...or half of the north.
A quick Sunday tap around the lanes of north Cheshire.
14 sections of cobble/Kassein/Pavé (28 in Roubaix - half [hell] of the north...get it?). Some brutal others relatively smooth. Some with one line (deviate at your peril), others with a multitude of characterful jolts and jiggles. All to be taken as quick as you can muster.
My route actually bears more resemblance to a Belgian classic rather than the all out drag race of Roubaix. I have just enough bergs, with a decent enough percentage to make them thigh burningly torrid.
The downside...Distance. Check the average length of a sector of cobble in a cobble classic and you're looking at a couple of km average (I'm guestimating here), whereas I can only offer a distance of 500 - 750 metres at the most.
Am I downhearted? No. Do I get a buzz and tiny insight into what it actually takes to race over this surface. Definitely.
