More PBP Advice from Martin

Here are a few more thoughts about PBP for the new people.

I’m thinking this might be an obvious one, but consider putting new rubber on your wheels just before packing it up for PBP. There are bike shops or sports store near the PBP start and finish area and there will be mechanics available at every official control. You can expect to pay cash for any parts, I’m not sure what they charge for service time. I started to only wear a clear lens on my glasses for some brevets where night riding is involved. While it’s nice to have a dark lens for day time riding I find I can easily get by without carrying the extra lens. That makes one less thing to worry about, carry and pack on the bike. If you are like me, you’ll want to pack as little as possible, but also as much as possible. It gets to be what’s essential.

The controls at PBP are going to be further apart then what we have been used to doing the brevets here in Minnesota. As I stated in a previous note the first official control is at 200 km. After that they will be anywhere from 35 to 70 miles apart. Do not make the mistake and think these are the only places you can stop/rest or fill bottles. You can stop anywhere along the course. At restaurants/cafes, bakeries, or any little stand set up along the side of the road. And there will be locals who will have things available out in the middle of no where. Some of it is for sale, some they will gladly give to you. We’ll ride though the villages and kids will be out there offering hand ups of water. I remember stopping at one place for a coffee and the girl and her father would not take money, they handed out a slip of paper with their address and asked for a post card when we returned home.

While food and water availability is not a concern as a whole, always carry some sort of food with you at all times. I’ll bring many different energy bars with me and drink mix packets. GU and Heed both make drink packets in convenient sizes where the pack mixes with a bottle of water. Nice since you do not have to think about pre measuring and bagging the powders yourself. Open the packet and empty it into a bottle, fill with water. Carry a variety. Different flavors, textures. You do not want to get so tired of the food you have on you that you quit eating/drinking and later bonk.

In 2007 I was approaching the last control, less then 5 miles from the control and 40 miles from finishing PBP and felt myself spiraling down with low blood sugar/energy. I suddenly got very tired, eyes became tunnel vision and lack of power. Fortunately I had a GU powder drink mix with me, the last of any food carried, and half a bottle of water. I stopped, mixed the GU with the half bottle of water, and chugged it. I’m not sure how badly I would have cracked without the boost, but that half bottle with the energy drink did the trick. I got to the control had a coke and couple croissants, and continued. It’s important to recognize how you feel when approaching one of these moments. I did, acted on it quickly, and recovered almost immediately because I was prepared for just such a scenario.

- Martin Fahje