Hello, I’m thinking of doing the Paris Roubaix Sportive next year and wondered what the collective thinks are necessary items? I am also interested in hearing any recommendations for accommodation as the plan is to watch the race the following day? Thanks 🙂

The entries open on Dec8 – you may be struggling for accomodation in Roubaix itself now – we booked ours about 3months ago.

I’m doing it again in 2015. What works for me;

28mm tyres at 90psi.
Camelback rather than ejectable water bottle.
Pre-riding a 5 star sector the day before.
Fitness.
Accommodation can’t remember where.

Don’t know how I’d cope in the wet or with a headwind!

I’ve done it 3 times before it became a sportive type event when they just opened the course and folks rode it the day before.. Now it’s all gel wrappers and discarded egos..

Still it’s a great event to do, one you must tick off and try to enjoy.

2 of the 3 I did were in the wet so it wasn’t the most pleasant days on the bike, I broke my elbow in a stupid cobble to Tarmac interjection, damn I was 30ks from the finish too. but you see that’s what makes the event, something always happens.

Setup, 2 rolls of bar tape, 23mm tyres and 90psi, double bottom pad sewn into my 3/4 bibs. I was on an Orca which aren’t the most compliant of bikes TBH. The third time I did it I was on my Parlee and that was so much better, same setup mind but without the double pad.

We stayed in Bruges and drove over, Mrs dropped us off at the start and collected the remains at the cobble section just outside the velodrome then she drove us back to a 5*hotel back in Bruges for some RnR. If I ever do it again I’ll do the same thing but put some 25mm Clements on like most of the pros and continue to use mechanical SrAm Red.

As for bottle fill ups when I did it the locals offered fill ups at the side of the Tarmac sections as a lot of the route heads through villages and small hamlets. Wouldn’t take anything greater than a 1ltr bottle.

Sorry can’t help with local accom, just never done it that way.

Thanks for the tips and comments, how long did it take to get to Bruges from the finish?

These tyres? http://clementcycling.com/strada-lgg-road

doing it next year provided we get entries in. Booked accom a while ago (one night in a posh place built around a windmill a few miles away, t’other night in some cheap Etap type chain I think). Possibly the 35mm slicks on my CX are cheating? Mates who have done it before have gone double-wrapped tape and 25-28mm tyres, I’ll be fitting Cinelli gel bar tape to ours

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cinelli-gel-cork-bar-tape/rp-prod25854

Have spectated the race before (2011 when Van Summeren won), we stayed in Compiegne the start town as it is taken over by the race and has a festival atmosphere -night time crits whizzing past your elbow in a pavement cafe, sat having lunch next to Phil L and Paul S near the parc ferme etc – and then “chased” the race by car successfully catching it on a few key cobble sections, then watching the finish on a big screen at the last one we got to.

If you didnt want to do the official sportive then vc roubaix do one every two years, the next ine in 2016. Some guys i worked with have done a few times, its sounds brilliant , think this is the site Vc roubaix next year they are doing a mtb sportive

The VC roubaix one is excellent. a lot less people. beer and frites at the end. I have done it twice.

get big tyres, as big as you can go. there are no heroics in hurting yourself on 23mm ‘cos you are hard’. its hard on 32mm cx tyres, its hard on 27mm FMB tubs. it breaks bikes as well as people.

my advice is to spend the previous 3 months doing intervals. of up to about 8minutes in duration. you re going to be doing intervals for the 7+hours you are out there, so you might as well get used to it.

trick to riding the cobbles is to ride as hard as you can.

Don’t wear a watch – it will wear a big hole in your wrist.

bottles: 500ml is fine. steel/ti cage – bend it around the bottle to prevent it from being ejected.

I have never double-wrapped my tape, but wished i had both times.

^ Yeah.

Whilst not haven ridden the sportive I do ride out there with an ex pat!
Never tried more than 25c and was very surprised to see the locals (Koppenberg area) all riding 23c, which is fine.
Double tape, Cinelli gel strips under the tape all work well, but I love Zipp CX tape.
That ally bottle cage tip is good and it’ll save your nice carbon ones.

In the wet it’s scary. Stay central as the pavé to the edges has spread out over time. And when it floods you can’t see all the missing blocks

Gloveless. Tried it preferred it.

I did it this year and it was a brilliant event.

I rode a Bianchi carbon road bike with Challenge Paris-Roubaix 27mm tyres. A bit tight in the front fork but no punctures. A Cambelbak may be a good idea I lost three bottles (I picked up the 3rd on the course). I used Fizik gel underneath the tape. No idea if it made a difference my hands were bashed to bits.

No mechanicals, no punctures, swollen knuckles and big grin.

We are doing Flanders in 2015 and hope to to Roubaix in 2015.
Interesting to see what people say in this thread, Flanders cobbles aren’t as harsh as Roubaix but still keen to be more comfortable.

Also does anybody know if you can spin around Roubaix velodrome on a normal weekday/weekend?
We are staying 10 miles away for Flanders and thought it would be a nice thing to roll out to on the Friday before riding the Sportive on the Saturday.
Sorry to hijack!

Free access to the Roubaix velodrome on the Friday preceding the race in my experience. Shared it with a practising Sky Team!

In 2002 we went there with Paul Vincent and stood outside the gates of the track looking keen and some bloke walked over, pulled out a big bunch of keys and motioned us in to have a go. Don’t know what it’s like now they’ve built a covered track next door.

i entered first thing this morning. then booked hotel in cambrai.

