2012 Rouge Roubaix

I'm tired... really tired.  Yesterday was my first Rouge Roubaix, a 106 mile race through Cajun country with about 25 miles of dirt road and steep hills thrown in to make it interesting.  A leisurely ride of 106 miles with friends and a coffee stop, or two, is hard enough.  Racing under these road conditions in what has become a very prestigious race, brings on a whole new level of "what the f@#k!" My race didn't go as planned but I was not alone on this beautiful, warm winter day. A lot of casualties besides me and each with a great story behind it I'm sure.  The nature of a race like this warrants some poetic waxing, but I'm soooo tired, I'm going to leave that to the guys at Rapha.  Instead, I'm going to give this one to you business style, yep, you got it, bullet points.  Just remember, I'm sparing you the Power Point presentation, so you can thank me now.

• Masters Race (about 90 men, plus the women's field) rolled out neutral at 8:30 a.m.
• The fastest 3 mile neutral start in the history of bicycle racing ensued.

Photo: Michael Lyons 

Rolling out from the hotel

• Race is now live, small break goes off the front with Hunter East and Peter Beland driving the boat.
• Peter and Hunter get a good gap
• Panic (not me, but everyone else panics)
• Chasing begins and no one is warmed up...who warms up for a 106 mile event!?
• Should have warmed up, no seriously, this would have been smart.
• Hunter and Peter are out of sight
• Tight twisty roads and the chase is fast and furious.
• The pack is much smaller now
• Scott Gurganus rides up to me and says this is the fastest start to this race, ever. 
• At least I think that's what he said, most of the blood was in my legs at this point.
• Hunter and Peter are reeled back at about mile 20. 
• Hunter flats but gets quick wheel change and back in the group  
• Pack settles in before positioning battles start prior to the first dirt section at mile 25
• I hit the first dirt section in about 15th position
• Legs are awesome today and I'm officially warmed up now.
• Field is splitting further under the pressure of the pace and the gravel road
• I'm now sitting 10th or 12th about two miles into the 8 mile section
• Rear tire goes flat... s#@t !
• The spare wheel truck is no where in sight
• Two minutes later wheel changed and I start hammering
• See Peter Beland putting his broken bike in the wheel truck, along with himself.
• Finish first dirt section alone with pack no where in sight

Photo: Michael Lyons 

End of first dirt section, alone, utterly alone.

• Collect two guys so I can have someone to talk to for the rest of the day (70 miles)
• Pick up bottles at feed zone 50 miles into race... thank you dude! You know who you are :)
• Pack of 25 catches us (dropped guys from our field)
• Ride with this group to the second dirt section
• Hit Blockhouse hill around mile 66 and feeling strong.  
• By the end of this dirt/sand section, we went from 25 to 6

Photo: Michael Lyons 

Top of Blockhouse Hill

• Ride with this group to the third dirt section at mile 83
• This "dirt" road is actually loose sand and gravel. But I guess "loose sand and gravel" road doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely, so we'll stick with "dirt" road. 
• Our group hits the steep loose hill.  
• Did the unthinkable, had to dismount but going as fast as the guy riding next to me.
• Back on the bike and now there are two guys out of the 6 ahead of me.
• I catch one of them as he repairs his flat.
• Catch more guys from the 3/4 race, they ride with me, then disappear behind me
• Beautiful forest. 
• "Dirt" road apparently ended and pavement began.  I honestly couldn't tell the difference.
• Finally some decent pavement.
• Well, that lasted for about a mile, back to the pavement that was originally laid in 1912 and hasn't been touched since.
• Catch a few more guys and keep riding, they're dead on their bikes and can't respond to my greetings.
• Legs are still working fairly well with about 10 miles to go.
• 6 more miles, a small group is catching me.

About 4 miles to go. Low water crossing.

• Only two guys in this group catch me, I passed these guys earlier (Cat 3s I think), 
• One of these two literally disappears as quickly as he got there.  I'm still a little worried about him.
• The others never made it up to me, which leaves me and the new guy. 
• We start working together and actually riding fairly fast... woohoo! I'm racing again.
• I ride in with the new guy who is fighting fatigue and couldn't ride in a straight line if he had to. But he keeps riding hard.
• Courage, this race takes plenty of it.
• Up the last hill and done... well, almost.
• Still have to ride 2 miles back to the hotel.

Quick, somebody take a picture of me, I look so darn good!

• Finished 19th
• Still tired.

Alex Harvie

Well, that's about it. The rest of our crew had similar luck but Hunter was successful in pulling out a 4th place on the day, an awesome result especially considering he was cramping and lost a two minute lead with about 23 miles to go.  Evan East had a flat and other mechanical problems.  He packed it in at mile 52.  Kris French flatted twice in the first 17 miles and rode in alone to finish 18th in the Pro,1,2 field in a time that would have most likely won the Masters race.  Packed up the bus and started the long drive home.  Fell asleep on the couch...awesome, then woke up, ate, and went back to sleep. Repeated this several times for good measure.

I'm already thinking about next year and hoping for better luck, but first, Hell's Kitchen is this weekend with a new finish on top of the Hell's Kitchen climb, that won't hurt at all!

Kris French pretending to be the Six Million Dollar Man running at 60 mph down the highway.