# The 16th Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur was apocalyptic!



## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Apocalyptic is what a newspaper called it, according to the Frenchman I was riding with. 1800+ riders abandoned the ride - by far the most in PBP's 100+ year history - due to rain and headwinds. It was pretty much a death march - not much fun. And nothing sucks more than riding alone in the rain and dark.

PBP is a 760 mile ride from suburban Paris, though Normandy and Brittany, out to the coast and back. It was first held in 1891, and is now held every four years. More than 5000 participated this year: half from France and half from 25 or so other counties. It's kind of our "Olympics" - us being long distance cyclists. The time limits are 80, 84, or 90 hours, depending on the group you choose. The 90 hour ride equates to a double century a day for 3.75 days straight.

I finished after the 90 hour cutoff, but I'm happy with my effort. I rode over 600 miles without sleep, and then things started to unravel, and then I slept too long. The one-and-only Dale Brigham finished in 82 hours. Good job Dale! 

I hung out with Dale, his wife Jo, and his gang at the Ibis Hotel in Versailles. They're fun people. Oh, Dale's from Texas, and he's noticed the French are different from Texans. Ask him about it. He and Jo are in Italy for a few days. I'm sure he'll chime in when he gets back.

Vive le velo! 

Normandy
night 
dawn 
heading into town 
ya sleep where ya drop


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

I can't see the pix and I really want to. Sounds just like a randonneur......


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## FrontRanger (May 19, 2004)

robwh9 I took the liberty of uploading these for you as the forum doesn't play nice with Kodak gallery or vice versa


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## JP (Feb 8, 2005)

"The 90 hour ride equates to a double century a day for 3.75 days straight." Oh, and throw in 30000 feet of climbing for kicks, right? ANyone who pulls this off is just in a different level. Amazing.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

JP said:


> "The 90 hour ride equates to a double century a day for 3.75 days straight." Oh, and throw in 30000 feet of climbing for kicks, right? ANyone who pulls this off is just in a different level. Amazing.


It is an amazing feat, but it doesn't sound enjoyable at all. If I were to spend the $$ to go to Paris I think I'd want to enjoy it a bit more. This sounds like a suffer-fest. Might as well just beat myself over the head with a hammer. After riding 500+ miles does it really matter if you are in scenic Paris or in North Dakota?


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## bsaunder (Oct 27, 2004)

I had a friend doing that ride, is there a site I can see if she finished? I tried google and found supposedly the "official" site, but under final results there was nothing.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> It is an amazing feat, but it doesn't sound enjoyable at all. If I were to spend the $$ to go to Paris I think I'd want to enjoy it a bit more. This sounds like a suffer-fest. Might as well just beat myself over the head with a hammer. After riding 500+ miles does it really matter if you are in scenic Paris or in North Dakota?


Well it is true that there lots of Brevets, Fleches and Super Brevets right here in the good ol' USofA P-B-P is the Superbowl of Randonneuring and what long distance rider doesn't want to go to the Superbowl? (Well other than Miss M and I...:blush2: )

BTW the pix of the guys sleeping remind me nothing so much as the local Fleches with 50k left to go and 4 hours to spare....


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

MB1 said:


> Well it is trut that there lots of Brevets, Fleches and Super Brevets right here in the good ol' USofA P-B-P is the Superbowl of Randonneuring and what long distance rider doesn't want to go to the Superbowl? (Well other than Miss M and I...:blush2: )
> 
> BTW the pix of the guys sleeping remind me nothing so much as the local Fleches with 50k left to go and 4 hours to spare....


Yeah I guess I can understand that. Kinda like climbing Everest if you're a climber.


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

I have an older friend in our local bike club that did Boston Montreal Boston three times. He finished it the third time. He is my go to guy for questions about long rides, setup for all day comfort, and how to keep the faith sincing he is in his mid 60s and riding great. 



That stuff is crazy. I think I could do it with a season of training but I don't think I want to do it.


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## YuriB (Mar 24, 2005)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> It is an amazing feat, but it doesn't sound enjoyable at all. If I were to spend the $$ to go to Paris I think I'd want to enjoy it a bit more. This sounds like a suffer-fest. Might as well just beat myself over the head with a hammer. After riding 500+ miles does it really matter if you are in scenic Paris or in North Dakota?


The trick is to go tour Le Tour rest and tourist for a month, then do BPB.
At least that's in my retirement book....


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

bsaunder said:


> I had a friend doing that ride, is there a site I can see if she finished? I tried google and found supposedly the "official" site, but under final results there was nothing.


