Posts Tagged ‘classics’

Cobbled rides- for mortals

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Further to today’s discussion of the Road to Roubaix documentary, Jim Speakman pointed me in the direction of Rapha’s own Hell of the North ride on April 11th. It’s billed as North London’s version of Paris-Roubaix with 20 sections of pavé in 100km.

I found a google map which looks to cobble together (sorry) a resource of pavé roads in Britain and beyond. It’s discussed on Bikeradar here.

The idea of a Scottish version was floated – Edinburgh is full of cobbled streets and canal towpaths have some fearsome cobbled secteurs, but it would take quite a bit of figuring out. (and I might be doing a Super6 race in Fife that day- wonder if it goes up Kirk Street in Culross?)

Culross, originally uploaded by Ipoh 子.

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The Road to Roubaix

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Watched The Road to Roubaix recently- a good documentary on the Queen of the Spring Classics. Thanks to @StumpyRider for lending it to me- the power of twitter strikes again!

The race is of course famed for it’s brutal cobbled sections. One of the most interesting things I took from it was that most of the bikes used in the race will never be ridden professionally again.

The pros all shower in an ancient concrete/stone changing room, with separate stalls badged with the names of the winners. It had the feel of a local race- everyone washing down together, no primadonnas here.

As a photography enthusiast, I also enjoyed the creative process of Timm Kölln with his series of gritty post-race portraits, titled The Peloton.

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