So on August.20, 2007, I went on this bike ride, 1227 km long (that’s kilometers), which is 762.4 miles. If that sounds like a long ways, here’s the kicker: it’s a group ride that starts at night, and you have to complete it in 90 hours. That’s four days less 6 hours. If that seems too short a time, note that there is also an 84 hour group and an 80 hour group. Some other points:
- At least three riders completed the ride on fixed-gear bikes – one fixed gear with no coasting!
- One rider completed in less than 50 hours on a bike weighing over 34 pounds!
- There were at least two riders with “rowing bikes” – no pedaling.
The Course
The course is pretty much an out-and-back, between the suburbs south of Paris and the coastal town of Brest. Major cities are avoided but you ride through the countryside and dozens of small villages that are hundreds of years old. The terrain is mostly rolling hills, none of them very steep, but there is a lot of up and down on the course.
Here's some more information:
Brief description
BC Randonneurs has an extensive PBP section
The route - you must be familiar with the Google map interface to get much out of this:
The official PBP website
Seattle International Randonneurs
The Participants
There were a total of 5321 riders. 2298 were from France, the remainder (3023) from 41 other countries. After France, the top ten were:
USA 606
Germany 387
Italy 368
Great Britain 334
Spain 205
Denmark 182
Australia 125
Belgium 121
Canada 116
Japan 112
There were ten countries with just one participant. 6.6% of the riders were women, (14% of the USA and Canada riders)
Ride Plan / Synopsis
First of all, I planned to get ahead of as many riders as possible by riding non-stop from the start to the first control – either 140km (food stop) or 222km (first real control).
Second, since I actually like the 400K rides, I divided the ride into three “400K” sections, and estimated my arrival time on my worst 400K time in 2007 (20 hours), assuming a 9:30 start, and 6 hours at each rest stop for a planned total of about 72 hours:
- 450km to Loudeac (ETA 8:00PM Tuesday; actual 11:27PM Tuesday)
- 465km to Fougeres (ETA 1:15AM Wednesday; actual 11:52AM Wednesday)
- 312km to Guyancourt (ETA 11:00PM Thursday; actual 1:27PM Friday)
My actual time to complete the ride was about 86.5 hours.
People
- Kathy - my "better half", who met me at the two hotels along the way (Loudeac and Fourgeres) where I'd made room reservations. Somehow she managed to find these places, and meet up with me despite having no idea when I would show up.
- Mike, Doug, Jon, Jim, T.C., Roger - fellow riders from the Chicago area (GLR - Great Lakes Randonneurs)
- Tom, Fred - riders from Ohio that did some of the GLR rides.
- Mark Olsen, Harold - riders I met on the Cedar Valley brevet series in Iowa.
- Ray - guy I met at the Campanile prior to the ride
Ride Details
Here is my recollection of the details of the ride – I must admit that while I can remember some events with great clarity, sometimes I am actually guessing where these actually occurred since much of the ride is a blurred continuum. As I don't like crowds or lines, I don't say much about those scenes at the controls - I'm sure there are plenty of descriptions elsewhere of the carnage occurring on the ride. What I do find fascinating is the 24-hour nature of the ride, at all hours of day and night these thousands of cyclists were out there pursuing a common goal - to get to the finish line.
Monday 7:00 PM: Wait in line for close to an hour for the pre-ride dinner. See some unusual bikes.
Sit at table with a couple of riders from Belgium. Then ride over to stadium to get in line for the 90-hour start.
8:30PM: There are quite a few cyclists ahead of me in line, which advances at a snails pace. Wait to be released with waves of other cyclists, starting at 9:30PM. While waiting in line, rain squalls come and go.
10:50PM: Released with 9th wave of riders. Ride through towns where police have blocked traffic with hundreds of other riders until we get out into the country where it is very dark and there is a ribbon of red taillights extending as far as you can see into the distance. Pass cyclists for 90km until I start to see a break in this line of lights. Roads are somewhat wet but the rain holds off. Continue on without stopping to food stop where it starts to rain heavily.
Tuesday 4:15AM, 140km arrive Mortagne Au Perche: Before going in for food I fix the handlebar tape on the right side which has started unraveling with some electrical tape. Inside I get some “puree” (pureed mashed potatotes) and an orange drink. Switch to rain gear and head out into dark, wet night. A NW wind has picked up as well. Continue on to first real control (Villanes).
