the World's Toughest 1-day Athletic Event
La Paschal; Paris-Roubaix. Number 423
There is no 1-day athletic event like Paris-Roubaix. This pro bicycle race runs from Compiègne to Roubaix in the north and covers roughly 270 km. Along the way, split into 25-29 sectors that average 1 mile long, are the sections of pavé. These are cobblestones the size of baby heads. They resemble massive loaves of country bread. They were laid during the Napoleonic Era. Today, the Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix (the Friends of Paris-Roubaix) exists to ensure that the hallowed stones of the race match exactly the stones of the last centuries.
This will be the 123rd running of the Hell of the North. In these last years, the average time of the race has come down to 5 hrs 30 minutes for the 260 kilometers. That’s 47 kph for the average. As the peloton (25 teams of 7 riders each) closes in on each cobbled sector, speeds of 60 kph are common as riders drive to be the first onto the bricks. With that extra effort, they can best avoid the carnage of crashes behind them. As they bounce over the stones, speeds will fall to 45-50 kph, only to accelerate back into the mid-50s once again onto tarmac.
The women’s race runs 150 km, covers 34 km of the same cobbles over 20 sectors, and is equally insane and destructive.
It is madness. It is boxing and MMA on a bike. Do you remember the movie Casino? Do you remember when Nicky and Dominick are beaten nearly to death with baseball bats in the cornfield? That’s how the riders feel at the conclusion of Paris-Roubaix.
This sonnet is for every rider who has ever dared to step across the top tube at the race start.
Here, I raise my glass to the men & women who dare to ride Paris-Roubaix.
Here’s a good, short read on cycling’s Classic Races. A Pint of Guinness & Paris-Roubaix,
Classics Both
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