Gather 'round kids, here're some phots from the 2010 Hell of the North! And shout-out, props and all that to Baker McQuaide (age 11) who came up with much better pics than I did!
Race poster in Roubaix.
Second-place finisher Thor Hushovd survives the Arenburg Forest. (Bake McQ, photo)
Big Tom Boonen on the streets of Roubaix just before entering the Velodrome. (Bake McQ, photo)
Close-up of the pave at Compiegne, about an hour northeast of Paris and where Paris-Roubaix actually starts. (Bake McQ, photo)
Fabian Cancellara's winning bike is the front one on the left.
George Hincapie at the Compiegne sign-in.
Baker McQ at work.
After Paris-Roubaix, an exhausted Baker McQuaide and mum Jen on the train from Lille back to Paris.
Just got back from a fun-filled trip to California that included three stages of the Amgen Tour of California, trips to Disneyland and Legoland, as well as dinner mit me brother Chris and his lovely family including wife Dee (Happy B-day!) and daughter McKinley. Added bonus: caught up with high school pal Mike D'Annucci whom we hooked up with at stage 7 in Pasadena. Speaking of which, above, please check out the great shot Jen took of the breakaway group, including big George Hincapie on the first of five circuits around the Rose Bowl. Below, Lance Armstrong guts his way through the Solvang time trial held the day before in Solvang. He must be famous or something; we noticed a lot of people cheering for him throughout the three days.
Below, that's me with the giddy grin behind Tom Boonen who'd just emerged from the anti-doping bus where he'd had to make a contribution, as it were.
Below, Jen scores another great shot: this one of the Astana machine on a minor bump in Pasadena. Chris Horner is at the far left, Levi in yellow, and Lance at the far right in the yellow helmet.