Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Colorado SR600

June.05 - SR600

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Friday, May 10, 2019

2019 Brevet Planning

PBP 2019 Brevet Planning

Registration Schedule You can register as soon as you have completed at least three of the four qualifying brevets which are scheduled between October 31, 2018 and June 30, 2019.
Opening May 25, 2019
Deadline July 03, 2019
Websites - PBP  QC  RC  GLR

Qualifiers
May.04
  • QC - 400K - 11,850 / hotel
  • RC - 
May.11
  • RC - weather - hotel - 6:00 AM
  • GLR - 200k (Barrington) - 2454 - 7:00 AM

May.18
  • RC - hotel- 5:00 AM
  • GLR - 300k (Woodstock) - 4,805 - 7:00 AM
May.25
  • GLR - 200k (Oregon) - 5,349 - 7:00 AM (17 miles of gravel)
  • GLR - 400k (Oregon) - 14,131 - 6:00 AM (16! info controls)
June.05 - SR600



June.15
  • RC - 400k - 13,050
  • RC - 600k - Part1, Part2 - 16,733
  • GLR - 400k (Woodstock) - 6,196 - 6:00 AM (Sugar River Trail)
  • GLR - 600k (Oregon) - 20,378 - 6:00 AM (Drop bag:$$, hotels-?)
June.22

  • MN - 600k - TBD

June.21 
June.29
  • GLR - 300k (Woodstock) - 4,805 - 7:00 AM
  • GLR - 600k (Woodstock) - 9,352 - 6:00 AM (Sugar River Trail)
  • RC - 400k (TBD)
  • RC - 600k (TBD)

RC 300
 22.6 /  363 ft : Spring Green (Shell)
 52.0 / 1438 ft : (28, 38) )Mt. Horeb (Kwik Mart)
 57.3 /  139 ft : Info Control
 72.0 /  553 ft : Info Control
 86.9 /  454 ft : New Glarus (BP / Culvers)
114.9 / 1491 ft : (89, 99) Ridgeway (Badger Mart)
153.9 / 1434 ft : (121, 140) Muscoda (Citgo)
174.6 /  713 ft : (167) Info Control
192.5 /  675 ft : Finish


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Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Domane Technical

Di2 Options
  • grx di2 front derailleur - Google
  • SHIMANO RD-RX805 ULTEGRA DI2 DERAILEUR - Jenson
  • Ultegra Di2 RD-R8050 - Google
  • SHIMANO ULTEGRA DI2 ST-R8070 HYD SHIFTER - link
  • Ultegra Di2 ST-R8070 Shifter Set - CompetitiveCyclist

Domane Technical Information
  • Disc Rotors: Centerlock, 140 mm
  • Hub: 142 mm through-hole 12mm
  • RD: Ultegra
  • FD: Ultegra
  • Crank
  • Village Cycle Center
  • 1337 N Wells St
  • Chicago IL 60610
  • Order: 121517-112858-328, Date: 12-15-2017, 11:28
  • Trek Domane SLR 6 Disc - 2017
  • Color: Matte/Gloss Trek Black
  • Size: 58cm
  • Total Discount: ($990.00)
  • Subtotal: $4,949.99
  • Sales Tax: $405.90
  • Shipping & Handling: $0.00
  • GRAND TOTAL: $4,365.89
  • Serial Number: WTU186QU0127L


Crankset options


Shifting upgrades

Front spoke lengths corresponded to those calculated with DT-Swiss calculator:

  • ERD: 571
  • Weight: 451g
  • Model: 240s 135/142 DBCL
  • 32 spokes
  • 3-cross
  • Left: 278
  • Right: 276


Based on my own measurements compared with calculator, rear hub looks to be 240s 135/142 DBCL
  • Sapim cx-ray spokes - Colorado Cyclist
  • Front
  • Rear
    • DT Swiss 240s - appears from this link to be 
      • 12 mm Thru axle / 142 mm 
      • Ratchet System 18 SL 
      • Shim. RD. 11SP LIGHT (ASL11)
    • Notation on hub: P1722826 370 DTP F 2310
    • Spoke lengths: 279 / 277 
  • Ordered spokes on 05/03 along with nipples from TBD
Rotors for new wheels:
  • Ordered Ultegra 140 rotors on TBD (come with lockring)
Lights



 RD:

  • Using this model - RD-6800-GS (other links)
  • Stock model (XXX) and initial replacement (XXX) did not work with 36t cassette

BB
  • crank notchy after rainy 300k Edwardsville ride. 
  • decided to replace BB90 bearings, needed Park BBT-90.3 tool. Left side popped out but tool could not get purchase on right side. Was able to extract by tapping a 15mm socket into the end of the tool which kept the tool engaged.
Brakes :
  • Shimano BR-RS805
  • L02A Resin pads (stock) or sintered (metallic)
  • Need to order before CO ride as one of the rear pads is down to 2mm 
  • Resin vs sintered - review
Cassette

