Postcards from Provence and beyond

Yesterday was about being a tourist and sightseeing in Bruges.

The rest of the weekend is about the Paris-Roubaix.

It started today, with a full day walking sectors of the route, watching the amateur riders taking on the cobbles, at ‘Pavé du Nouveau Monde’ and the iconic sector of the ‘Pavé Mons-en-Pévèle’.

It would be fair to say that we have had a perfectly wonderful day. What is not to like about walking out with a rucksack, carrying coffee-makings and lunch, and spending the whole day watching people cycle past, taking on an incredible challenge.

I don’t think I had any concept of the number of people taking part in the Challenge. I had imagined a few hundred, so was amazed to watch thousands of cyclists pass us, in the time that we were out on the course.

The ride isn’t something to be taken lightly, and there are 3 options. A 70km ‘Discovery’ route that takes riders on a route across 8 of the cobbled sectors; a 145km ‘Legend’ route seeing them tackle 19 of the bone-shaking pavé; or the aptly named ‘Hell of the North – 170km, where the riders pedal across 30 seperate cobbled sectors.

I have to be honest and say that I get wobbly just on a bit of uneven ground, so the thought of taking on sector after sector of the uneven cobbles, brings me out in a bit of a cold-sweat.

We have watched the racing on TV for many years, and this is the first time that we have seen the cobbles up close, and I have to admit that they are even more uneven and chaotic than I had imagined.

Our first sight of the cobbles today, came at the ‘Pavé du Nouveau Monde’, where the riders left the tarmac and started to bounce across the rough terrain.

Many took to the slightly smoother ridge in the centre of the track, whilst others pulled off into the dirt at the edge of the path, trying to avoid the worst of the terrain, yet others just ploughed past, tyres bouncing over the cobbles as they pedalled on.

It already had the start of a race-day atmosphere, with campervans parked at the edge of the old tracks, flags flying, barbecues sizzling, and people sitting out encouraging the cyclists on their way.

We found a spot to sit and watch the riders, brewing coffee and enjoying the parade of bikes passing by. We imagined we’d be there for perhaps 30 mins, but we fell into a gentle time of sitting and relishing the sight, and occasional chaos that unfolded before us. Coffee turned into lunch, and we ended up sitting there for over 2 hours.

It was fascinating to watch the whole spectrum of bikes and riders pass by. From modern, sleek carbon bikes, to beautiful vintage steel-framed classics (some riders wearing vintage kit to match);

there were gravel bikes, tourers, mountain bikes (one with TT bars) and a hand-bike too.

For anyone (like us) who just likes bikes, it was the equivalent of being at Paris Fashion Week. Just a joy.  You can Watch a little video from the side of the road here

The riders too, were fascinating. There were men and women of all ages and nationalities. Some hammering through, and others clearly just wanting to get to the end of their chosen route.

Being on a bend, we saw people being cut up, by more committed riders, learning a multi-lingual array of swear-words as a result, and others who struggled with the line they had taken, uttering profanities, or on one occasion a very loud ‘Oh la la’ as they hit the dusty verge.

We smiled as we saw a young lad pottering through on his bike. The other riders kindly giving him plenty of space and offering encouragement as they passed, only to spot his mother a short distance behind riding a ‘sit up and beg’ bike with a little basket on the back. I have a feeling that they weren’t part of the official ‘Challenge’, but I’m sure that it’s a day the young lad will remember for many years to come.

Finally though, we dragged ourselves away, and completed the sector, following the route on through Bersée, to the iconic ‘Mons-en-Pévèle’ sector, to decide where we will go, to watch the races tomorrow.

This is a 5* sector, with a gnarly, uneven surface that seems to have collapsed in places; there are sharp turns, and no forgiving dusty track-edge to offer any respite from the brutality of the cobbles.

By the time we arrived here, the crowds of riders had passed and it was just small groups and individual cyclists facing the hideous headwind that must have made the experience of pedalling up the final slope, even more challenging.

This was where we saw the real impact that the cobbles had had on the riders. Some flinching, whenever they went to sit back on the saddle. Some stopping to take a break, and one young woman, cycling alone, who was sobbing between her breaths.

I wanted to be able to tell her that she was doing brilliantly, that she had taken on a challenge that most people could never even contemplate doing, and that the end wasn’t that far, in comparison to what she had already ridden. I just wanted to give her a hug and say it would all be OK.

I can only hope that when she arrived at the finish the tears of pain and exhaustion would turn into tears of joy and that she would be able to really appreciate what she had achieved. This is hard, brutal and all I can say is Chapeau to anyone who takes it on.

Which brings us to the conversation we had over lunch, where we said that we felt that it would be a great thing to do.

I am one of life’s enthusiasts, and the older I get the more I fancy pushing myself a little further, and I was all for signing up to do the challenge next year. But, as Andy pointed out, I am also rather prone to falling off my bike on uneven surfaces and have a plate in my wrist and a slightly mis-shaped collar bone as a result.

It isn’t just bikes I fall off. I can simply fall over my feet, or a blade of grass, especially if I’m happy, or even worse, excited. So perhaps the Paris-Roubaix Challenge isn’t a good fit for me. Andy though…. perhaps?

That said, I would love to ride a sector or two, just to say I have done it, so perhaps we can build it into one of our future cycling adventures. I feel it is a scratch that I will need to itch at some point.

But Chapeau to all the riders who took on the challenge today. They will undoubtedly be exhausted, sore, nursing bumps, bruises, sore joints from the bone-jangling cobbles, but also should be incredibly proud of having taken on the cobbles, and hopefully have memories that will last a lifetime.

All we can do now is wait to walk out tomorrow morning to bag a spot on the pave of Mons-en-Pevele, and spend a full day enjoying the spectable of the elite riders taking on the Hell of the North’