Twiggo survives in 2009. Photo © Sirotti
It’s no secret that the cobbles are the domain of the big men. Look through the list of winners in Flanders and Roubaix, and you won’t find any flyweights, grimpeurs or probably anyone under 80kg. Ok, maybe lighter than that, but more likely the weight will be compacted in muscle and distributed over a shorter body than Jolly Naughty Wiggins displays here.
With the Keepers Tour locked and loaded for the Euro Spring, the anticipation of riding the roads I’ve revered for decades is building to a point that could be deemed unhealthy by outside observers. Anyone within earshot gets bombarded with “did I tell you I’m going to be riding the cobbles?”, usually met with a blank stare and a quick retreat. But after I think about the truckloads of awesome to be had riding the hallowed ground, my mind invariably wanders to the ‘what if’ scenarios. What if Il Profetta gets rattled to death and cracks? Well, it’s meant to be, it’ll be dying in its bithplace, a return to the soil from whence it was born. What if The Lion tells me to Rule #5 it and stop being a pussy? I can live with that, even welcome it (especially if we are in the bar after the ride!). But what if my over-zealousness gets the better of me and I’m sent plummeting to the ground, and my spindly Twiggo-esque limbs succumb to the stones that even the Lion’s mighty knee had to concede to? Snap, game over.
So it looks like the best preparation will be a training regime of Welli-Roubaix gravé riding, peppered with weights to build some insulating muscle. And for fuck’s sake, I’m a mountain biker, how hard can it be to ride over some rocks? Harder than I can even imagine, I’d say. I’m praying for a wet Roubaix next Spring, but only for the Pros… I won’t mind riding in dust one bit.
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@Souleur
Yeah, here in WI they do the shit 'n seal a lot. Sometimes it's big, cream colored pebbly shit, sometimes it's a fine black gravel. The former is like riding on marbles, the latter sticks like fucking glue to your bike. It also usually requires avoiding certain roads for several weeks until cars pound it smooth. Then, of course, they do it on roads that really don't need to be done and ignore the ones that need it. I swear they just get done when some pencil-pusher looks at a file and says "yup, hasn't been resurfaced in X years, must be time" and never actually checks to see if it needs done.
@itburns
Yeah, I could actually understand the cop's action if it was pure black spray paint he was using to cover up that ugly kit. Mind you, he'd be spraying a lot of cyclists if he was the ugly kit police . . .
@Blah
I would fall, break my ass, and otherwise completely humiliate myself trying to do that on a bike
@wiscot
Here in NorCal where there is no real winter to tear up the roads and the state is broke they do cheap chipseal but prefer to just let the road deteriorate into a gravelly, potholed mess. Great fun to pound over.
@Nate,@Souleur, @Cyclops
Here in Seattle we have 20% cobbled grades. Because Seattle kicks ass.
Oops.
Yeah, rub it in frank, we know. I really would consider a move ENTIRELY based upon the riding terrain of my possible destination. Some people consider education, some church, some business...screw it, Souleur only considers one thing
-the Riding
-beautiful hors categorie climbs
-chicken bone grabbing descents
-pave'
-fellow V riders
and i would be all in!
and seattle is one of those (oh, and the java)
In the mean time, it was like my ride today, 42*, light wind which was nice, no gravel today, just a nice easy role out. No traffic, 3 dogs. No hammering this time of the year for me.
@frank
There is a 37% on "cobbles" in Pittsburgh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Avenue
It is one of 13 climbs in the Dirty Dozen.
@frank
@Souleur
Yeah well, around these parts we have something pretty special coming up in a week's time. SUMMER!
@frank
We have 20%s too, on what I will now dub Caltrans Cobbles.
@Souleur
I recall from my youth parts of the Ozarks with roads we called "tummy ticklers." Constant up and down, pretty straight. You'd fly down the descents (in a car). At the bottom there would be a "DIP" sign, and then straight back up. Do they have those in your parts? I'd imagine those would be pure suffering on a bike.
@DerHoggz
That is completely absurd.