U23
Paris Roubaix
6/1/2003
Hello everyone,
Well this is officially my first race report of the season from Belgium and I hope to give you the best recap that I can...of course I will not be able to put you into the race itself, but rather I really hope that I can remember all of the emotion and feeling that I had in my first race on the real stage.
First of all, it should be known that my selection for the U23 roubaix was a combination of luck, chance, and the right circumstances. The race selection was of course only U23 riders and the DS was Bernard from cycling center however we raced as the US national team. Bernard came to me on friday and mentioned that there is a possibility that I may start Roubaix. It had turned out that a few of the riders from the national team house were no longer able to start, leaving spots to be filled and putting me in one of them.
It was Bernards feeling that this was actually not such a bad race for me to start out as my first. His feeling was that in the race you go, go, go, and go. then when you cant go anymore, you go again. Of course I was like completely scared, excited, nervous, anxious, all emotions in the book while I waited for the start.
The day off was an early start, we left at 8am and the race was to begin at 1230. It was not long before I was dressed and standing on a platform in the middle of the start town with 200 people watching as they introduced our team. In line behind us for sign in was rabobank and quickstep. This is somewhat different than back home. I simply ignored what the jerseys said as much as I could and I reminded myself that none of these guys had won yet.
We started the race with the caravan ahead of us including the red credit lyonnaise car you might see in the tour and a bunch of motorbikes with huge shocks and wheels. The first 50kms were "normal" wide roads...according to the guys, but these roads would have been narrow by standards in the US. We covered 43kms in the first hour, it was not bad, but there were 200 U23 riders trying to stay at the front and out of trouble....it was fairly sketchy. Everyone knew that the race was not won on the first section of cobbles (3km) but you could lose the race based on your position a the start of them. This was a 180km race with probably 50km of cobbles....alot could happen but there were many fights to hit the first section in the front. One theory of Cory Steinbrechers is that the urgency to move up is directly proportional to the amount of euro dudes moving up in the grass or the sidewalk. It was crazy, we flew through towns dodging cars, roundabouts, concrete planters, everything....it was very hectic. Finally we get to the cobbles.
This was the first time that I had ever really riden or raced on cobbles, and the ones in Roubaix are the worst. I had decent position maybe 30 or 40, and I was still behind the crash right at the mouth of the cobbles....10 feet wide. I got off, ran through the weeds, and got going. I was going really well, I have no clue where I was in relation to the front, but I was not far off. then I flatted the front tubular, just in time for a 90 degree turn. (OK I should mention that it was about 85 degrees and sunny for the race...like a dustbowl.) In the corner I could not slow down and I went down pretty hard on the left side, over the dirt and through the cobbles. Ok, I got up and tried to ride the flat with about 1km left on section one, followed by 50m of paved road...then on to section 2, about 1km. I dont remember when I got the wheel change, but I think it was after section three, and I got two wheels because my rear was getting really messed up and later it would not have continued to roll. At this point I was done. Bernard motored me up as far as he could until another teammate needed a wheel change. I was basically alone, with about 80k to go....no probably 100k to go.
On a later section I crashed again as I was trying to ride in the dirt on the edge of the road...maybe 3 inches wide....this was good until I hit a brick on the edge and agian took a digger....straight into the weeds on the side of the road. I now have a nice itchy rash from what they call nettles....apparently it just goes away eventually! I eventually was able to get the a part of the race with about 10km of paved roads....long and lonely. I was near the back, but the sag wagon wasnt around yet. I was able to continue and after 30mins without water, I saw our car next to an ambulance. Corey had crashed from the front group, and was taken away with a slight concusion. this meant that I got onto the back of the team car adn motor for about 10 mins at about 60km/h. Of course the car needed to get back to the front of the race and help guys who were still in it with a decent shot. On the next section of cobbles, the car sped away as I flatted the rear again. Over the radio all they heard was that someone had a flat...so they drove forward thinking it was up the road...I wasnt able to tell them that it was 100meters behind them! this left me riding on the rim for about 45 mins at maybe 10kmh. I didnt last long from there, and one of the officials insisted that I get off and could not continue. Keep in mind that I was being yelled at in French as I refused to get off. the official might have understood me saying "do you know that I cant understand a f---ing word that you are saying???!!" Of course he didnt really give a crap, he just made sure that I got off and had my bike stuffed into a van, and had me get into a van with 9 other guys in it....all were giving me dirty looks...or at least it seemed, I think most were french, on aussie, maybe a german....I dont know. the ride in the van was horrible....over all the cobbles, and I had a left hamstring cramping like crazy. it really sucked. finally we got to the feed where I was dropped off at our feed car and Ann (cycling centers "mom") cleaned off my cuts and scrapes. We then went to Roubaix to see the finish at the velodrome. I officially DNF'd the race.
I was really dissapointed, but the race is one by someone who has spent my hours riding the cobbles, and of course someone who has a ton of good fortune during the entire day. I must say that the course seems unreal as you are riding it. the cobbles are huge and are often spaced out in no order. also every section is crowned from decades of use...this means either the middle or the sides are the only "good" spots to be. This is a skill that you must develop over time, it is completely specific to cobbles....how many MTBer's have won at roubaix? Not many.
On the whole I am not discouraged or down with the result of the race. I am really happy that I was given the oppurtunity to experience it. I would love to get that chance again, it may never happen, but if it does, I would go and give it hell without hessitation. I went into the showers at the velodrome and I saw Muesseuw, Van Petegem, all the past winners have a stall with their name, it was really cool. I got into the shower and actually got some hot water. It felt good, not as good as if I had finished but pretty damn good. Check out the results at cyclingnews.com, for now I must go, as the computer is once again in demand.
I hope all of you are doing well, and keep your eyes open for the next report, I dont know when I will race next, but probably this week and this weekend. best until next time,
bryan
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