Catch the Paris-Roubaix — and Portland’s rising star Jacob Rathe — this Sunday at Apex Bar

The cobbles.
(Photo: Hennes Roth/Wikipedia)

Spring sports aren’t just about baseball and basketball here in Portland. It’s the classics season in the bike racing world and that means the best one-day racers (as opposed to multi-day stage races like the Tour de France) battle for glory on some of the most legendary courses in the world.

Of all the classics, Paris-Roubaix — also known as the “Hell of the North” — is perhaps the most anticipated for bike racing fans. And I think there’s a special love for this race here in Portland because of the legendary cobbles (a.k.a. “pavé”) and general muddiness and toughness of the course. It’s the closest thing to cyclocross racing in the road racing world and you all know how crazy we are for ‘cross.

As an added bonus this year, we’ll be able to root for a hometown favorite, Jacob Rathe. Rathe is the up-and-coming racer who signed a major pro contract with Garmin-Barracuda in the off-season. As pointed out by Oregon Cycling Action’s Pat Malach, Rathe is on the official Paris-Roubaix start list.

On that note, Jesse McCann from Apex Bar in southeast Portland (1216 SE Division) got in touch yesterday with some good news. “Folks have been e-mailing and calling asking if we’re showing it this year,” he said, “Hell of the North yes we are!”

The race will be shown on Sunday (4/8) from 4:00 – 7:00 pm. Jesse says he’ll also tap a special, rare keg of Koerseklakske, which he calls, “a delicious Belgian pale ale with Brettanomyces [a type of yeast].”