Albertina does Paris-Roubaix: Arenberg
by Albertina on Apr 14, 2009 5:47 PM EDT
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PrintI'm sure it has not passed unnoticed that I went to France this weekend. I've gloated about it quite a bit, and for that I apologise, you poor people who were forced to watch from afar...but seeing as none of my friends, let alone my work colleagues, realise quite how exciting this all was, please indulge me while I tell you the tale of my little trip.....
On Saturday afternoon, after a muchly entertaining trip on the Eurotunnel where we just happened to be behind a bunch of amateur racers on their way to Wevelgem (with Zipp wheels and a gorgeous Willier :O~.....), we arrived in Valenciennes. Don't go there. It's, er, a dive. However, it's not far from Arenberg, which is Heaven, or Hell, depending on how you look at it. So, we dumped our luggage, changed and rode off with a woop of delight. Until we got lost. Exhibit A is Albertina trying to fathom an extremely unhelpful map. Note the pasty white English legs....why can't it be summer already?
But we found it and OH. MY. WORD. Someone threw a pile of boulders into a forest and called it a road. Indescribable. I am still shaking, bouncing and vibrating and probably will be for the next year. I am pleased to report that both myself and my bike are still in one piece. I actually rather enjoyed it, though this photo may suggest otherwise. Strange how some common old stones can produce something akin to a religious experience......
On race day, we got down to the forest good and early and went for a long ride, following some of the course through Arenberg, Wallers and the surrounding villages. The forest was quiet and serene but amidst the morning mist and the sound of birdsong, the first sign of what was to come appeared......
But where was its owner? Look no further that the Leffe tent! What better at 10.15 on a Sunday morning than Belgian beer and frites? Mmmmmm.
By lunchtime the place was heaving and every vantage point was taken:
With every minute, the tension rose. As the drone of the helicopters grew louder and louder (in unison with the Flemish hordes) surges of excitement ripped through the crowd, standing several deep in places. The roar swept along the forest until we heard the unmistakable clatter of wheels on cobbles. Many of the favourites looked pretty contented:
Tom Boonen looked like he was out on a gentle club run. Perhaps he is musing on the beauty of the trees....or could he have spotted me in the crowd perchance? I feel sure that must be it.
Pablo Urtasun, on the other hand, was not a happy boy. Seeing his 'why did they send me here' expression, I shouted encouragingly in his direction, and seeing my Euskaltel top, he proceeded to look straight at me, roll his eyes, and stick his toungue out. I kid you not. My friend captured this fine moment of rider interaction:
Barbie on his impressive surge:
Some more rider pics for your perusal....
L'ouch.....the Hell of the North claims another victim
And so, Arenberg completed, more comfortably by some than by others, the scrum began. We ran back to the car, parked near the entrance to the motorway and along with several thousand other people, hit the road..... We only got momentarily lost on the way to the Carrefour de l'Arbre, and that was the fault of the GPS.
Pictures coming up, in part two!
All the pictures are mine, apart from numbers 1, 2, 7 and 8, which were taken by my friend PK (otherwise known as my Mechanic...I'm really not good at practical bikey stuff...).
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You actually rode your own bike up the cobbles?
I thought that that was what hire bikes were for. Or £50 mountain bikes from Asda.
Yes. Several people have told me I'm mad.
Bianchis are obviously made from stern stuff. But mountain bikes are cheating. This thing has to be experienced on thin racing wheels with the full bouncing and bumping. I admire the pros even more now that I’ve done it myself!
really?
Can’t imagine it would do that much harm – I wouldn’t make a habit of it, but once shouldn’t hurt.
Good for you! I would
also share the experience with my own trusty steed given the chance. It is moments and experiences like those that make the bond between you and your bike special. Thanks for the pics.
lol, sweet!
Yay for photos :-)
Also, I like that you wore Benna’s jersey to check out the Arenberg. Excellent choice!