It’s my first time – See you there…

Booked and not quite ready to go!!!

not quite ready to go

what do i need to be ready? how will i know if ‘i’m ready’? 😯

Don’t know really, for me it’s fitness, stamina and a high tolerance for Belgian beer 🙂

Doing the full Flanders sportive on the Saturday, does anybody know if we go over to Roubaix on the good Friday, could we get a ride ? or is it just open on the Friday before Paris-Roubaix ?

TBH you could probably just turn up at the velodrome on Saturday morning. You might get some grumpiness at the feed stops.

I was led to believe that the Paris roubaix sportive was €500 and coach trip/cycle tour company only or am I getting confused?

The day before the race it’s the P-R Challenge. It’s a dirty ride over dirt roads with paving slabs thrown out of a helicopter. Entry is via the website – about €30.

We’re in! Mixture of posh and pov hotels. Doing on Saracen Hack with the 35mm slicks it came with and some gel bar tape.

Heading down for an overnight recce in February to pre ride a few sections (an excuse for a weekend riding!).

Not long to go now, I’m getting really excited. I did a track taster session at Lee Valley Velodrome yesterday too in readiness for the finish! (Not really, it was a gift from my BIL.) incidentally spies anyone know what pitch the banking at Roubaix is, Lee Valley is 42 degrees.

Yup, just a couple of days to go. Have got a few miles under my belt but have been so busy at work recently that I’m going to be exhausted before I get to the start line (especially with a 5am shuttle bus from Roubaix). I managed to get the bike cleaned and prepped over Easter:
28mm Gravel Kings at 80psi on CX wheels
single wrap of bar tape (but I ride quite lightly)
comfy saddle
2 x steel bottle cages (was dissuaded from using a Camelbak by roadie mates)

Anyone got a weather forecast?

Dry all week, temperature increasing until Friday then a bit cooler, probably SW/ WSW winds. There is deep water in the last section of pave before the Arenberg currently!
I managed to hurt my wrist quite badly at Battle on the Beach, so that’ll be good fun. We’ll be riding Xplor USH 35s at 40psi!

Is it any coincidence that Paris-Roubaix is abbreviated to PR, which in medical parlance is a Per Rectum examination for prostate enlargement?

Poligrip…

If you’ve got false teeth, use this.

HTH

Is it any coincidence that Paris-Roubaix is abbreviated to PR, which in medical parlance is a Per Rectum examination for prostate enlargement?

Sorry to be anal about this but PR means pertaining to the rectum in general and not only to do with prostate exam.

I get your point though!

Anyone got a weather forecast?

stick Lille into BBC weather, it’s close by.

Did our recce a month or so ago -all good; no punctures, mechanicals or crashes, bottles stayed in my wire cages. Neither of us had double-wrapped tape and I actually found riding on the hoods (which is generally advised against) the most comfortable, gave my the most natural/relaxed elbow bend that absorbed the shocks.

I have fitted gel tape to Munqe-Chick’s bike for the actual sportif mainly as the old stuff was so tatty.

we want it cold enough to be able to wear our team Molteni long sleeve jerseys!

Has anyone got a spare entry for the 139km version?

If so, could you contact me via my address in my profile.

thanks

How’s everyone feeling after that? I’m sore in places I wasn’t expecting (jaw, finger joints) and not sore in places I was (saddle area). And a bit sunburned after watching the race on the big screen at the velodrome with a continuous supply of beer. The pros had it easier than us! What a great weekend. 🙂

I ended up finishing on my own from the group I was with. I had problems with mud clearance throughout, but particularly on Camphin-en-Pévèle. I was running Clement Strada LGG 28mm’s, and they were fine in the dry, but the mud there clogged front and rear causing the rear mech hanger to snap. I had to walk to the end of the pave and some guys on a camper van helped me by shortening the chain. Unfortunately they reused the link pin rather than the quick link I had with me. I carried onto Carrefour de l’Arbre and halfway through the chain snapped at the repair, the roller on the link had also dropped out so I was struggling to think of how to resolve it when I got picked up by the event support who dropped me off at the mechanic at the end of the sectour. He shortened the chain again and then used the quick link to join it. It was now so short though the gearing was around 34:18 so I limped back to the velodrome at a max speed of around 15.5mph! All in all the most painful experience I could have imagined. My setup was mostly ok except for the tyre size and mud clearance. That said I had no punctures throughout so they are quality kit. My forearms suffered the most, it felt like someone was trying to tear the muscles from my limbs. I found that peddling reduced the vibrations trough the front, but it was all so energy sapping that I wasn’t always able to. I am pleased that I made it to the end though, and especially with falling off anywhere, even the Trouée d’Arenberg which was carnage!!! I am not too sore, but extremely tired as in addition to the 03:30 rise on the Saturday we had to travel back to the UK the same day and I didn’t end up getting home until 01:30 Sunday AM.

chapeau. i doff my cap in your general direction.

That sounds like an epic, palmer77. Kudos on completing it after that. Between five of us we had just one puncture and no injuries. I thought I’d twisted my chain when I crashed pulling a comedy overtaking move on wet cobbles and somersaulting into a ploughed field but got it sorted out. Given the wet and windy conditions, it couldn’t have gone better for us.

Thanks 🙂 I couldn’t not finish it really, my youngest lad has been learning about resiliance at school!