The sessions are always unforgettable with loads of anecdotes and secret sauce. Subjects include bike washing, track support, cyclo-cross support, mountain-bike racing support, tubular tire gluing, rider position measurement, wheel changing, wheel-building, even packing a team truck and driving it.

Speaking of the January Colorado weather at 6500 feet altitude, Park Tool’s Calvin Jones said, “It’s colder here than in Minneapolis, and I have to teach bike washing at 8 a.m. tomorrow! Brrrr!”

You really have to wonder what inspires that kind of commitment on the part of the instructors to be there in the cold in the first place, since the effort is voluntary through the year. At the session, some receive travel and lodging expenses. Others have persuaded their employers to contribute. This year, they all received a $200 “honorarium” that certainly doesn’t cover the missed wages, and many years even that is not available.

“We do it for personal reasons, I suppose,” says Hjertberg. “We like each other, share a passion for the sport, have followed racing for years, are proud that the specialty has gained some credibility, enjoy the eager attention and profuse thank-you’s of attendees, and sure notice that every wrench in most every major program and U.S. pro team is a graduate.” Jones says, “I like staying involved with USA Cycling. I think it is a great job, but only for 1 in 100 people that come. I enjoy sharing and giving something back.”

“I always learn something from them (the other instructors) whether it is bicycle related or not,” adds Howat. “I enjoy working races. I am a mechanic at heart as all chemical engineering designers are. I guess, like all of us, we like bicycling. I like working on bikes. I have worked seven World Championships with all of the joys, pressures and rewards. I can give something back to the sport that has been part of my life since high school.”

The bottom line for USAC is there is a large, continuous need for qualified, experienced mechanics to work camps and trips in support of our athletes. “Without this program, getting volunteers would be a major headache,” continues Hjertberg. “The work is grueling and requires extraordinary aptitude. Given all the disciplines and schedules, there are nearly 100 events at which US teams need support each year.
Yet for attendees, this clinic has often opportunities of a lifetime to travel internationally, work historic races, and meet great athletes.”

It also is a great legacy that Woodul left and that he would be pleased to see carried on in his name, I think. He was a man whom I wanted to emulate when I was young and that clearly many others have. Says Hjertberg, “Bill’s vision inspired a small group and we started it together. But, clearly, if it were not for his initiative it would never have happened. Bill had a gift for making you proud of this line of manual labor.”

And it gives other gifts as well as one of travel and sacrifice. Whelpdale, who prior to being on the mechanics crew of the Gerolsteiner ProTour team was the chief mechanic for T-Mobile, is ecstatic at having been hired away to a more stable existence and is pleased to have a project like this clinic where the participants come to him. This is the first year he has spent at home in many years of being a pro team mechanic.

“My wife is so happy; she can’t believe it. It’s a big change from 300 days per year away from home,” he points out.

While many of the participants are eager to embark on a nomadic existence like Whelpdale left, it is also inspiring to them to see the other interesting jobs in the industry that their instructors ended up with using a mechanics background as a springboard.