9:55AM, 222km: arrive Villanes La Juhel: Grab more food - potage (soup), huge plate of spaghetti, and a Coke. Head back out into more rain. Really struggled in this stretch, putting clothes on, repeatedly stopping to take clothes off trying to keep dry from the rain yet not overheat from too much clothing. Still there are people out in the country offering coffee and cakes.
3:37PM, 310km: arrive Fougères: Seem to be ahead of the bulk of the riders as it is not too crowded. Grab a jambon et beurre (ham and butter) sandwich and a Coke.
Head back out. Somewhere in here, leave leg warmers and rain legs at convenience store and get 5km out of town before realizing mistake, return to pick them up.
6:47PM, 364.5km: arrive Tinténiac : I probably eat something here but I don’t remember what. Back on road, see fast group, already returning from Brest, flying down a hill. This is somewhat demoralizing. Take a quick catnap lying in a parking lot outside a restaurant in the country.
11:27PM, 449.5km: arrive Loudéac: Ask numerous people for directions to hotel, show them my map, someone points me towards a round-about in town. Head into town riding through dimly-lit narrow streets, foggy like an old Humphrey Bogart movie. I ask a French couple in the street, show them my map, but they do not know. Next I try at a hotel – the clerk gestures and tells me something in French, then repeats it – again in French. I ride off in the general direction to which he gestured and soon a car approaches - it’s the French couple – who have apparently figured it out and they lead me to the hotel. Merci Merci.
The hotel is, well, pretty dumpy. I stash my bike and climb three flights of narrow stairs to our room where Kathy is sleeping. She’s glad to see me but this is my low point, I wonder if I will be able to continue on since it seemed to take way too long to get here (actually I was only two hours behind schedule but my fuddled mind could not figure that out – although soon my plan would really be blown out of the water).
There was only one shower for three floors of guests – so the silver lining was that my late arrival meant I had only a brief wait for the shower. I set my Casio watch alarm for 4:45 and set it on the table next to the bed and fall fast asleep. Sleep for four hours, and recalled much clatter of riders talking and clacking down the hall. I restock the bike, ride to the control and get breakfast.
Wednesday 6:30AM
Leaving the control, I head out into daybreak. After about 10km I pass a few people and then a friendly guy from Nova Scotia chats with me and we start riding together. Meanwhile a woman rider has clamped onto my wheel where she pretty much stays until the next control. We do switch off at the front a little but it’s mostly me and the guy from Canada.
We now head downhill and continue into Brest. Along this stretch I see an accident site – there has been a collision between a car and a cyclist. It looks bad, there is someone covered up by the side of the road. I move on.
3:00PM, 614.5km: arrive at Brest: The halfway point – about 40 hours so far - but I don’t hang around, just get my card stamped and start to head back.
I hear that it is now raining in Loudéac. Oh well. Lines are very long, so on the way out of town I make some stops – first at a small bar where I use the toilette. Then I stop at grocery store to buy water and juice. I have some extra water which I give to a local guy out on a bike ride. Finally I stop at a bakery where I buy a jambon baguette – I eat some now and stick the rest in my jersey pocket for later. I talk to a Dutch guy there about his bike pod. A few kilometers down the road I stop in a small picturesque town – Sizun - to finish my sandwich – I see Jim Kreps, Harold, and Ray (who takes my picture).
Jim and I stop at a bar to get Cokes. Then it’s back up Roc Trevezel where I take the last pictures while riding - I put the camera away due to the approaching rain, and the feeling that taking pictures is going to slow me down too much.
Two-speed bike, you pedalbackwardsfor the lower gear.