  • SRAM PG-1170 Cassette

Chains
  • SRAM PC 1170 or PC1130 service - if using PowerLock connecter, arrow must point in direction of chain travel. Chain is not directional
  • Using Wipperman CONNEC 
Maintenance
  • New RD
  • New chain
  • Dynamo hub
  • New rear tire
  • 05/14/2019: New BB
  • 20190522 - build rear wheel
    • X-ray spokes, 2.1 x 1 steel, tensioned to 120 Kgf (~14.75 on Park tool)
    • Nox Falkor 36R (ERD: 571)
    • Schwalbe Pro One tubeless (700 x 28C)
    • 60mm stems (from Nox)
    • SRAM PG-1170 11x36
    • Ultegra rotor 140mm (TBD)
Log
  • 2021/06/24 - Installed GRX FD and GRX crank. Replaced FD shift cable.

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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

My LEL 2017 Experience

Prologue
I completed PBP in 2007 and 2015, so I decided to give LEL a go. LEL is a long-distance endurance ride from London to Edinburgh then back to London. The ride actually goes between suburbs of those two great cities, and traverses the countryside on smaller roads, some of them no more than a country lane. The southern portion is predominantly flat with the hillier sections on the northern portion where the ride goes into Scotland. There is also rain and wind to contend with along with nighttime riding and the accompanying cooler temperatures. At 1441 kilometers (895 miles), LEL is longer than PBP which is 1221 kilometers.

My youngest brother Sven Peterson also signed up for LEL and we were riding together on this adventure . My wife, Kathy DeWitt, also came along along with her sister Suzanne - they would be there for moral support but not doing the ride. Sven's wife Karen came over after the ride, and we also spent time in London with Karen's brother Karl and his wife Sue who live outside London. Finally our niece Meghan lives in London and we spent time with her before and after the ride sight-seeing. 

Kathy, Suzanne, Sven, and I flew to London on July.26th from Chicago on a half-empty United flight. Arriving on Thursday morning we then took a van transport to our hotel in Waltham Abbey, where a number of other riders would be staying. We set to assembling our bikes when I discovered that I had forgotten to bring the front and rear wheel skewers - kind of important as they hold the wheels on the bike. Amazingly there was a group of Indian riders at the hotel and when I told them of my predicament they promptly handed over a spare set of skewers for me to borrow until I could locate replacements. 

We had arranged for a rental car since Kathy is an amazing driver and would be doing a driving tour with Suzanne in the general area where Sven and I would be riding - except that they would be stopping in pubs and such and getting a decent nights sleep in comfortable beds. We picked up the car on Friday and I was able to find a bike shop with replacement skewers. Friday evening we took the Tube into London to see a performance of "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" and though skeptical going in I found it to be a great tribute to Carole King, singers, and songwriters, with fascinating insights into the American music scene in the 1960s, with an excellent cast. 


Saturday was the registration - Sven and I went over to the ride start to sign in, get our brevet cards and swag, and stuff our drop bags with items that we would need at designated controls on the ride. Like many other riders, we had broken the ride into five segments with drop bags at Louth and Brampton:
  • Loughton - Louth: 152 miles
  • Louth - Brampton: 196 miles
  • Brampton - Edinburgh - Brampton: 191 miles
  • Brampton - Louth: 196 miles
  • Louth - Loughton: 165 miles
The idea was that we would have a change of clothes, and shower/sleep at Louth and Brampton. Like many of my riding plans it worked up to a point. Maybe someday I will get it all figured out and not have such optimistic plans. My goal was to finish in the time limit, whether or not I stuck to the plan.

Ride Start: July.30.2017: Here I am at the ride start for LEL 2017. Riders were released in waves starting at 5:00 AM, we were in the 12:15 PM group along with about 45 other riders.

For navigation I was using an old Garmin Vista HCx which showed the track but no turn-by-turn, plus I had printed copies of Nick Wilkerson's A6 cue sheets on waterproof paper. At the start another rider told me not to trust those, turns out it was Nick Wilkerson himself!

The London Edinburgh London 2017 route was 1441km long with about 11,128m of climbing. The ride was broken down into nine sections northbound and nine southbound sections. At the end of each section there was a checkpoint called a control, where you got your brevet card stamped and where food was provided along with sleeping facilities and showers at some controls. The entry price for LEL included food and services at all controls. As I found the food to be plentiful and tasty, this was a good deal. I also was able to use the sleeping and shower services.



Day One: Loughton, St. Ives, Spalding, Louth: 152 miles (244 km in, 1206 km left)
Here we are at the first control enjoying some food. It was a nice day and we made good time. Sven kept asking me "if I was having fun yet". No issues on the ride so far, and we found plenty to eat at the Spalding control as well. We continued making good time to Spalding and then to Louth where we arrived at 23:10 to find a 10-minute line for the sleeping area.

So we went and got some food instead first. Still smiling at this point on the ride, as we were still on schedule. After food we managed to snag two of the remaining sleep spots.

