When I heard the other day that Lance Armstrong plans to come out of retirement, I yawned. Somebody please wake me if the Texan ever pulls on his big-boy shorts and enters the Paris-Roubaix, the most exciting seven hours in all of cycling--and one of the many tough races Lance never entered. Yeah, okay, winning the Tour de France is a pretty big deal, let alone winning it seven times. I just think it's a shame that here in America, "bike race" means Tour de France and only Tour de France, even though the Paris-Roubaix packs more thrills into a single daylong race than the Tour delivers in three weeks of cycling.
Lance's intrepid teammate (and my favorite cyclist) George Hincapie, who took second place at Paris-Roubaix 2005, shares this perspective: "It's the hardest one-day race on the calendar. I kind of feel the same after a Tour de France, after three weeks of racing, I feel the same after doing a one-day at the Paris-Roubaix."
A couple of months ago I preordered a DVD of Road to Roubaix, a new documentary about the race. My Number One Son, who helped organize this year's Bicycle Film Festival in Chicago, got to see the film there in August, but my DVD didn't arrive until yesterday afternoon. Believe me, it was worth the wait.
If you're at all interested in cycling, don't miss this beautiful film. It truly captures the spirit of the world's toughest bicycle race.
Here's the trailer:
You can order the DVD here.
3 comments:
If you retire, RETIRE already. Jeez. So much indecision. Holy Moly.
I'm a big roadie and log about 120 miles a week on my bike, but these guys, HOLY MOLY...they are NUTS LOL
Thanks for the video. It was interesting.
There's a special screening of Road to Roubaix this Saturday afternoon, Jan. 10 2009, in Blacksburg VA at the classic Lyric Theater. http://www.vabike.org/road-to-roubaix-movie-blacksburg/
Matt, thanks for sharing the link about that screening. If anyone else wants to leave a similar link, please go ahead. I can't say enough good things about the video, and wish every cycling fan could see it. (My favorite part of the vid is the shower scene. Almost made me cry!)
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