8:30PM, 697km: arrive Carthaix: Yep it’s raining again. I see Jon and Mike, plus some woman from our travel group who wants to know where I got my bottle of Pepsi (it was the last one). I eat a filling meal including some sort of dessert. Then it’s a snooze with my head down on the table. As I’m leaving I see Jon again, he tells me he’s been falling asleep on the bike going downhill. Yikes! He wonders where he can find some caffeine pills so I give him most of mine. I leave Jon trying to sleep sitting up in a hallway. I force myself out into the night and the rain has stopped for now, it’s rather balmy and nice and there are lots of red lights ahead to follow on the road. After a while I get pretty sleepy though, and I notice a rider leaving a little spot by the side of the road where there is a sort of entrance to a field. So I stop, get out my space blanket which I must have bought thirteen years ago on my first backpacking trip, and unfold it. Lots of the mylar is flaking off but I use it like a ground cover and lay on the ground and take a snooze. All the while bikes are streaming past me. I don’t think I sleep long, but enough so I feel alert enough, so I fold the blanket up as best I can and stuff it under my pack cover and continue on. It starts raining again. After a few more hours I come to a town where they have erected a tent and they are grilling sausages and cooking frites. Perfect! I wander into the tent and have this delicious food, covering the frites with catsup. Best meal ever.
Thursday 3:09AM, 775km: arrive Loudéac: I’m not that hungry, but I do get a bowl of coffee and two croissants. As I leave I notice I am right behind the back-to-back tandem, and we pass each other over the next few miles as we go up and down the hills. It is a very cool looking machine, it even has what look like running lights. Towards daybreak I get sleepy again and when I notice a covered concrete apron I head over there, wrap up in the space blanket, and catch a few more winks. Sometime later I’m awakened by someone starting a truck. That’s my cue to get up and back on the road.
9:11AM, 858km: arrive Tinténiac : Get card stamped and leave quickly. I am hoping to get to Fougeres by noon.
11:52AM, 913km, arrive Fougères: Amazingly, Kathy is waiting at the control, from there we walk to the hotel which is very nice. I stash my bike in the basement. In the room I organize my stuff, shower, and take a nap while Kathy goes out shopping. I get two hours of delicious sleep before I simply wake up on my own. I get ready to go, restock the bike, and Kathy returns with two baguette andwiches. I eat the chicken one and save the ham for later. The staff has been very accommodating in letting me stay way past the checkout time without any additional charge. Later Kathy tells me that she went and bought a gift of flowers for the hotel, and when she offered this to the person at the desk, she came out to Kathy and gave her a hug and kisses on both cheeks!
4:30PM: leave Fougères: The route back is just in front of the hotel and I take off waving goodbye to Kathy. A few towns later there is a little stand where a local cycling club is cooking crepes and coffee, free to all takers. They have little pieces of paper with their address on it and I grab one. Along this stretch there are many places where families are offering snacks, coffee, and water. There are also lots of Breton men on bicycles out in the country, riding up and down the many hills.
9:06PM, 1001km, arrive Villaines La Juhel: It’s been raining, and my glasses are completely wet and fog up as I enter the control. After getting my card stamped, I look for napkins, find none, drop my helmet causing the batteries in the LED light to fall out, but I can’t look for them because I can’t see, so I go back to looking for a napkin, which I find, then I can’t find all the batteries, one must have rolled a ways, then I find it. Finally, I get some coffee and sit down and eat my jambon sandwich. As I sit there I hear someone saying that this is the section with a very long descent (I remember going up it the other way on the way out), and that the rain has let up. Not wanting a long descent in the rain, I now hurry out. After the descent, there are long stretches with no signs. For the first time, I feel I may be off the course, but am reassured at each town where there people waiting and clapping as I go by. In some small town I find an open bar / restaurant, I get a delicious bowl of soup there and also find that they are offering a place for riders to sleep. I lay down but there are too many snoring bodies. Also, there is a guy that they are trying to wake up but no one can rouse this person. As I get up to leave I find there are people lined up outside to take my place.
Friday 3:50AM, 1083km, arrive Mortagne Au Perche: Get some warm food, then fall asleep with my head on the table. It then just so happens that my watch alarm is still set for 4:45AM, this wakes me up, and I raise my head to see Doug Slack at the end of the table holding forth on some cycling topic. I am amazed to see him, we have a nice chat, then I head out. I ride through forests and farms with fields of horses, sheep, and goats. Looks like some sort of animal museum, but with live animals. I really start dragging and for the first time notice that there are many more people passing me rather than the other way around.
Then someone hands me a Lemonhead candy for some reason. Then I jump on the wheel of some passing Brit riders, leave them, and speed all the way into Dreux.
