Bob Elias PBP Ride Report

Hi all –

This is my first week back from France; had an incredible experience riding the 1230 km (765 miles) of Paris-Brest-Paris. There were so many French people along the route cheering anyone and everyone, day and night – such excellent hosts!

I started in the 90 hour group, which is the “slow” group. There are also 80 and 84 hour groups. I finished PBP in 70:50, which was within a ½ hour of my plan. If I do it again, I’d start in the 80 or 84 hour groups, which are a lot smaller and more experienced. My wife thought I’d arrive and collapse, but I felt great when I finished (well, except some saddle soreness!) It was great to wander around the paddocks and meet riders coming in that you rode with en route, share a beer, exchange emails, etc.

The 90 hour group departure was 6:00 PM and had 3000+ riders released in waves, with motorcycles escorting each wave out of town. My “wave” of about 500 riders rolled out at 7:40 PM. I wasted a lot of time during the first 24 hours riding up through the 90 hour riders, and due to crowds at the control points en route. For example, I stood in line for 50 minutes just to get one of my hot meals – that’s time you don’t want to throw away if you are after a personal best. The clock doesn’t stop until you return to Paris, so every second on and off the bike counts.

I planned for three sleep stops – ~500, 700, and 950 kms. I showered and slept for an hour at 500 kms, but then the next two rest stops were not successful. Ironically, I had sleepiness on the bike but when I’d get to controls there was adrenaline. I fell asleep on the bike once, but didn’t crash. In hindsight, I know I can ride with short naps along the side of the road when I get drowsy, and won’t plan for sleep stops. That would have saved me about 6-7 hours of time.

One of my fears in distance riding is to get hungry or bonk, so I stuffed myself at every control. The controls are typically schools with big cafeterias. Sit-down meals took a lot of time from riding, but I never ran out of fuel and felt strong through the finish.

The weather varied a lot. It was hot the first evening. The next day was milder with misty rain that kept me cool but comfortable. I rode in fog out of Brest and then later some rain. The last day was sunny again. I used arm and knee warmers only a couple times, and my rain jacket for a few hours. I noticed most riders wore more warm clothing than this Minnesotan.

Really fast riders can finish PBP in around 44 hours. Typically, they have support in the form of club members or friends meeting them at each of the controls. Then they don’t “waste” time getting food, clothing, and taking care of their equipment, and they don’t have to carry their clothes, lights, etc. This is obviously an advantage over riders who carry all their own gear, wait in line for food, etc. I personally feel that there should be separate categories for supported versus unsupported riders.

There are categories for standard bikes, HPVs, recumbants, tandems, trikes, etc… You see some unusual or historic machines, but 90% are carbon racing bikes often with extra bags fitted. The bike I used is a replica of a 1950’s French “randonneuse” with wide 650b tires. It’s heavier than modern bikes but well suited to long and steady efforts in all weather. Lots of people were interested by my bike. The only time I questioned my choice was when I was tired and climbing in a pack of strong riders on ultra-light bikes.

PBP is the oldest continually run cycling event in the world, going back to 1891, and run every four years since. It used to start at the edge of Paris, but now the start is in St. Quintin, a southwest suburb of Paris. My wife and I stayed in Paris in a really cool old apartment with a group of other Minnesota riders. It would have been convenient to stay in St. Quintin and fun to mix with thousands of other riders from around the world.

This was my first year riding brevets. Minnesota Randonneurs has some friendly and experienced riders who’ve ridden events across the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It’s been inspirational to see how well some “older” riders do in this type of riding.

Everyone who wants to ride in PBP has to successfully complete a “Super Randonneur series” in the year of PBP to qualify. This means ride 200, 300, 400, and 600 km brevets within the time limits. I can explain more if anyone’s interested. At first it sounds hard, but like any athletic endeavor, it’s manageable in steps and was great fun.

Some Pictures:

 

 

 

 

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