(Finally have my camera harware back. Sorry for the lack of photos. Here's one from the iPod surgery to hold you over) Well Roubaix was pretty crazy. What else can I say? It was almost exactly what I expected. Mud, slick pave, pissed off euros, wicked fun. Don't be fooled by the results (I think I got 60th. The last guy to make the time cut), I had a pretty good day out there. My job for the day was to led Gatis and Evaldas into the cobble sections and I did just that.
Quick break down of the race- Marked breaks for the first 50km. Got a flat 5km before the first pave section. Motor paced back at 70kmph almost killed myself riding on the side walk then revved the engine at the front and launched Gatis into the pave. Race was neutralized after a moto crashed. Got in a fist fight during the neutral. Stayed upright by riding 15yards out into a mud field during the second section to make the led split of 25. Marked breaks till Gatis rejoined the front (crashed during pave section). Race, race, race. Bla, bla, bla. Pave, pave, pave. Crash w/ 30km to go. Got an epically slow wheel change and no help from the car after the change. Day was over. Packed it up and just dragged my tired ass to the finish. Damn seeing the finishing velodrome felt good!
One funny thing about the whole Roubaix experience is, before the race the staff told us that after the race we could drink all the beer we wanted. But saying that is like telling a little kid who is going in to get his tonsils taken out that, after the surgery, he can have all the ice cream he wants. After surgery the poor kid is in too much pain to get the ice cream down his throat so he just sits there staring at it in agony. We were not much different. After the race my hands were so trashed and bruised I could hardly even hold a beer can. Opening it was damn near impossible and drinking it.... not happening.
Anyways, Roubaix was fun and I'm really happy I got to race and even happier that I put in a good race and was able to really help out the team. However, there is no time to bask in the post Roubaix vibe; I've got a big month ahead of me. I'll spare y'all the details but I will say that in the next month I will visit 5 countries and 4 states. Yeah, that's right I said states!
Going home for a week,
alex
Quick break down of the race- Marked breaks for the first 50km. Got a flat 5km before the first pave section. Motor paced back at 70kmph almost killed myself riding on the side walk then revved the engine at the front and launched Gatis into the pave. Race was neutralized after a moto crashed. Got in a fist fight during the neutral. Stayed upright by riding 15yards out into a mud field during the second section to make the led split of 25. Marked breaks till Gatis rejoined the front (crashed during pave section). Race, race, race. Bla, bla, bla. Pave, pave, pave. Crash w/ 30km to go. Got an epically slow wheel change and no help from the car after the change. Day was over. Packed it up and just dragged my tired ass to the finish. Damn seeing the finishing velodrome felt good!
One funny thing about the whole Roubaix experience is, before the race the staff told us that after the race we could drink all the beer we wanted. But saying that is like telling a little kid who is going in to get his tonsils taken out that, after the surgery, he can have all the ice cream he wants. After surgery the poor kid is in too much pain to get the ice cream down his throat so he just sits there staring at it in agony. We were not much different. After the race my hands were so trashed and bruised I could hardly even hold a beer can. Opening it was damn near impossible and drinking it.... not happening.
Anyways, Roubaix was fun and I'm really happy I got to race and even happier that I put in a good race and was able to really help out the team. However, there is no time to bask in the post Roubaix vibe; I've got a big month ahead of me. I'll spare y'all the details but I will say that in the next month I will visit 5 countries and 4 states. Yeah, that's right I said states!
Going home for a week,
alex
1 comment:
Wow, awesome post. I got directed here from Drew's comment at podiumcafe.com. And I came with a question: What did you get in a fight over?
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