Rouge Roubaix

Rouge Roubaix is the HARDEST Race in South Louisiana. It is advertised as 100 miles which is a locally know lie. It is 106 miles of the toughest terrain that South LA has to offer. This race is of Premier importance to me because it is also a memorial race to a couple of my fallen fellow Cyclist whom were also great friends and an inspiration to me.

20 Miles of Dirt Roads in the West Feliciana and a Couple of hellatious hills and a nack for horrid weather have given this race a bad reputation. I was in attendance of this race in 2003. That day the weather was dry and cold. Temps ~ 42deg and ~ 5 mph winds. Within 2 hours of the start the temp had dropped to 20 deg with 20 mph head winds. Imaging riding a bike in your freezer with a fan blasting you in the face. Many like I had expected the temp to warm up, contrary to popular belief it dropped to a temp that made survival your only thought. My water bottles FROZE SOLID. I lost all sensation in my fingers, toes, nose and all other extremities. To top off this as I am riding up Pond Store Rd which is about 70 miles into the race and the most notorious of the climbs in the race, around a mile in length and ~ 8-12% gradient, a truck full of guys pull up next to me armed with shotguns, rifles, pistols and blood hounds inform me that several prisoners had escaped from Angola. THey told me that I might not want to ride my bike for the duration of the race. This reminded me of Deliverance and is permanently embedded in my memory. I did not finish the race that year I hopped in my friends car and it took 3 days to regain sensation in my fingers. This weekend I get yet another shot at a race that I hold above all others. I am hopeful for good weather this year. However, with my luck I am not going to get my wish because I may have lots of good days but I never get what I wish for.

LAE, Jr

Coming Soon More Shite.

Hey I know I have neglected this blog to the point of it loosing its reason for existance. Well here it goes I will post a long drawn out update on all of my b.s. of recent and fairly distant past.

Jr