Paris-Roubaix

Had a good ride today with Marshall and Drew. Spring winds are in full force. Ended up with 48 miles and 2 coffees. Climbs were a bit tough after CFT yesterday and another workout this morning.

Tomorrow is Paris-Roubaix! Always look forward to this race. I was lucky to have a European business trip back in 2006 that coincided with the race and I was able to check it out live. I'd love to be able to have a full week over there to catch Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, and Roubaix. One weird thing is that it was pretty hard to tell what was going on during the race. There is no English broadscast on the radio.. I was at the velodrome, so I knew Cancellara won, but didn't realize that Hoste, Gusev, and Van Petegem were DQ'd, had no idea what happened to Hincapie. It wasn't until I got to my hotel room later that night and logged on to find a report that described the rail crossing incident and Hincapie's fractured steerer tube.

Seeing the cobbles up close, especially the tougher secturs like Arenberg, was eye opening. The lead group (Hincapie, Boonen, Cancellara, Hoste, etc) were flying across them, but it was amazing to see up close how much the cobbles really beat up the slower riders. They were completely on the rivet and several had slobber all over their faces...check out the pictures. The Ag2R rider was foaming at the mouth...

Hincapie the day before the race, obviously in a much better mood.

And, of course, the cobbles...