Paris- Roubaix, 12 April.

Nick and Lynn Hanson and family enjoyed a classic weekend following the Paris-Roubaix race by car around northern France. Nick reports;

"We had an early start on the Saturday to get the Eurotunnel train booked for 10.30am. Actually we got one about 1 hour early, having our breakfast in the car on the train to gain us some time. We had an hotel booked just north of Paris, which would enable us to take the children into Paris for the afternoon/evening, before following on to see the start of the race on the Sunday. A late evening in Paris saw us to bed just before 1am!

Sunday mornring brought a damp, overcast start to the day as we drove up to Compiegne to catch the start. After the race started we had a cafe stop, then drove to just past Cambrai (about one hour's drive north) to see them go onto the third section of cobbles (sector 25). We arrived with moments to spare (a shorter cafe stop next time, I think!) to catch the lead group go through, then time to sort ourselves for the main group, containing the likes of Boonen and Hushovd hammering through.

After the race passed we set off for a steady drive to get to about 10 miles before the end of the race and to have our picnic. As the timing worked out we were able to pull off the autoroute and catch the lead group, then the favourites going through the infamous Arenberg forest.
After the Arenberg we got caught up amongst the team cars on the dash along the autoroute to get to our turnoff at Orchies. Our exit was cordened off, but we slipped through and feigned ignorance to the bemusement of the police!

After parking up in the village of Cysoing we set up picnic on sector 6 of the pavé. As the race approached I got on a corner to catch the riders, then was able to jog along a minor road to view the riders on the next sector. After the leaders had passed an English guy gave me and our son Joe a lift onto sector 4 (about 1km away) in his 4 wheel drive on some VERY minor roads. This is a very popular sector among the race followers, it's called the Carrefour de l'arbre, where the race winning moves are often made, as was the case this time as Boonen was able to pull away from the rest of the leaders. Unfortunately I was looking more or less into the sun, trying to get Boonen into the frame.

After the leaders went through Joe and I walked back to Lynn and the other children. Lynn informed me the Local supporters had gone mad around the tv's they had in tents, backs of cars etc, so we guessed (correctly) that Boonen had won.

We made our way home via the tunnel and a meal stop just after London. Getting home after midnight made it another long day, but definately worth it, and a trip I plan to do again, though probably without the Paris part! "