Five reasons to ride the Paris-Brest-Paris

After year of qualifying and anticipation my first Paris-Brest-Paris was before me. Arriving from a Wellington winter, that is now known as snowmageddeon,  the 30+ celsius  days in Paris and an epic electrical storm were making me incredibly nervous. Start day, Sunday was a another steaming hot day. The evening start hid the heat of the day from me. The temperature was more mild once riding away from Paris, so the nerves were entirely unfounded. 

 

After riding 1230km in 85 hours and 32 minutes it is hard to concisely gather my thoughts on this amazing event. So, if you would like to more about this ride (and why you should ride it) please do not hesitate to  ask. I could ramble on for hours about the PBP :).

 

 

A few photos I took during the Paris Brest Paris 2011

 

Since returning I have been feeling a bit of what next. The feeling of a need to do something else even more epic is directing my mind to investigate some of the other great adventures that our fine planet offers – after all the next Paris-Brest-Paris is not until 2015. Yes, I enjoyed it so much that I intend returning to ride it again.

 

 

How could I enjoy riding 1200km in 3-and-a-half days so much?

 

1. It is the United Nations of cycling  (without the politics): Over 5000 riders from over 60 countries. All riding with one goal – completing the course in under 90 hours (or 84 or 80). Some would ride fast and sleep lots; others ride slower and sleep less; yet others would try and eat at every restaurant along the route and still finish in the allotted time. There were others racing it too. Naturally, I never really saw them. I have never ridden in a peloton with so many languages spoken. I may not have understood a word, but I enjoyed the experience all the same.
2. Support on the route: While there is excellent support at the controls, and in officials organised by the Audax Club Parisien, it is well backed up by support of locals when riding through towns with the locals yelling “Allez, allez” and up hills “bravo, bravo”. This is surely the closest I will ever get to feeling like I am riding in the pro-peloton. On top of that many locals stay up all night providing coffee, crepes and cakes for passing cyclists – usually for the promise of a postcard. This all adds to the atmosphere that makes the Paris-Brest-Paris a ride like no other.
3. History: How many other events or activities can you participate in that date back to 1891? Or, as a cyclist back to the beginning of the “modern safety bicycle” and pneumatic tyres.
4. Ride–Eat–Ride: I’m not sure if there is a better way to live? Good food all the way at the controls, patisseries (some stay open all night for the PBP), restaurants and locals providing coffee, crepes and cakes.
5. Sense of achievement:The PBP is one of the thousands of sporting activities that are more than achievable, even for non-athletes. Whether by talent, or determination 1200km in 90 hours is achievable but is also a challenge and not a cakewalk. While after finishing, you just feel like sleeping, the realisation that a long held goal, and not an easy one has been accomplished. Even my cycling mates think I’m crazy now, but the thrill I find in the seeking the extent of my limits through challenges that are further, faster, harder and more epic than before is what actually keeps me sane.

 

 

 

 

My time/distance progress through the controls along the route was recorded as:

 

Contrôle	Distance	Arrival time	This control	Cumulative
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES	0km	21-08 20:01	0h0m	0h0m
VILLAINES-LA-JUHEL	221km	22-08 05:42	9h41m	9h41m
FOUGERES	311km	22-08 10:34	4h52m	14h33m
TINTENIAC	365km	22-08 13:55	3h21m	17h54m
LOUDEAC	451km	22-08 19:58	6h03m	23h57m
CARHAIX-PLOUGUER	525km	23-08 03:22	7h24m	31h21m
BREST	618km	23-08 09:47	6h25m	37h46m
CARHAIX-PLOUGUER	703km	23-08 17:31	7h44m	45h30m
LOUDEAC	782km	23-08 22:55	5h24m	50h54m
TINTENIAC	867km	24-08 08:26	9h31m	60h25m
FOUGERES	921km	24-08 11:32	3h06m	63h31m
VILLAINES-LA-JUHEL	1010km	24-08 17:05	5h33m	69h04m
MORTAGNE-AU-PERCHE	1092km	24-08 22:07	5h02m	74h06m
DREUX	1170km	25-08 05:37	7h30m	81h36m
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES	1230km	25-08 09:33	3h56m	85h32m
Location:	France	21-25 August 2011

Paris Brest

Now this is what I am really here for :). This delightful little dessert was created to celebrate the first Paris-Brest-Paris in 1891. Now the Paris-Brest-Paris took me some 85h32m to conquer. I do not think the Paris Brest has a hope of lasting that long as I am about to devour it.

