Spring Classics Season!

No, I'm not talking about baseball, although, spring training for that is in full swing. My beloved Oakland A's have resigned our original greasy mullet MVP Jason Giambi so here's to hoping Billy Bean's genius is back!

But, what I am talking about are the spring classic bike races. As an American most people think there is one race per year, the Tour de France, but, in reality, the cycling season is sort of broken up into two parts, The Classics and the Grand Tours.

While Grand Tours cover 3 weeks of races where your overall time determines the winner, the classics are one day races of extreme length, conditions and mostly pain. These races are not for the faint of heart and champions that win a spring classic are thrust into a whole new league of names. It's almost impossible to describe just how hard these races are. And so, instead of trying I stole a few pictures from pezcyclingnews.com's preview of this weekends, Het-Volk, no, that's what it used to be called. Now it's something else that I can neither remember, spell or pronounce. I'm sure I'm not even saying Het-Volk correctly. But here's an idea of what these guys go through:



Cobbles! What would a spring classic without cobbles? Cobbles are tough enough but if it rains, forget it, these things basically turn into an ice rink. The mud they are set in expands with the water and ends up on top. It's nasty. Best case scenario for the racers, it stays dry and they just have to deal with bouncing over them as they ride. I don't think levels had been invented when these roads were laid down. Oh, and sometimes, the cobbles go up hills. Not always big mountains, but hills so steep that some of the greatest cyclist in history have to get off an run. That's some steep shit!



This could happen too! These races are in Northern France and Belgium and other parts of the world where it is still very winter. If it snow, they race. It doesn't get canceled for anything. And no, they won't quickly switch over to their 'cross bikes. Maybe they'll run some 700x25s instead.



He looks like he's enjoying himself! That's Juan Antonio Fleche, one of the best classics riders there are. If he looks like that during the race, imagine what the guys behind him must feel like!

Arguably the biggest classic of them all, Paris-Roubaix, nicknamed, "Hell of the North," is coming up a little later in the season. Take a look at the video below to get an idea of what it can be like if the weather turns nasty!