It's a few weeks yet to Giro
Hopefully all will be well. Sad he’s injured though :-(
But Quinziato has been en fuego!
Oh you went to the Arenberg
well I saw two OUCH riders coming out of Red Rocks Amphitheater yesterday, so take that! Lol Nice report, but weren’t you supposed to pick up that poor Euskie guy after the Trench?
First place in monuments so soooooo overrated, 2nd is were it's at.
The Euskie was a fighter, it seems
He got to Roubaix under his own steam, no doubt thanks to Albertina’s encouragement ;-). (HD, but still…)
I offered, but he declined!
Bonkers. There were some riders in the Euskie team car when it passed me….what a surprise! I think only three of them made it to the end…but poor Pablo was outside the time limit!
Had he just taken up on your offer.....
a decision he will regret for the remainder of his life.
First place in monuments so soooooo overrated, 2nd is were it's at.
Excellent pics and report!
I looked for the Euskie jersey but as you know, it’s a big trench and finding people is a tad difficult, especially if you’ve never met the actual person!
I can’t believe you rode your own bike on that shit show of a road! I felt bad for the punishment I dished out on my Eddy Merckx rental, and that was just on the cobbles of Flanders, which were nothing compared to what I saw in the Trench. Those were brutal. We thought about riding some cobbled sectors of Roubaix, but after the punishment that the Helligens dished out, I did not want to set my skinny road tires anywhere near a cobble for at least a week.
There were a few other Euskies about, including a friend of mine from the Tour last year...but orange was a pretty rare colour!
I was near the end. You were there too?
I was at the beginning of the end. Looks like you were a couple hundred meters from me.
Pretty fantastic place to watch a bike race.
We had planned to go to Carrefour de l'Arbre
But what we thought was an excellent exit point, got blocked by two huge tractor trailers that tried, but failed to make it through the parked cars. Basically, there were 500 cars going one way, and two tractors going the other. Since both sides of the road were blocked with parked cars, the tractor trailors won and we waited for quite a bit for the mess to clear up. We probably still could have made it, but we didn’t want to chance it, and instead headed to the Velodrome, which was pretty fantastic.
How'd the Velodrome work out?
I wouldn’t have thought you’d be able to get within 5k of it as the race neared the end. Were you able to actually get into the Velodrome?
It worked out excellent for Plan B.
After missing out on Carrefour De l’Abre, we decided on a whim to hit the velodrome. Plan C was just to be in Roubaix so we could find a bar to watch the end of the race We didn’t have directions, so we just latched onto what we thought was a caravan and headed into Roubaix. Parked the car at the first open spot, ran into a bar to watch the race, bartender kindly informed us that the velodrome was literally two blocks from the bar, so we ran to the Velodrome and walked right in. We weren’t in the grandstand or anything, but we were standing on the hill that surrounds the track and could watch the race on the big screen.
If you plan on going next year, shoot me an email. I’ve got some great places to go, some excellent places to stay and a few tips that may be able to help you out.
There were a few other Euskies about, including a friend of mine from the Tour last year...but orange was a pretty rare colour!
I was near the end. You were there too?
Great report and pictures!
It sounds like you had a blast.
Good job riding your bike on the cobbles! That looks like fun (for a short while, anyway).
Seriously
lots of extra credit points for riding. Going and watching is cool. But going and watching and riding? Fantastic.
Cool points and great report
and thanks for your pointers in prior threads. I may pose further questions as they occur to me…
Thanks for sharing your experience with us and
congrats for riding the cobbles! Your photo’s are awesome!
great photos,
your expression riding over the cobbles is priceless.
I have to say though, those are about the most unappetizing frites I’ve ever seen…hope they tasted better than they looked? Maybe they just look weird on the computer. What is that venus fly trap looking thing on the left side? ;)
Venus fly trap? You mean the fork?!
They actually didn’t taste half bad, especially as the hotel breakfast was somewhat meh….
thanks!
love the photos and the fact that you rode the cobbles on the Bianchi!
You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
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