# 17'eme Paris Brest Paris Randonneur



## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

I just finished the brevet series and preregistered. Anyone else here going to do it? Dale?

Vive le velo!


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## qwertzy (May 25, 2005)

I'm aiming to but I didn't do a SR last year so can't pre-register. 

I've been doing brevets over the border in France as they're all bunched up into two, one weeks worth of intenseness!?!, here in Switzerland. 

Also Switzerland has only been allocated 33 places! I may be better off joining a French club as I believe they have half of the 6000 places this year (but not sure how that works out population/rider wise)

Anyway I've been enjoying the rides so far and discovering France just over the border that I never would have. 400 k. this weekend!

Maybe see you in Paris ( or Brest)


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Very impressive, chapeau! Good luck with the ride!


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## Dale Brigham (Aug 23, 2002)

*J'espère!*

Rob:

I hope so! Just (just?) have the 600 to go, which will be Memorial Day weekend. I am pre-registered (based on last year's 1000 km brevet), the plane tickets are purchased, and the lodging is reserved. It is do or die!

Congrats, Rob!

Dale


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*awesome you guys*

good luck and have fun


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## moschika (Feb 1, 2004)

that's awesome. good luck and give us a ride report when you're done.


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## Ab24029 (Feb 20, 2006)

I pre-registered also. I still have to do a 600k ride in June to finish my qualification. Still can not decide what bike to take.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Ab24029 said:


> Still can not decide what bike to take.


Take the bike with the Brooks saddle, Schmidt generator hub, fenders, Carradice saddle and handlebar bags, and four rear blinkies.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Dale Brigham said:


> Rob:
> 
> I hope so! Just (just?) have the 600 to go, which will be Memorial Day weekend. I am pre-registered (based on last year's 1000 km brevet), the plane tickets are purchased, and the lodging is reserved. It is do or die!
> 
> ...


Well, how did it go? Are you a super randomnerd? Are you staying at the Ibis again?


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## qwertzy (May 25, 2005)

Finished my series this weekend with a 600k. It's funny how you feel the same after a long ride even if you add 100 or 200 k to it!

I found the hardest was 8 degrees C in the morning/night that went back up to 27 in the afternoon.

I slept on the floor in a town square (took an ultralight sleeping bag) for 45 mins. and another half hour in the entrance hall of an apartment building. What did you all do?
I know some of the guys rode through the night and finished at 8 the next morning (0400 start)!

Some did 400 and stayed in a motel with 200 left the next day.

Any way PBP here I come! I managed to register at 1 in the morning before driving down to the ride start.


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## Ab24029 (Feb 20, 2006)

I finished a 600k this weekend also. It was a very flat one and I managed to sleep 6 hours. The ride started at 10 pm, so we had two nights of riding, almost like PBP.


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## Herz (Feb 14, 2005)

Still have the 600K left, then it's off to France


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## thompsw (Jun 16, 2011)

signed up and going.


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## Dale Brigham (Aug 23, 2002)

robwh9 said:


> Well, how did it go? Are you a super randomnerd? Are you staying at the Ibis again?


Rob:

Thanks for asking. I DNFed the 600 with pretty much the best excuse ever: I had a heart attack on the overnight stop in a hotel in Butler, MO, after the 450 km first day of the 600. Following a brief stint in the local ER, I was helicopter ambulanced to a hospital in Kansas City. They took me straight to the cardiac cath lab, found a blockage in my left anterior descending coronary artery, and put in a 23 mm stent.

I am now a heart disease patient, and for the meantime, not a randonneur. Feeling fine, taking it easy (per doctor's orders), and awaiting next week's appointment with my cardiologist. If my condition permits, I will try to return to riding brevets someday, but it is hard to know at this time if that will be possible. If not, I got in three PBPs, which is three more than I ever thought I would have gotten in when I started riding brevets 12 years ago. That may just have to be my lifetime quota.

On a happier note, Jo and I will be heading to France to help my local brevet riding partner, Rod, and a fellow from California, Tom, get through the 84-hour start and the controles along the way. We are staying in a B&B just a kilometer or two south and a bit west of Versailles, instead of the Hotel Ibis in town. I hope to see you around town.

Congrats to everyone who qualified and is going to PBP. If this is your first one, you are in for an experience beyond your imagination.

Bonne Chance et Bonne Route!

Dale


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## J-No (Aug 22, 2007)

I have been following this thread as I hope to do PBP at some point. Maybe 2015? 

Dale, sorry to hear about your situation, I'm glad it turned out as well as it did.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Oh my, Dale, that's scary. I'm glad you're alright. I guess one never knows what life will throw at us. I hope you're back in the saddle soon. I'd think that long distance cycling, because it's done at low heart rate, wouldn't be hard on the heart, but what do I know. Take care, and I'll keep an eye out for you and Jo.


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## Dale Brigham (Aug 23, 2002)

robwh9 said:


> Oh my, Dale, that's scary. I'm glad you're alright. I guess one never knows what life will throw at us. I hope you're back in the saddle soon. I'd think that long distance cycling, because it's done at low heart rate, wouldn't be hard on the heart, but what do I know. Take care, and I'll keep an eye out for you and Jo.


Thanks, buddy, for your very kind sentiments (and also to you, J-No). Hope to see you again in France, Rob. And hope to see you, J-No, at PBP in 2015.

Merci!

Dale


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## moschika (Feb 1, 2004)

Dale Brigham said:


> Rob:
> 
> I hope so! Just (just?) have the 600 to go, which will be Memorial Day weekend. I am pre-registered (based on last year's 1000 km brevet), the plane tickets are purchased, and the lodging is reserved. *It is do or die!*
> 
> ...


wow. you weren't kidding when you said this! glad you're ok.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Well? How'd it go?*

Quite an adventure, eh? Epic.

The ride went pretty much to plan. Got to Brest in 39 hours, built up a time cushion, and headed to St. Quentin at a more leisurely/social pace. 88:47 for me. 

I had no bike problems at all, lots of problems with lights, though. American airlines wouldn't let me take my battery packs on the airline because the type of battery wasn't written on them. I shouldn't have mentioned I had them. That left me with two 4xAA Cateyes. One fell off the mount and broke into several pieces. The other just stopped working. Luckily I got the broken one working, minus a few pieces. Pretty much all I could see was the striping on the pavement. Luckily the roads were in great condition, so no surprises. On the descents, I'd just follow the moves of the riders in front of me.

The rain on the first day had me worried that it would be a repeat of '07, but the weather mostly was nice.

Things I liked were: The twisty descents in the dark between Loudeac and Carhaix; The spooky lightning that seemed to encase the clouds; The locals wishing me bon chance, and then later, bon courage, and their coffee and cookies; The Breton folk dancing and music at the controles; Racing through narrow village streets at 3 in the morning; The camaraderie of riders from all over the world; Getting a chuckle seeing riders, toward the end, sleeping in all kinds of places; Patisseries,

I really didn't care much for the climb-fest/stoplight-fest/Tour-de-Dreaux thing at the end. I didn't know they changed the course. I was expecting the usual mellow cruise into St Quentin finish.

I saw Dale at the Villaine bike parking on Wednesday evening, but he scurried away before I had a chance to say hi.

I'm already strategizing for '15.


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## Straz85 (May 12, 2011)

Congrats to all who finished. Does anyone know where I can find all the results?


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## qwertzy (May 25, 2005)

Only provisional for the moment but here's the list


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