Events: Oakley Paris-Roubaix Week
(2018) As if this spring hasn’t been unpredictable enough, one more round of Gotcha! by the season has happened. I should be gearing up for tomorrow’s Kermesse Sport’s Fools Classic. I should be confident about completing the Strava/ Oakley challenge to ride 257 kilometers – the same distance as The Hell of the North – between April 2nd and 8th. None of that is happening, you see, because a fickle snow forecast forced the rescheduling of the spring ride.
All week I had considered my standing in Oakley’s Paris-Roubaix Week challenge healthy. The Kermesse Sport event, Fools Classic, sends riders around our area at distances of 120 kilometers, give or a take a few. At the outset of the week I completed the maths to pave my path to obtaining the Oakley badge in my Strava trophy case as well as my submission to win a whole’lotta Oakley cycling swag. A couple miles on Friday night followed by a healthy amount of miles on Sunday evening would see me a satisfied finisher. I might have even picked my bike up and carried it over my head once I struck 257 kilomters. I had even picked out the Oakley helmet I would select when notified I was a winner.
Except spring continues to throw the season for a loop.
At the start of the week the forecast for the Fools Classic was sunny but cold. I can handle sunny and cold. By midweek snow popped up in the forecast. I thought nothing of it as any particular threat. By Wednesday night and into Thursday the forecast evolved into three to six inches of snow. That’s hardly safe weather to hold an event. Smartly the brass at Kermesse Sport announced the Fools Classic would be rescheduled for May 6th. No sooner was the email sent out then the forecast changed for the better, or, shall I say, less crappy? Forecasts state up to an inch of snow along with some sleet. This all occurs after a night of rain.
With the rescheduling and the subsequent forecast, my Oakley Paris-Roubaix Week challenge deflated with the screeching sound of a pinched latex balloon.
For those unaware, the Strava challenge by Oakley rewards finishers with a digital badge, a chance to win a gift card, and one finisher will be selected to receive an Oakley helmet, kit, and their new Flight Jacket cycling sunglasses. All of this I have directly become an outsider to.
That’s the thing about challenges. Like Rapha’s Festive 500, completion is hardly guaranteed. I could harden up and make a mess of things by rolling out tomorrow morning regardless of low cyclist census. I would have to accomplish nearly 160 miles in one effort. Even my longest day ever wouldn’t consider me a finisher. I suppose it’s horns for me this year. But there’s always a chance I could hop on a flight for Paris and follow the guys through the sectors to get just a little bit more than a finisher’s badge. I know people are hoping for a muddy Roubaix. I don’t think people would appreciate if I were escorted by a snowstorm. That’s not happened recently.
Due to the rescheduling of Kermesse Sport’s spring classic series, Fools Classic, registration has been reopened for the event. This gives spring an extra four weeks to sort itself out. Hopefully that is enough time.