Electric atmosphere

Only ten hours before the start of the Paris Brest Paris. Passed bicycle inspection yesterday and received my Super Randonneurs medal for completing 200km/300km/400km/600km Brevet series this calendar year.

There are all kinds of bicycles and human chain driven contraptions amongst the largest parade of brooks saddles and carradice saddle bags that I have ever seen. Im keeping it simple with my Trek Madone road bike and a hydration pack.

Last night there were a few fireworks which were closely followed by a far more impressive and genuinely epic electrical storm. The thunder sounded like cannon fire. This morning the skies are calm. Hopefully there will be no more thunder & lightning over the next few days of riding.

I plan to spend the rest of the day sleeping and eating before making my way to the start.

Bonjour Paris, Hello Summer!

So long, winter and your Antarctic southerly blasts, rain, wind, hail and snow. Winter, your snow is very pretty. I love it when I am tramping, but it is most unhelpful when I am training for epic cycling events.You have made training very difficult and unrewarding. I’m about to land in summer, so see ya later winter - it shall be another year before we meet again.

Photograph taken from outside my house in Johnsonville, Wellington the day before departure.

I am feeling a touch underdone. I would have preferred to have ridden one last 400km ride in the past week. Caught in falling snow last weekend, did not make riding past evening and into the early of the morning a very good option. I believe that arriving in a more favourable climate will make everything a whole lot more pleasant. That should help the cycling performance in itself.

So with two brand new tyres and a new chain I’m off on the 1231km adventure that is the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur. No doubt there will be suffering along the way, since I only have three days and 18 hours to complete the distance. That said, on my bicycle all suffering is taken with a big wide grin on my face.

If you are at home in New Zealand, tightly hugging your heater no doubt, you can follow my ride in the warmth of the European summer at http://www.kiwirandonneurs.org.nz/live or http://www.audax.org.au/pbp2011/mobile.php. On Twitter follow hashtags #pbp2011 and #pbpan.

Kiwi Randonneurs custom jerseys for Paris Brest Paris 2011. A fusion of a silver-fern New Zealand national jersey, and the official logos of the Paris-Brest-Paris, slightly kiwified.

Do Gatorskin tyres have sidewalls made of cheese?

My current favoured tyre choice are Continental Grand Prix 4 Season (700x25c). Due to sourcing and pricing issues I usually buy these online from the UK. I’ve been saving my spare pair to start the Paris Brest Paris brand new so bought a set of Continental Gatorskins, also of the 700x25c sizing. The Gatorskin’s are sold on the puncture proof qualities making them ideal for commuting and winter riding.

This is the second set of Gatorskin tyres I have had very short life from. Previously I convinced myself my experience was an aberration. Now however, I am convinced that the Gatorskin tyres have sidewalls made of cheese. In both cases, I have not had a puncture through the main treadline, but riding at night in winter after rain I have found a unique ability to slice directly the sidewall as I skim past on-road debris whether it be rock or debris.

So in the space of a week I have replaced my rear tyre twice. Firstly, a loyal and faithful GP4, after over 4000 punctureless kilometres on New Zealand’s chip sealed roads this tyre had been worn through to the canvas, and less than a 100km later a sidewall failure on the replacement Gatorskin from the same company.

This led me to question why the Gatorskins have a good reputation. It would seem the results of a search for “gatorskin puncture resistance” returns a different set of results to “gatorskin sidewall failure” – the later showing that these tyres are indeed, made of a stinky, soft substance known as cheese.

Footnote: Please be aware that the manufacturer states on their website that this tyre is made of Duraskin-anti-cut fabric, and not cheese as I allege. The manufacturer should know more about their product than I.

A durable carbon black mixture, a well regarded puncture protection system and DuraSkin-anti-cut fabric turn the GatorSkin, formely known as Ultra GatorSkin, into a real long distance runner.