#b'twin

Le montage d´un frein à disque mécanique: Montage de l´étrier et réglages (b'twin)

Comment régler un dérailleur avant ? (B'TWIN)

A series of pictures taken at La Tranchée de Wallers-Arenberg, or La Trouée d'Arenberg, France, during the Paris Roubaix cycle race, on the 12th April 2015.

Jack, Nicolas Pierron of B’TWIN and I were ‘holding wheels’ for the FDJ.fr team, we were placed at the exit from the infamous 2.8 kilometer long, 5 star (hardest grade) cobbled section, just in case of mishaps with wheels or punctures. 

A rapid moving peloton was rolling at an average of over 50 kmh at the start of the race, which meant they were ahead of schedule, so despite heading out early, we had to undertake a frantic 5 kilometer hike through the crowds to position ourselves at the agreed rendezvous point.  

There are a huge number of people behind the scenes at cycle races in all sorts of roles, a fair number of support crew are dotted along critical points of the race, they’re placed strategically to assist in the event of mechanical issues in order to save precious seconds and get the riders moving again with minimum delay if there’s a mishap.  

Our location was particularly important, as the trench is notoriously grueling on the bikes; adding to the difficulties, the team cars get held back as the peloton draws out into a long line, the riders sprint into cobbled sections and string out as they try to ride the center crest of the thin pavé strip, they do this in an attempt to make the passage slightly less harsh for themselves, riding off camber makes it more difficult and puts additional strain on the tyre walls.

In this instance the riders took several minutes to pass through due to a breakaway and the predictable thinning of main group that followed; luckily none of the FDJ team required our assistance, although the French National Champion Arnaud Démare did puncture further along, which is unlucky, as he was well positioned in the race.

Roubaix, Saturday the 11th April 2015.  

Jack, Pascale and I took a leisurely stroll to view the Sportive that starts next to the new Velodrome, offering loops of varying distance that all end at the historic outdoor track; there were people from many nations taking part, the Wexford Wheelers featured above came over from Ireland.

The Saturday Sportive is an event open to anyone, taking place the day before the famous Paris - Roubaix pro race.  The latter is known as ‘l’enfer de nord’ (the hell of the north), it’s a monument race, known to be grueling and epic, with many thrills and spills.  It first ran in 1896, this year was the 113th edition.

The race is also described as ‘the queen of the classics’, the classics are a series of races that take part in and around Flanders during the spring; the routes can vary slightly, in this instance, the riders covered just over 253 kilometers of mainly flat terrain.  

Although there are some small hills, the main challenges come from sections of cobblestones known as ‘pavé’, more simply described as big blocks of stone set in earth, they’re not ideal terrain for road bikes, as they are punishing to both equipment and riders but that’s what the challenge is all about.  

The different stretches of pavé are classified with a rating system, varying from 1 to 5 stars (5 being the hardest).  There are 24 sections of varying length set in among stretches on normal tarmac roads, the most famous being ‘la Tranchée de Wallers-Arenberg’ or , a long straight 2.8km 5 star section dating from Napoleonic times, featuring in wars, as well as many crashes and also ‘Le Carrefour de l'Arbre’ (ou Pavé de Luchin), often a fulcrum point as the leader from that section regularly goes on to win the race.  

I figured I might as well start off with which bikes I own.  I have a 2014 Giant Defy 4 and a 2014 B'Twin Mach 720.  Both run Shimano groupsets - what else? - and are both currently on Hutchison Equinox tyres courtesy of a friend of mine.  The Mach (Pitch) is only out the shop a few days and so will be getting booked in for a fitting and to get pedals, maybe a new saddle and bar tape once my exam is out of the way.  The Defy (Rex) is currently on full mudguards what with the beautiful Scottish weather and will probably have them on until at least March, can't wait to get them off though.

I'll be keeping track of my cycles, my club and my bikes here so expect it to get rather busy in a few months!

For now, rides are fewer and further between than I would like.  However, the club is having a social tomorrow night to discuss what the plans are for the year ahead so that should be interesting.  

This will be my first full year as a cyclist and I absolutely cannot wait.