They are not boulders, they are giants! If you allow me I will give you some advice, whether or not you like cycling and even if you don’t even know how to ride a bicycle. If this summer you plan to drive to the north of France (for once gasoline is not much more expensive) or go to the Belgian coast to have some ‘moules-frites’, stop by and visit one of the nearby cobblestone stretches of the city of Lille. It’s worth it and think that some kids pedal around there, they’re not crazy, but they make a living for it.
This Wednesday the Tour show will enter a kind of circus made up of cobblestone sectors, no less than 11, where incredibly and seeing them on the ground, the first thing that comes to mind for the layman is the question: “but is it Is it possible to pedal on such rough terrain?”. You are right.
This journalist once, not many years ago, had the idea to cross the Carrefour de l’Arbre by bike, perhaps the most famous of the sectors that are included in the Paris-Roubaix, which is not crossed now in the Tour, even though it’s close. Sensations? Not only does the bike bounce in such an exaggerated way that it seems that it is going to break, but one immediately wonders if he is going to lose a kidney along the way, or his guts will move out of place, or his brain will come out of an ear.
From that day, in the company of the ex-professional Peter Horrillo, a good specialist on cobblestones, only the shrieks he gave are remembered: “faster, faster!”. And it’s true, because going slow one gets unbalanced and if you pick up a certain speed, once you’ve overcome the funk, it’s much easier to drive over these boulders.
But what are they really like? It is not obligatory to go through these places at the command of a bike, although by doing it by car one risks having to look for an official service in the surroundings for an emergency repair of the underside of the vehicle or a workshop to change a wheel. . You can go on foot, without any problem, and with your mobile phone camera on to immediately tell your friends or brag about the walk through Instagram.
They pass the fingers and even a small hand
You will immediately see that the space between the cobblestones allows you to put your fingers and even your whole hand if it is not very large. The separation between the stones is exaggerated to the point of grass growth and an invitation to a sprain if someone gets lost and does not see where to place the foot. It’s just brutal. There is nothing more to add.
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Yes, through this landscape, the Tour runners will travel this Wednesday, just as they do every second Sunday in April if there are no elections in France, like last spring, or a pandemic, as unfortunately happened in 2020, which was suspended the race, or 2021, which was moved to the month of October. And for two years so have the women in one of the events of the women’s calendar with the highest television audience.
In addition, there is an army of volunteers, called ‘Les amis de Paris-Roubaix’ who spend the whole year pampering the cobblestone stretches. change or repair damaged stones, clean the mud. Come on, they just need to pass the duster. They are old paths, built in the 19th century for ox carts to circulate and if they are preserved today it is only for cycling competitions.