Paris-Roubaix

In a sick twist of irony I am doing Paris-Roubaix u23. For those who are unfamiliar with Paris-Roubaix, picture 180km (110miles) of hell, well except that it is actually cold. Its nickname is not just called Hell of the North for nothing. It is a typical northern French race with rain, wind, and these little things called cobblestones. These cobblestones are a tad different then the cobbles that line small side roads that jut away from the town square in major cities across Europe which are neatly arranged to show off the antique and delicate side of Europe. These Roubaix cobblestones are different. I swear they were arranged by the devil himself or a bunch of drunk French workers. As these cobblestones resemble chaos instead of a neat pattern that would make them ridable. Now for the irony part: being a 125pound climber, one would figure that I would go to France to a different race called Tour de Pays Hauts Savoire. The region is the most mountainous in France and for that matter Europe. After all, Mount Blanc the tallest mountain in Europe is located there as well. Paris-Roubaix is known as a hard man's race meaning that the rider who wins can glide over the cobbles, power across the crosswind sections in piss poor conditions. So yeah but it looks like I am doing Paris-Roubaix and that is fine with me, after all this is the single hardest one day race in the world and I am doing it. I leave you now with picture of the most famous cobbled section of all, the Forest of Arenberg:





David