8:30am Friday morning and Duncan arrives spot on time in his Peugeot, a name evocative of Simpson, Merckx, LeMond, Millar, Yates, Roche… unfortunately the slightly battered silver estate didn’t quite live up to the romance of the bygone eras. After a brief stop in Pett and we were loaded, three amigos, three bikes, and with the aid of the Eurotunnel and possibly Sue’s better half we were at were at the Stab Velodrome just after lunchtime.
Roubaix is blessed with both an indoor and outdoor track something that no town with less that 100,000 residents can boast in the UK. The later named after Jean Stablinski winner of the Vuelta in 1958 but more famous for introducing La Trouée d’Arenberg to the Queen of classics in 1968.
Pete registered quickly having opted for the medium route, Duncan and I had a 15 minute wait as we were going the full distance and as would seem befitting had a longer queue. Having completed registration Pete was keen to leave immediately as he wanted to try out the cobbles before the event. But eager eyed Duncan spotted he’d changed his top and was now wearing a Paris Roubaix Challenge T-Shirt. After a brief exchange along the lines of ‘I texted you both, if you wanted a T-Shirt and you didn’t respond and now we’ll have to queue up again and I want to ride my bike….’. A mention of a crop top being more fitting than a T-Shirt for those doing the medium length route didn’t help the situation. 10 minutes later we all had matching T-Shirts, calm had been restored and were ready to head off.
Sector 5 – Bourgheeles à Wannehain only 1.1km but 4* - the cobbled sections are given * ratings based on their quality (or should that be lack of quality) and length, 1 being the easiest and 5 the hardest. Hands burning, legs aching, and heart rate hitting the mid 160s we’d completed our first section of Pavé, but it seems are extensive adaptations (Pete double wrapped bar tape, Duncan 30mm tubeless tires, me 38mm tubeless tires – to be referred to as Tractor tires from this point on) hadn’t necessarily completely smoothed out the cobbles.
Next up Carefour de
l’Arbre 2.1km and the full 5* and often the point where the Pros make a break
for the finish. Let’s just say ait was at the end of this sector we we’re
greeted by Didi the Devil, and he didn’t seem at all out of place. So anybody
got any tips – Apparently the hoods are to be avoided, the tops or the drops
being more comfortable – well you wouldn’t want your hands in the place where
you have most control over your bike when you’re bouncing around would you?
Apart from that the only other tip was to power through – apparently the idea
is to glide over the top, my experience was the major advantage this brings, is
to get it over quicker. Using the now shared knowledge we successfully
navigated the remaining cobbled sectors and headed straight to the bar. It was
clear tomorrow would be a long day.
4am and Duncan and my alarms go off in stereo - time to get up and enjoy a savoury breakfast of sausage rolls and scotch eggs curtesy od M&S. In the hotel foyer there’s an assortment of cyclist all looking half asleep and nervous of what’s to come. Being someone who likes to prepare I’ve plotted a route to the coach pick-up point, a shopping centre so set off smugly. However, this is short lived as having arrived at the shopping centre it’s clear this isn’t the right shopping centre and there isn’t a coach insight. Fortunately, there are lots of cyclist all heading in the same direction, so we tag along and at 5am we are greeted by 24 coaches and 8 lorries. Bikes are carefully loaded in the lories on 2 levels with a layer of cardboard placed between each bike, leaving riders to make their way to their allocated coach. Time to get some sleep - well it would be if our compatriot would stop texting to say how grate the scrambled eggs and bacon are he’s having for breakfast. Arriving in Busigny at about 7:30 it’s 8:20 before we’ve both got are bikes and I’ve made a trip to the portaloo to avoid a repeat of the 312 pre-start Dumoulin.
Note: Whilst the Pros ride 257km from Compiègne the Long Sportive Route is a mere 172km but still manages to cram in all 29 cobbled sectors and their 53km of bone shaking madness.
A pact is made, it’s not closed roads and the cobbles are dangerous, so lets’ ride sensibly and enjoy the day – we set off to ‘Hoghway to Hell’ playing on the PA, spot a group ahead and immediately give chase. The group is hammering along at 25mph then turn north, get more benefit from the tailwind and the pace increases to 30mph – Yes we’re pacing ourselves well! In no time at all we arrive at the first section of Pavé.