Go to 
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/EN/index.php?showpage=64 

Type her name in the name box to get her number, then enter her number. If the first city in the list is San Quentin en Yvelene, then she finished under the time limit.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

I helped a friend train for PBP back in the 90's. She had to do a bunch of brevets before PBP. We were out in windy 40 degree weather doing 120-140 mile rides. The fact that she was six feet tall helped me tremendously. It was nuts though, I was working midshift at the time and would meet her after work and get home 8-9 hours later to get four hours down before heading back to work. We did two long rides a week. I had a great race season that year and she finished under the time limit.


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## Welshboy (Jan 14, 2002)

I finished in exactly 84 hours with just some foot numbness worrying me. It was awesome! Easily the highlight of my cycling life and I can't wait another four years!


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Some more pics...*

1) Kids, coffee, and cookies. What's really heart warming about PBP is the support the locals give the riders, whether it be coffee and cookies at 2 AM or an "allez! allez! allez! bonne route! bon chance!" For 90 hours, we riders feel like sport stars.

2) Aller le Paris-Brest!!, Vive La Bretagne. Brittany is like its own country within France and has its own language. Road signs are in both French and Breton. It reminded me of the Gaeltachts of Ireland where Gaelic is promoted.

3) Becherel, Brittany. Becherel is one of my favorite towns. Supposedly it's famous for antique book stores.

4) Escape the rain, find a bar. Usually the only thing open late at night is a bar. They're a popular place to warm up both inside and out.

5) Cruzing through a town at night. One minute you're riding in a pitch dark forest and then, surprise, you're riding through a town, some of which look medieval. There's always a church in the middle of town. Its bells ring every 15 minutes and usually sound like someone hitting a pan with a spoon.


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## buck-50 (Sep 20, 2005)

I get the very strong impression that if I ever took my bike to europe to ride, I'd never want to come back. Great pics!


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## RoadLoad (Jan 18, 2005)

I gotta do that! Awesome pics.


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## Mosovich (Feb 3, 2004)

*Single speed..*

I had a friend doing it on a single speed Bianchi Pista. I think this was his 3rd time doing it although I don't know if he completed it this time.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Unbelievable and awesome!


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## kaotikgrl (Dec 14, 2006)

<o></o><o>.....
</o>


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Suprisingly (or perhaps not)....*



kaotikgrl said:


> Well, I could probably find the determination to fit into a 5 day group.
> I wish I had the time to train and the will to do something like that. I suppose I could actually find the time but the will would be harder to come by...



...Randonneurs tend to be somewhat older than you might think. 60 year olds doing this sort of thing are not uncommon.

In other words, you have plenty of time to work up the will and the way.

MB1
Getting there


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

MB1 said:


> ...Randonneurs tend to be somewhat older than you might think. 60 year olds doing this sort of thing are not uncommon.
> 
> In other words, you have plenty of time to work up the will and the way.
> 
> ...


Probably because they are the only ones with enough free time to train enough to do something this nuts.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Probably because they are the only ones with enough free time to train enough to do something this nuts.


All joking aside that is exactly right. 

The kids are out of college, the house is paid off or nearly so, you are still fit just not fast any more so why not ride a lot?

Why not?


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## kaotikgrl (Dec 14, 2006)

.....<o>
</o>


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## kaotikgrl (Dec 14, 2006)

<o>
</o>


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## Dale Brigham (Aug 23, 2002)

*PBP #6905 checking in...*

Rob:

Thanks for posting the great photos and ride description. It was super meeting you in Versailles and seeing you again at the Ibis at CDG. I hope your flight home went more smoothly after that hitch.

Our trip to Italy went well, excepting that I whanged my back sometime after PBP (likely, from hucking luggage and bike boxes around), so I am still a bit disabled. In contrast to rainy, dreary France, Italy was hot and sunny. I want to move to Lucca and watch the (very attractive) natives ride by on their city bikes for the rest of my life. Alas, duty calls, and I am back at work at MU.

This PBP was by far the hardest of the three I have done. We will hope for sunnier skies and dryer roads for 2011, buddy!

Best Regards,

Dale


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*good show*

Very cool. Bad weather sucks, especially for that long. It's quite an accomplishment.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Hi Dale, welcome back to the U.S. and A. It was nice meeting and hanging out with you, Jo, and your gang. I kind of wish I stayed longer in Europe than I did, though. Oh well. 

Continental lost my bike and luggage for a few days, but no biggie. It's not like what happened to the Flenners. At least I had them when I needed them. The cardboard box looks like it was attacked with a machete. The bike seems ok, and it's an old bike anyway.

I'm already plotting for 2011. I'm making a list of things I'll do differently. Carrying a map and compass is one of them, along with doing more speed training before so I'm not so darn slow. Drop bags might be a good idea too. 

See you in 2011,
Rob


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