Paris-Roubaix, The “Hell of the North”, was run this weekend under hot, sunny conditions. The problem with that is, that particular race is known for its downright awful weather. Snow, rain, wind all combine to make the already difficult race even more insane. How insane? Imagine riding over a course that includes 50KM of cobblestones in the rain and mud for six hours against 200 other hell-bent maniacs out to win the most prestigious of the Spring Classics. Lots of carnage ensues. Which is just how people like it.
Contrast that to our annual rite of spring here in Boston- Patriots day. We have the Boston Marathon and the annual, early morning Boston Red Sox game (the game starts at 10:30 in order to get out before Kenmore square is overrun by Marathon spectators.) While the weather for Paris-Roubaix would have been a little hot for the runners, it would have been a lot of fun for the spectators at both the game and along the course. What we got instead was one of the nastiest spring storms I can remember. Rain, 50-60 MPH winds, and temperatures just above freezing. Completely miserable. If we only could have swapped we’d have happy campers lining the streets of Boston today and we would have had a mud encrusted Stuart O’Grady crossing the finish line yesterday…
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