Let’s get this right, Hands on the flats gripping the bars as if they are a budgerigar – tight enough that it can’t fly away, but gentle enough not to crush it. Head for the crown of the road!? and press on hard. It works – it’s not exactly comfortable but it’s bearable and I’m skipping along at a fair old lick. The route is littered with bidons and already some have stopped to mend punctures. Oh no - slower rider in front so have to leave the crown to overtake, but here is where the tractor tires pay dividends, even off line with 38mm at 40psi you have grip (in the dry) and some cushioning. Bugger the chains off – where to stop can’t pull to the side people riding in the gutters, we’re on a slight downhill gradient so roll on until it’s safe to pull off on to the grass verge. Put the chain back on whilst Duncan passes then back on the bike and we’re off again.
At the end of the cobbles Duncan and I regroup and look for a new group to shelter in for the next road section. This pattern repeats itself for about 50km, but annoyingly must chain has come off twice more already. We stop at the feed station – I’d drunk one of my bidons on the coach and the other was now nearly empty, so whilst I refill, Duncan tucks into a waffle or two. The temperature is rising so having started in shorts, ss-shirt arm warmers and gilet, I’m now gilet less and working on tan lines on both legs and arms.
Apart from losing the chain it’s all going. well I ask Duncan if he’s had any issues with his and he admits to it come off the big ring a couple of times but being Di2 he’s been able to press button and magically ping it back on. My SRAM 1x11 set-up has a clutch in the rear derailleur and wide narrow teeth on the chain ring to keep the chain in place without a front derailleur – it seems SRAM (USA based) hadn’t reckoned on French cobbles when designing this set-up. However, the problem only seems to happen when on downhill sections when freewheeling so the answer would have to be to just keep pedalling.
We’re making good time averaging well over 18mph as we tick off one section off Pavé after another. The mines on the left indicate we are approaching the most famous sector of all ‘Trouée D’Arenberg’ but the level crossing barriers are down so we must wait for a train to pass before we can enter. Oh no what’s this we’re being cordoned on to the uneven tarmac path on the right instead of being allowed to ride the legendary cobbles. 200m later we’re directed on to the cobbles – Yippee!?. Being tree lined they’re damp and very slippery and yes there’s a rider on the ground in front. At this point the medium route which starts in Roubaix joins the long route so there are plenty of cobble virgins trying to pick their way slowly along the trench. The problem is this means we have to ride slowly as overtaking in Arenberg is even more treacherous than the other sectors, so we settle in for a bumpy journey through the forest. All to soon we are out the other side and back on proper tarmac and bathing in sunshine.
We keep the pace up and despite the cobbles, which by now have taken their toll and our bodies ache all over (never before have my ribs hurt on a bike ride) and we arrive and the final feed station. It’s only 30km from the finish but we both want a rest – Well I do, and Duncan agrees to join me. After feasting on more waffles we set off again and are soon on the familiar sectors from Friday’s reconnaissance ride, pushing on is no longer an option so it’s a rough a rickety journey on the cobbles that remain. After fighting with the traffic and being held at every sets of lights finally we make the turn into the Velodrome. I decide to head for the top of the banking and certainly more aided by gravity than sprinting power roll across the line just ahead of Duncan.
Pete is there to greet us having finished considerably earlier, he’s bemoaning the loss of bidon and his seat pack both casualties of the cobbles. Over a couple of beers he explains the best bit of his ride was the roads from Roubaix out to Arenberg, as he’d set off with a fast group and had wheel sucked all the way to the Trench, Duncan and I agreed that the well earned beers were the best part of ours.
Sunday arrived with a slightly sore head and we drive back to Arenberg settle in in front of the big screen spend the day, lapping up the atmosphere, drinking beer (apart from our DD – Duncan), watch the Pros hit the cobbles at 50kph plus and head home.
Roubaix is just outside Lille about 1½ hours drive from Calais. If you’ve never seen the Pros race go the atmosphere and spectacle is amazing. If you want to ride the same roads your idles do – do the sportive – it’s a great event and one I’ll always rember.
Footnote: Unfortunately Belgian cyclist Michael Goolaerts of Veranda's Willems-Crela
fell on the second set of Cobbles during Sunday’s race and died later of a Cardiac arrest. Our thoughts go to his Teammates, friebds and family.
Patrick Piper
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