Paris Roubaix Challenge, April - what to expect / prepare for?

[TomNeilson]

I'm prepping for my first ever long route sportive the Paris Roubaix.

I've checked out strava segments (a closing lap in the famous velodrome looks amazing btw- can anyone do it in <27 secs? ) and i thought this guide was useful, but I was hoping to get some first-hand tips / experiences from any members who have ridden Roubaix?
Aside from making sure that everything is very well attached to my bike , what else should I prepare for?!

Thanks
Tom

 

[mjr]

I've never ridden it but if you want to practice French-style cobbles without going to France, we've some short stretches of them in King's Lynn, both the relatively smooth type on College Lane (and I think Pilot Street and Devil's Alley may be the same) and the shockingly awful rough lumps of St Margaret's Lane and Purfleet Quay. Most are fairly short and some are dead-ends but I've been told they were laid by French convicts so might be a pretty authentic experience although I can't confirm that online. I'm sure there's some even trickier cobbles but I can't remember where right now - if you ride around the old town a bit, you might stumble across them!

I usually only ride the smoother modern ones (South Quay mainly) and bits still frequently come loose on my bike so don't underestimate it. Also, the bike handles very differently when skipping over cobbles. Hitting smooth strips like drainage channels is a nack, as is spotting when to avoid the smooth - mostly when they're wet.

Good luck!

(edited to add Street View links and unfluff some word order)

 

[Mickthemove]

Put some padding on your tops, make sure your bottles are secure, i use a velcro strap, the cobbles get littered with straps, enjoy the tarmac and attack every stage of cobbles!

 

[Mickthemove]

Sorry, meant littered with bottles!

 

[aguppy]

Use 25 or 27 tyres and extra bar tape or pads under tape.............plan to stay in a local bar if its wet!!!.....i'm doing the 175km one!

 

[jonny jeez]

I completed Flanders this weekend and whilst it is nowhere near as tough, its a great intro into riding on cobbles, with sharp hills and long exposed flats (well, one long exposed flat)

For me, I would say to look at carrying as little as possible on the frame. Everything will rattle to a degree that you have never experienced before. Bidons will shake out, pumps, lights and teeth will all follow suit.

Grab the big ring as much as possible and get up some speed, try to put the fear of damage out of your mind and cruise over the baby's heads more than dropping across each of them.

At a certain speed the vibrations take on a resonance that seems to come in a wave or pulse...its very odd.

Going uphill is something else, I cant offer any advice as I felt I was going backwards on the hills and just wound it in one jutting cobble at a time.

I was told to hold the top of the bars as lightly as possible but often found the bars would snap away in crazy directions (high speed helps to mitigate this) so found myself gripping the bars too much at all speeds.

Service the mechs well, make sure all the gears run smoothly (all of them) ...and oil up.

Check that you have plenty of life in your brake pads.

And your knees.

Good luck

 

[User169]

I completed Flanders this weekend and whilst it is nowhere near as tough, its a great intro into riding on cobbles, with sharp hills and long exposed flats (well, one long exposed flat)

For me, I would say to look at carrying as little as possible on the frame. Everything will rattle to a degree that you have never experienced before. Bidons will shake out, pumps, lights and teeth will all follow suit.

Grab the big ring as much as possible and get up some speed, try to put the fear of damage out of your mind and cruise over the baby's heads more than dropping across each of them.

At a certain speed the vibrations take on a resonance that seems to come in a wave or pulse...its very odd.

Going uphill is something else, I cant offer any advice as I felt I was going backwards on the hills and just wound it in one jutting cobble at a time.

I was told to hold the top of the bars as lightly as possible but often found the bars would snap away in crazy directions (high speed helps to mitigate this) so found myself gripping the bars too much at all speeds.

Service the mechs well, make sure all the gears run smoothly (all of them) ...and oil up.

Check that you have plenty of life in your brake pads.

And your knees.

Good luck

Well done jonny. I rode it for the third time - never again (as I said last time).

Given decent weather, I reckon Flanders is a harder ride than the P-R sportive. I dread to think what P-R would be like on a wet day though.

 

[jonny jeez]

Well done jonny. I rode it for the third time - never again (as I said last time).

Given decent weather, I reckon Flanders is a harder ride than the P-R sportive. I dread to think what P-R would be like on a wet day though.

Thanks.

It was all I could do to push on after the lunch stop, which was on the finish line!

Very glad to have done it though.

You rode it again on Saturday?

 

[User169]

Thanks.

It was all I could do to push on after the lunch stop, which was on the finish line!

Very glad to have done it though.

You rode it again on Saturday?

Yep, I rode on Saturday. I don't enjoy the first half too much, but it's a great ride once the hills start.