Saturday 14th July 2018 - Stage 9 - Saint Nicolas Lez Arras - Roubaix

Breakfast this morning in the main house was what you would expect for the servants - very basic bread, croissants, orange juice, coffee and boiled eggs.

From there, it was a drive to the start line and we were riding by just after 9am with another clear blue sky and little wind. It was around 18 degrees when we started riding which was pleasant.

The neutral zone started from a cobbled courtyard which was a taste of things to come. Out on the road, it was more vast areas of cereal and other crops with only gentle rolling country and some small villages.

After about 53km of riding, we reached the first cobble stone section. This was rough, bone jarring and hard to push through with few options of riding along any smooth side bits. We soon reached the first feed station after that.

As I was taking the cobbles slowly and with 14 sections to go, I headed off early on the 2nd part of the ride. The next set of cobbles were even worse and the third lot a little better. I thought my left shoe cleat may have broken as it was very sloppy. I stopped further down the road to find the main back bolt in the pedal had vibrated completely out of its thread. It has a strange, small, five star screw head and I could not get it even finger tight. Just then the bunch went past and the tour organiser stopped to help while the bunch continued. I eventually managed to get it finger tight to ride on until we caught up with a mechanic who managed to tighten it further and also the right hand one.

Being Bastille Day, the arrow signs were quite random and then over run. With the tour organiser returning to the van after leaving me behind on another cobbled section, they decided I was accruing bonus miles i.e. was off course slightly. Riding with the aid of GPS, I was then re-joined by the tour organiser until we reached the 2nd feed stop. All of the other riders had left so after a quick feed and drink, I continued on with one of the mechanics. He had the course on his cellphone but this went flat so we had to guess the course. The support vans caught up to us to aid in navigation.

Finally, I made it through the 15th and last set of cobbles for the day. This is an experience that was not good for the bike or rider and not one I would like to repeat.

Nearing the finish line in Roubaix, we were told the other riders were just in front of us. Turning into the finishing straight, most of them flashed past us. It appears that had also been on a number of course deviations and suffered some punctures in the cobbles.

The live data loggers the team has, which were needed today, are supposedly now working. It appears the supplier had not activated them at the NZ end. One minor problem is that while they are working, one is lying in the grass somewhere around Stage 1 or 2 where it was left on the van roof while trying to get it to work and left there as the van drove off. Its current location is reportedly showing on the tracing system so attempts are being made to retrieve it.

The finish line is near the Roubaix velodrome so I did a couple of laps while there.

Total riding recorded for the day was 168.0km (including about 21.5km of cobbles) in 6hrs 16m with 746m of climbing.

 

The outdoor velodrome is run down as they have an indoor one next to it. In the shower block, they have plaques of the names of all the Paris - Roubaix cycle race winners.

 Outside there was some typical cycle art which is seen all around the Tour de France route.

From the velodrome, we drove straight to another fine French cuisine offering of Buffalo Grill which is a mass market chain serving American style steaks with some concessions to French tastes. Service was reasonably prompt and the food good for hungry cyclists.

Tomorrow is a non-riding day but we have to travel to the Alps which will take most of the day.

A video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cub68krm-5g