gitaneusa.com :: View topic - I'm doing Paris-Roubaix...Who's with me ???

nicolas

http://www.vc-roubaix-cyclo.fr/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=13

Paris-Roubaix cyclo : 3 difficulties

-the whole ride 250km with 50km of cobblestones
-150km with 50km of cob.
-100km with 30km of cob.

I'll be doing the latter. It means I'll sleep in Roubaix, wake up at 4, go to the rendez vous point at 5, take the bus to Wallers at 6 and...off we go !

Not sure I'll be taking the fake Gitane/aluminium Trek to this one. I'm trying to get my old steel bike back but it's 600km from where I live. Not sure.

What do you think ?

scozim

I think it would be awesome! I missed out on a new race last week locally in honor of the spring classics that included about 10 km of washboard (= rough) gravel roads. I might do it next year.

sandranian · Site Admin

Would likely be more comfortable on your steel bike. Cobbles and aluminum? Ugh!

Sounds like a blast though. you are so lucky to live where you do. Count your blessings!

verktyg

What's so great about cobblestones?

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA where up through the 1970s many of the streets were paved with cobblestones.

In the winter they were truly the "Hell Of The North"!

Walking on them or driving on them when they were snow or ice covered was downright dangerous! They were bad news in the rain too.

The rest of the year I rode my balloon tire bike on them! Confused

These are the remnants of streetcar (trolly) tracks that had been paved over with asphalt. The tracks combined with the cobblestones made for even more excitement!

sandranian · Site Admin

Its all about the romance, Chas. If you don't have to ride them, there is an allure: You can pretend you are Marc Madiot for a day. Of course, I would imagine the novelty wears off pretty quickly after the first section or two!

nicolas

Looks like I'm might not be able to make it...

The buses to take you from Roubaix to wherever you start are full. And I'm not on it. I registered too late (or, to be more precise, they did not anticipate this).

If you know someone who wants to make the Wallers route and has a car, we can share a car in between towns. If not, I'm screwed.

It's not even a yearly race. It's only done once every 2 years...shit.

poufthecascadeur

this year i'll make eroica with a gitane and in 2012 Paris-Roubaix so "rendez-vous en 2012" Laughing

to late this year and to busy

Sad

a friend was in Paris Roubaix some years before and he had really appreciate is vintage steel frame!!! some french boys did it with fixed gear bikes this year http://web.me.com/voizine/Paris_Roubaix_Fixie/Larbre.html

Gtane

Good for the fixed guys. That's an interesting idea, particularly as the pros tend to use reasonably close ratios for the race. Nice photography on the site. Even so, 260km is still 260km whichever way you look at it.

L'Eroica is a superb event, so I've read and heard. I would very much like to enter at some point in the future. That's a great thing to look forward to, poufthecascadeur, and with a Gitane too.

I'm sure we're all familiar, but here's a short film by Brooks that I found as a reminder of that L'Eroica spirit;

http://tinyurl.com/2fq2lqk

Tim

nicolas

Hi guys,

Just to let you know : Paris-Roubaix is still on !

A friend of mine is curious about the whole event so he'll make a few shortcuts throughout the race and follow the ride in the car from start to finish. Yes, he is a great friend !

I got my old steel bike back. It's not too bad, considering I have not ridden it for 5 years. Just a few things to watch out for : brakes, tires, cranks & gears... I'll be adding a second ribbon on the handlebar.

I'm getting in shape too, been doing 100km rides for a few weeks with tough climbs or peloton rides at a relatively high speeds. I'm getting there.

I'm beginning to check weather reports and... Rain is announced the previous week.

Good. I'm not that much into dust. Laughing

sandranian · Site Admin

Glad to hear you are riding a bunch. I have been doing the same...getting fast, and lost a bunch of weight (80kilo (175lbs) now, down from 90 (200+)).

I would love to join you. Too bad there is a bunch of water inbetween....

nicolas

Good to see you're getting in shape too !

I'm not losing that much weight, though. I went from 87kg to 83 kg which is not bad but not nearly enough to become a decent climber !

Eating for me is an everyday pleasure, not a necessity. I couldn't get on a diet, even if I wanted too.

I've found 2km of cobblestones not too far from paris, i'll chek this out tomorrow as a rehearsal.

nicolas

Well...it was awesome. It was awful. It was awsomeful.

I'll give you more details if you're interested but I'll keep it short for tonight :

Weather was like...1985 style, a storm came right before the first cobblestones sector ! A heavy pouring rain that lasted for...3 hours.

I appear to be quite clean because there was no peloton. For the whole race I was on my own, catching many, being caught by a few...

It hurt everywhere, these roads belong to the middle age...much more impressive than anything you'll see on TV.

I did rather well, I had estimated a 4h30-5h ride and finished in 4h24'. Prep was very good, I did not fall nor punctured (every guy I talked to has experienced at least one of these...)

sandranian · Site Admin

Details? Yes please.

Great picture! What an accomplishment. Honestly, you don't look so worn out, but rather relieved to have it over with! If you have any more pictures, please post them.

Gtane

Well done Nicolas. Great achievement and photo, thanks for posting.

Tim

nicolas

Thank you.

Well, here's how it went :

I'm not too bothered about the rain on a normal day & road, I even kind of like it. And... it's sooo Paris-Roubaix ! Perfect.

So when it stareted pouring rain, I had a little smile. I saw many riders stop to try and take cover here or there but I kept going on. The only thing I was worried about was hypothermia but it was 18°C and rising so it went along well.

First cobblestones were eerie. I had practiced the week before on 2 short but very bad cobblestones so I basically knew what to do and what NOT to do, rain only made it more...subtle.

Cobs technique, as i see it, is like that :
-Arms & wrists as bendy as possible but positionning the wrists too low on too strong an angle can be hurtful. Hands on top of the handlebar at all times.
-Fingers get hurt. Handle softly so that the bike as some freedom (but not too much)
-Stay on the saddle. Being 84kg is an advantage (finally, so many years of pastries do pay !).
-Remain on top-middle of the road. These roads are used by machines for agriculture so the sides are in pretty bad shape. Also, lots of water means you don't see what's underneath it.

So there I was, alone in that first cobs sector, with dark grey clouds, heavy rain, I saw two lightning strikes in the distance...Epic.

Also very important, you have to keep your own pace. Every incident when you're on the cobs will make you loose speed. Crossing a guy is always tricky, you have to go through the dirty side of the road. A few sectors began with "civilised" cobs where you could take a little speed but they all ended up in very bad roads, which was depressing. Top speed on the cobs : 30km/h.

When you're in the mountain and feel bad, you can slow a little, maybe add a teeth or two but on the cobs legs don't hurt that much. Everything else does. Vibration is the enemy. If you slow down, it's worse. From this perspective, sectors around 3km long are just horrible. All you can think of is "stop punching me !".

When the rain stopped, some sectors dried but others, covered with mud, started to get stickier... you can see the marks of tyres caught in between the cobblestones. The sound is scary, you feel like the machine is gonna break, tyres are gonna be sucked in by the cobs. Lots of stress. And sometimes, you feel you're not in control anymore, road is so bad you just let things go...

Big rewards : entering the velodrome is... very emotionnal, to say the least. A big thrill down the spine.

My first words after finishing : "I'll never do that again"
My first words after seeing the pictures : "where do I sign up for the next one ?"

So, to anyone interested, next round in 2012. If you live overseas, there's plenty of time to get thing started.