8:51AM, 1157km, arrive Dreux: I buy hot food, see Mark Olsen. I wake a woman I knew from the hotel sleeping over her tray of food, since the time is now starting to get short. After I ride fast out of the control, a few kms down the road I see T.C. and Roger from GLR. They are keeping their speed down due to some ailments, Achilles I think. I notice that mine has started to hurt a bit too, the left one. I pass a bunch of people and then end up in a kind of paceline with a Danish rider, some Italians, and an American woman who looks fresh as a daisy (and color coordinated). I remember her from a day or so before, when she was also color coordinated, but in a different color. Eventually I end up at the front of the line, but it’s getting crazy, with too many other riders, and cars, clogging the road, so I peel off and the Italians all gesture disgustedly at me. So I just leave them all behind and continue on alone. As we get close to the finish, it gets crazier, with stoplights, lots of traffic, lots of riders. Very near the end I find myself riding alongside Fred and Tom from Ohio, who I have not seen since the registration:
We ride in together to the finish. As we approach there is Kathy with a new-found friend with a loud voice yelling my name.
Aftermath
There are lots and lots of pictures taken by others out there on the internet. Thousands and thousands!
Physical - my feet and ankles were pretty swollen. Some saddle sores, not too bad. My left Achilles is tender for some reason. I was pretty tired but not exhausted. One week later and my tendon is still tender, and my toes are still about halfway numb, although the swelling has lessened.
Bicycle – the wheels were extremely grimy and dirty. Other than a broken light bracket, no mechanical issues or flats. It took a couple of hours to clean them and the rest of the bike. Very dirty.
Mentally – I was glad the ride was over, but already scheming about ways I could improve next time (if there is ever a next time). I’d done some things I’d never done before:
- Ride all the way through the night – did this three times
- Ride in the rain for long periods of time.
- Ride for 24+ hours
I certainly learned a lot on this ride. It was my first 1200K, and the longest ride I have ever done.
Here’s what a cycling newsletter had to say about the ride:
RBR (Road Bike Rider): Massive DNFs at Paris-Brest-Paris
- Randonneuring is certainly catching on. A record 5,320 cyclists from around the world earned the right to ride Paris-Brest-Paris on Aug. 20-23. That's a 31% increase over 2003.
- The big question, after a frightful experience in France this year, is how many from that huge peloton will be brave enough to return in 2011 for the quadrennial randonnee's next edition?
- PBP, cycling's oldest event since 1891, puts riders on a 1,200-km (745-mile) out-and-back, west-east course between the suburbs of Paris and the seacoast city of Brest. The distance must be covered in 90 hours or less to be an official finisher.
- That's tough in the best conditions. This year, the veterans (anciens) and all those rookies were hit by rain, wind and unpleasantly low temperatures. It's being called the worst weather for PBP in 50 years.
- As a result, about 1,800 riders quit somewhere along the route -- a massive 34% dropout rate. That's two-and-a-half times the norm. Among the 623 American starters, an estimated 200 abandoned.
- PBP veteran John Lee Ellis of Colorado says the temperature ranged from the low 50s to upper 60s Fahrenheit (11-20C). He describes a "persistent northerly crosswind, at times stiff, with moisture influx off the sea and waves of showers -- from drizzle to heavy rain. Most of the time the pavement was wet. During my sleep breaks, one aim was for my socks and shorts to dry out. I suspect this was a common theme.
- Many riders who quit were stranded for hours as trains back to Paris quickly reached their bike-carrying capacity. To compound the wet chill and exhaustion -- or because of it -- a number of people became sick.
- "Ironically, if there was a concentration of misery, it may well have been amongst the dropouts trying to get back to Paris," says Ellis. "Many riders had to wait quite a while and make several connections, each of them iffy. I believe the only direct train was from Brest, and it did not take unpackaged bikes."
- randonneuring is founded on the ability to persevere through all manner of conditions, but this PBP's weather clearly strained many riders' capacity.
- Mark Thomas, president of Randonneurs USA, calls it "the toughest of my three rides."
Thomas completed this PBP in 84:50. He exhibits the spirit of randonneuring by saying, "Despite the weather and the DNFs, it was a wonderful event. The French people along the route were undaunted by the rains, offering food, drinks and, above all, good cheer. Many great stories of perseverance and mutual support will be heard" as riders return home and relate their experiences.
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