Swords riders, Conor and Aidan Doyle braved the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Challenge. Here is Conor's report...
The Paris-Roubaix Challenge is a 138km event with 15 sections of pave cobblestones varying in length from 700m to 3,000m. The first 50km is on
normal tarmac road surface with the pave sections starting thereafter with ever increasing frequency and toughness, the closer to the finish the ride gets. The finish line is at the end of the infamous Carrefour De L’Arbre pave section. The professional event which takes place the following day is known as "Enfer Du Nord" or "Hell of the North". I now know why it is so called, and my pre-event musings of "It can’t be that hard" were rubbished by my experience of the event.
Myself and my eldest brother Aidan set off at the front of group seven at an extremely fast pace. We had barely left the town of Saint-Quentin when I cast a glance over my shoulder to find that our group which was several hundred strong was nowhere to be seen! A few of us had blasted it from the start and soon we were passing earlier departees regularly. The first section of the event up to the first food stop at 52km passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. We were going at race pace and even though I had left my Garmin in the hotel, for fear of losing it on the cobbles, I think that we covered that distance in less than 1hr 20mins with Aidan leading the charge all the way. I really must say that he is a super domestique to have on your team! We both knew that he would be in front all the way and that I was to try and stay as close as possible for as long as possible. I’m happy to report that I managed to acquit myself quite well in that.
Then came the cobbles. Now, these are not cobbles like the average joe knows them. They are big, non-uniform in shape and size, interspersed with large gaps in between, and generally a bloody nightmare to ride on. I wouldn’t drive my car down them on a normal day! "Oh my good god, what have I gotten myself into", I thought when my bike hit the first section just before the first food stop. I found myself thinking that I would never be able for 14 more sections of this body rattling torture! It felt like nothing that I had ever been subjected to before. The front of the bike jumping up and down, hands gripping the bars in a death-like vice grip (not by choice, but by pave induced necessity) and my seeming inability to generate any sort of speed worth talking about made for a very long and drawn out first 1,700m of the famous pave for me.
Carrefour de l'Arbe. Credit: Podium Café
Section after section of pave came and went, with my level of enjoyment waning with each one that passed. The typical pave section is approximately 3m in width with the middle of the road the highest point. From the middle it slopes down both sides to the gutters at the edge. The idea is to cycle at the top of the road but this is not always possible as it’s punctuated with big holes and cobbles sticking out at odd angles from the rest. If you can’t hold your line then you lose speed.
It’s very difficult (or at least it was for me) to get back up to the speed at which you entered the section. You can chose to ride in the gutter but down there you run the risk of hitting the side of a well polished, vertical cobblestone and ending up in the ditch! No matter where on the road you cycle, the experience is still bone rattling. Some chose to ride on the grass verge for all the sections which just seems an awful waste to me. Having entered an event famous for its punishing cobblestones. Surely the whole reason of the event is to experience just that!
"I did the Paris-Roubaix Challenge" one might say.
"Was it hard?" somebody might ask.
"Not really. I cycled on the grass all the way".
You tell me the point of this.
Anyway, the road was littered with people who had suffered punctures and/or fallen of the bike. Eventually, I suffered my first and only puncture of the ride. It happened just after the second food stop between the 7th and 8th cobble sections. I repaired the puncture but the tube would not inflate! Thankfully the Mavic man was there on his yellow motorbike to lend a hand. He found the offending piece of metal that had pierced my rear gatorskin and soon had me on my way again.
The pave sections were coming thick and fast from then on and I was truly suffering with every passing km. The thought of stopping and packing it in
entered my mind so many times but I pushed on knowing that I would soon be able to recover on the carpet-like surface that was the tarmac and prepare myself for the next onslaught of pave. Aidan was great in that he waited for me at the end of each pave section. I have no doubt that he could have finished the event much faster than we did but fair play to him for minding me. Thanks Aido!
On the third last section of pave we came across a cycling super fan who was setup and waiting for the pros to come through the next day. This guy was wearing a big bumble bee suit complete with headgear, had a campervan with a stage built beside it, and was dancing to some crazy hippy music as we rode by! A great bit of relief from the torture, no matter how short lived it was!
Finally, some 5 hours (which included three food stops and 1 puncture repair stop) later we entered the Carrefour De L’Arbre, a five star section of pave, and our last one for the day. I can’t express how delighted I was to round the final corner (all of which were very difficult for me to stay upright on the bike) and see the big banner over the road which signalled the end of the ride. Pride took over place of the pain I was feeling and I rode up onto the middle of the pave determined to put my brave face on for the last few hundred metres. I had done it. The punishment was over. I had taken on the Hell of the North and came out unscathed. Sure, my hands and triceps hurt like hell, but the sense of accomplishment far outweighed that.
Aidan and Conor at the finish
Would I do it again? Probably not. I hear that the Amstel Gold (which both my brothers Aidan and Peter and my sister-in-law, Laura did this year) is much more enjoyable with no cobbles! I also hear that the hotels in The Netherlands are way nicer than the yoke that we stayed in while in Saint-Quentin (now that’s a tale for another time!) for the Paris-Roubaix Challenge so maybe it’s the Amstel Gold for me next year instead. I think that Paris-Roubaix marked a good milestone for me as the week after I finished it I started my first season racing in the Swords Club League.
Conor, Seán, Aidan. Credit: Barry Meehan
The highlight of the event, aside from finishing in one piece in a good time, was having a chat with Sean Kelly afterwards for a few minutes who told us of the speeds that the pros hit the cobbles at. Those boys are seriously hard. I should know, I’ve done the Paris-Roubaix Challenge!
Goodbye from hell.
