Rouge Roubaix

Even though this race ended about a week ago, my legs are still tired. For those not in the know, which is pretty much everyone including myself, Rouge Roubaix (the hell of the south) is a poor man's copy of the real Paris-Roubaix race. Instead of having pavee and throngs of fans throwing water and mud on the riders, Rouge Roubaix has gravel and red-necks in pick-up trucks trying to kill you. But, it is still epic.

The race runs from St. Francisville, LA up to Mississippi and then back down. In between there are three gravel road sections, the last two with serious climbs in them. It's an A & B race so Cats 1, 2 and 3 along with masters race together. This made the field about 70 strong this year. Memphis Motor Werks, Compliance Depot, and Herring Gas made up the largest contingent of the race. MMW had a team replete with 9 cat 1s and Oleheiser the master's national champ. This made them the big team to follow.

There were 5 Pro Bike guys there (4 and me), our team plan was loose and almost non-existent, but mine was simple. I was destined to ride MMW wheels all day long until I could do no more. Its a 100 mile race so the first 5 miles were pretty easy paced. In fact the first 20 were easy paced, but as the first gravel section closed in it got faster. I hit the first gravel section two wheels behind Oleheiser, right on Pete Knoop's wheel, in about 10th place. Years of Kansas racing helped my bike handling skills out here. At the front of the pack the pace was fast, but not killer. Rocks and dirt were everywhere. One piece took out a chunk of paint on my front fork.

I emerged from the first gravel section in 5th place and part of a field of only 25 guys. My teammates gone and all alone I figured it was going to be a rough day. Thankfully the pace slowed up for a little while and Sam and then Dave caught up. The next 30 miles were decently quick with a a good breakaway that almost caught the field by surprise coming when we crossed into Mississippi.

As the pack approached the second gravel section the pace slowed a bit, but there was a ton of jockeying for position. I took up my place on MMW wheels again. I swung loose on a hard corner and nearly lost my balance in some gravel but kept the bike upright. Thus started the second gravel section and the long awaited uphill. It wasn't so much gravel as loose sand. Riders began loosing control of their bikes and dismounting. I had found some hard packed dirt, but an out-of-control rider next to me pushed me off my line. I went into the sand next to it and that was the last time I had control. The sand pushed my wheel 180 degrees around and I found myself on my back. I popped up and tried to get back up on the bike only to hit the ground again. I took off running up the hill with the bike over my shoulder but the field started to leave me. I knew that I wasn't going to win the race now.

I remounted the bike at the top of the hill and tried to make up time. I caught Dave and then Sam about 10 miles later. We formed a small group with some other guys and then hit the last gravel section at 80 miles. I actually think that the steep climbs and huge mud walls that surround this section was the best for me. In the pack I would have likely been dropped but in my small group I was able to out climb the rest. I definitely have hit form for this season. A Cat 1, dropped earlier, passed us and I, along with Sam, jumped across to his wheel. We lost Dave but two of the other guys from our groupetto joined us. The Cat 1 motored us in for the rest of the course.

By mile 95 my feet were hurting so bad and my back was killing from the chip and seal pavement that covered most of the race. A small jump happened at the 200m to go mark and I finished behind two guys. Overall I was 32nd but for Cat 3s I was 8th. I finished less than 30 minutes behind the winner (4:31 to 4:58), which in my opinion was good. Next mountain race will not be on gravel so I'm hoping to have better luck with it. I now sit in 5th place in LAMBRA, but will be missing the two-man TT that's next up on the schedule. However, I'm game for the rest of the race season and gunning for top 3 overall.

Next race up is this weekend in Atlanta--Brooks Omnium.