Travel to the Gravel - Rouge-Roubaix #14

The weather forecasts all week had been all over the map, and mostly wrong.  On Tuesday the outlook was dismal - 100% chance of rain.  Each day the forecast looked just a little bit better and by Friday a 30% chance of rain was looking quite encouraging.  Even so, the prospect of riding dirt and gravel roads in the rain, not to mention the rest of the 104 mile race, probably kept a number of people on the sidelines this year.  So naturally I signed up for the 14th annual Rouge-Roubaix along with a bunch of other club members.  The night before the race I put on my "Six Gap" 12-27 cassette, looked at the old battle-scarred Michelin Pro Race tire on my race wheel and decided to swap it out for a new, but heavier, Vredestein that I had been planning to put on my training wheel. The only other consideration was the higher than normal chance of pinch-flats.  That would require some compromise.  Rather than risk a flat, I put about 125 psi in each tire - quite a bit more than I'd normally use.  I knew it would make for some discomfort on the rough stuff, but the availability of a fast wheel change is not guaranteed in this race, especially if you're off the back.

So at 4:45 am Brian, Mignon and I headed for St. Francisville, giving ourselves just enough time to make it there before packet pickup ended at 7:00.  The weather was looking encouraging, and even though we got a little sprinkle of rain around Baton Rouge, it seemed like the tropical deluge that had predicted earlier in the week was completely out of the question.  The turnout looked pretty close to normal; perhaps down about 10% because of the weather.  I was riding the combined Master 40+, 55+, Women's group.  Although I had initially thought I'd wear arm-warmers, but the time we were ready to line up it was warm enough for just shorts and jersey.

The masters race started out fast with a moderate tailwind, and over the first fifteen miles or so I wondered who was up there driving the pace like that. I was trying to stay reasonably close to the front, but was definitely not interested in doing any more work than necessary so early in the game.  As we approached the first section of gravel road, around 25 miles into the race, I moved up closer to the front, coming around the right-hand turn off of the asphalt at about fifth wheel.  That was perfect.  The gravel was big and pretty lose at first but surprisingly the pace remained fairly steady with the speed somewhere in the low to mid-20s. After the first mile on the gravel the pace started to ratchet up a bit and I noticed the rider in front of me starting to let a little gap open.  When the gap got to about four bike lengths I knew it was time to go around, which is easier said than done on a gravel road.  I think two of us made it across that gap as the pace continued to ramp up.  Soon I could hear only one bike behind me.  Ahead was a string of about a dozen riders.  The last mile or two of this section has some hills that hurt a bit, but at that point there was no way I was going to let this group get away from me.  When we emerged back onto the asphalt I thought we would quickly organize into a nice paceline, but it wasn't happening.  I looked around and counted only about a dozen.  Behind us I could not see anybody close.  It soon became clear that about half of the group was not interested in working.  The really strong riders didn't really care if we stayed away or got caught since they were going to shatter whatever group they were with when we hit the second gravel segment at 67 miles anyway. So for the most part there were four or five in our group who were trying to keep the pace high enough to keep from getting caught by the next group. None of this was really the best-case scenario for me.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  The ideal thing for me is to be in a big group at the front and to have a couple of teams working the front trying to wear each other down.  Anyway, I did a lot more work than usual over the next 30 or 40 miles and by the time we were nearing the second gravel section I had pretty much decided I was going to get dropped on the initial 1 km climb.  I uncharacteristically let myself drift toward the back of the group, already running a little low on motivation. 


Alone at the end of the second gravel segment.

As we started the climb the front few riders exploded up the slope in search of the $100 bill waiting at the top.  I took it quite a bit easier, coming over the top about dead last, I think.  I knew that most o the group would shatter and was hoping I'd be able to get together with a couple of riders once we were back on pavement.  The one thing I wasn't counting on was a deep sand pit at the bottom of one of the downhills.  I have no idea how people were actually riding through that thing, but when I hit it my bike just basically came to a stop and I had to hike out of the deep stuff back to terra firma.  By then I could no longer see the rest of the group, so I just tried to keep up a reasonable pace.

Back on asphalt again, I passed the Pond Store made the next turn, and looked up the road.  I could see a group with a follow car about 45 seconds, maybe a minute, ahead.  If that group took a little break and slowed down, there was still a chance I might get back in the race, so I put my head down and started time-trialing.  Every now and then I'd check my progress.  For a long time I seemed to be holding the gap, but just could not seem to bring it down. After a few miles of that it seemed that suddenly the group just took off and disappeared.  I learned later that Donad Davis and I think one or two others had been off the front since the gravel section and I guess the group was not ready to throw in the towel.  Anyway, I finally had to back it down to something I could sustain since there were still nearly 30 miles left to go.  After a while I could see a lone rider up ahead.  I eventually caught him and we worked together for a couple of miles until he said he had to back off and sat up.  We were just a mile or so from the last gravel section and I was alone again.

The last gravel section has a really steep short climb right at the beginning.  By then I was running very low on motivation, so I rode most of the way up until my front wheel started to get hard to control, and then just walked up the rest of the way. There are a couple more good climbs on this section and it's actually kind fun.  The last 15 or 20 miles of this race always feel like the worst.  To make matters worse, there was now a pretty strong headwind.  I guess my speed was down to around 19 mph along here and I was already starting to feel some twinges in my right calf and left hamstring.  I guess I was around ten miles from the end when I looked back and saw a little group of three riders.  This was a good thing.  I eased up and waited for them to catch.  They were all in the 40+ race and I think had been in my original group.  I figured there were only a couple of 55+ riders ahead, and that we were probably the tail end of what was left of that original group of 12-14 riders.  I merged into the paceline with Scott Gurganus and the other two riders.  One of the guys was obviously suffering and would eventually drop off on one of the last little climbs.  With a couple of miles to go, Scott surged hard on a hill and we all came apart. As we approached the last turn, just after the 1 km to go sign, I noticed that I was suddenly gaining on the rider in front of me.  I probably could have made a big effort and passed him about 200 meters from the line, but when he looked back and saw me closing in he put his head down and accelerated and I just couldn't come around him like that.  I must be getting soft in my old age.  Anyway, I ended up 3rd in the 55+ race and 12th in the combined masters race, which I was pretty satisfied with, considering.  A bunch of photos are on the Rouge-Roubaix Facebook page.  To find out what the Cat. 1/2 race was from someone who was at the front of it the whole time, check out Brian Toone's blog.