Roubaix re-con

In overhearing the many conversations of the day the words that kept popping up were, brutal, incredible, glorious, surreal, humbling: each uniquely describing our day on Roubaix.  Through the week the G’vegas gang had been talking about when we would take the 100k drive down to meet the course at cobble section 17, Arrenburg Forrest (There are a total of 27 sections making up almost 60k of cobbles).    How many sections would we do, all of us but Rodney not knowing what to expect, but still amped up to give it a try?   Worst/best case, depending on one’s perspective we would do a maximum of 100k 

Trouee d'Arenburg

 

The convoy assembled at the Hotel Broel at 9:30,  and after packing 8 bikes into the van….thank goodness for the van….we set off for France.   Northern france is mostly just farms, but also has a significant industrial sector that was evidenced by considerable smog; probably a combination of heavy traffic, smokestacks and off gassing from organic matter…poop!   From the main highways this is a fairly unimpressive part of the world, but at ground level the small villages scattered sparsely in the wide open takes one back to a different time and I expected to see farm wagons and horses. 

I think most of us did not realize that it or perhaps it just worked out that way that Big George was going to be our tour guide for the day while he was prepping for Sunday.   Just don’t get in front of him!   Straws were drawn for the first leg in the van and Paul ended up taking the first shift.    2k  warm up (not much!!) and we turned onto the most famous section of pave’,  the Arenburg Forrest which lived up to its billing as brutally rough. ….I knew this was going to be a long day.   Everyone quickly separated but we all arrived intact at the end gate to wait for the BMC team car with George and Marcus. 

 

Now the real fun (if you want to call it that) begins.   of course I make the mistake of tail gunning as the whole group falls in behind BMC.  It is amazing how the big guys just roll right through the towns, the twists, turns, …and the traffic without slowing down.    It is steady….steady fast!  We hit the section 16 of the pave’ and we all fell in a single line behind George.   Whether you are a pro or not does not change the fact that the cobbles (unlike Flanders) beat the living crap out of you and any gaps that open are very difficult to make up on the cobbles.   If you slow down it is perhaps even worse rather than just lugging a huge gear and trying to “float” the bumps.  Rich and Sperry did a good job of sticking on the No.1 wheel and behind the gaps started to open leaving several of us in no mans land.   Things regrouped after the section minus a few and then we were joined by the Francis de Jeux squad…the only group that rolled past us on the day.  As we got into later sections the group started to thin out  and Rodney opted for the car with sore hands (need gloves and gel wrap)    I was already feeling cooked from nearly 350 miles in my legs in 4 days of riding but kept on getting back when things separated.   Steve was a having a marvelous day, admitting that he had found his new element and was the only one of us who was hanging with George in the last 4-5 sections. Conditions being different I think he would have attempted to pass George, but instead he has decided we are moving UWBL to Northern France so he can keep his jersey. 

As Tebbets described it our surreal moment came when in a smooth section George pulls up beside a guy in a jersey with Museeuw on it.  Sperry: “don’t ask any stupid questions Tebbits!”   It indeed was Johan, leading a group of clients on a tour.   I thought I saw George having a bit of hero-worship as we were doing the same of him!    I was later told that  the FDJ team asked how much we were paying George as a guide…… that just makes me realize what a true gentleman he is to let us into his world….one that is filled with extraordinary pressures and demands.   

Losing multiple water bottles, hungry, and slap cooked we made it through our final five-star (hardest) stretch of cobble, the Carrefour de l’Arbre, having completed 80k in 2:40 an average of 18.8 mph….not too bad for posers! 

turning onto paveHincapie, McCullough, Sperry

 

Hincapie, McCullough, Sperry

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