Then we got our drop bags, showered, and slept for about four hours. I slept OK but Sven reported that he didn't get a lot of sleep. Woke up, got some breakfast food, and were back on the road at 05:49, just half an hour behind schedule.








Day Two: Louth, Pocklington,Thirsk, Barnard Castle, Alston: 178 miles (530km in, 920km left)

We saw some rain on this part of the ride, and also encountered a fair amount of climbing. Two  highlights of the day were crossing the Humber bridge, and climbing over Yad Moss.

Based on the number of drop bags, Brampton had looked to be overcrowded so we had arranged for a hotel room there for sleeping. Our initial plan was to reach Brampton before midnight, but from a combination of riding slower than planned, and taking longer at controls, as the day progressed it became apparent that we would arrive after midnight. The significance was that the hotel room was above a bar which closed at midnight, which meant that we now had to make arrangements through texts and phone calls so that someone would be there in the wee hours to let us into the hotel.





From Louth we cycled first to Pocklington through the countryside which was mostly devoted to growing crops like wheat and corn, so not too different than the US. There was also substantial pasture for goats, sheep, cattle, and horses - often all these animals would be grazing in the same space. Many of the roads featured hedgerows rather than fences, so you would be riding in a kind of green tunnel. These hedgerows help somewhat to block the sidewinds. This section included the crossing of the Humber river.


The Humber bridge is the eighth longest single-span suspension bridge in the world, and the longest that you can cycle over. It provides breathtaking views of the Humber river which flows to the North Sea.

From Pocklington we continued on to Thirsk. This section passed through the Howardian Hills AONB (Area Of Natural Beauty).
After Thirsk we progressed to Barnard Castle, which was pretty much a long gradual climb with some nice views as we approached the control. This control was in a clubby sort of cafeteria with paneled walls with many sporting trophies.

Leaving Barnard Castle we started the long climb up Yad Moss. We rode for a while with a US couple that had just completed a 1200 mile coast-to-coast ride across England and Scotland, so they were well prepared for LEL. As we climbed it became quite windy and I wanted to put on more clothing, but didn't stop because I was convinced the wind would blow my stuff away across the moor. Near the top we encountered a support vehicle shining its lights on a rider attempting to fix his bike, so I used that as a windbreak opportunity. They determined it was too cold and windy to make repairs so I believe they carried the rider and his bike down to the next control.


After the descent off Yad Moss I was cold, wet, and hungry so we stopped at the Alston control where I ended up napping a bit and getting food - I had two bowls of the best onion soup I have ever tasted.


Day Three: Alston, Brampton, Moffat, Edinburgh, Innerleithen: 144 miles (762km in, 688km left)
We finally got out of Alston around 01:50 and down to Brampton. After eating we collected our drop bags and rode to the Howard Arms hotel, where I needed to call a mobile number to have someone let us in. Despite being behind schedule we still showered and slept for four hours.

The original plan was to ride to Edinburgh and back to Brampton but we were seriously behind schedule - a word about that. All brevets have a total time limit along with intermediate time limits at each control. LEL is unique in that you don't have to make the intermediate time limits, which is why I was not too concerned about being "out of time" at these, as I figured that I could make up time towards the end.

Another thing about LEL is that on some sections they offered alternate routes. In particular there were two routes from Brampton to Moffat, one being hiller but slightly shorter. As it turned Sven and I had downloaded only the hilly version, so we went that route, a bit foolhardy since we were behind time, but there it is.  It was quite beautiful as labored up and down over the scenic hills dotted with thousands of grazing sheep. We were quite happy though that it was not raining. We saw only a couple of other cyclists along the way, as most had opted for the flatter route option.




Leaving Moffat we experienced the second best climb of LEL which was something called "The Devil's Beeft
ub". It was a long gradual climb where you could see all the riders in the distance. It also started to rain on this stretch, I would say the heaviest rain of the entire ride.

After cresting the top I rode along with a couple of English riders from Bristol - Jason and Julian. Julian was quite talkative in a John Cleese sort of accent so I could clearly understand him. Turns out Julian has a thyroid condition which caused some heart palpitations prior to the ride for which he was prescribed a beta blocker - which had the side effect of limiting his heart rate so that he could climb only very slowly for the first two days until the effects wore off. They were now making up for lost time and speeding up the hills. After a while I had to let them go when I stopped for a clothing change. A bit further down the road I stopped again and discovered that I had lost one of my waterproof gloves. Sven meanwhile had gone on ahead. I decided to retrace my route holding up the one glove for 5 km looking for the missing glove. After a couple of kms numerous Italian riders would yell a bunch of Italian at me and gesture behind them. I took this as a good sign and after a while one rider came along holding the missing glove which he handed over to me as I rode by.

Edinburgh was probably the nicest control on the ride in a clean modern building with a great food selection. One of the volunteers was fascinated with the the mirror attached to my glasses and thought it was somehow connected with my mobile. He also asked if I was a doctor.

Sven now decided to go ahead as I was not quite ready to leave. His reasoning was that since I was going faster up the hills, I would catch up with him. This would be the last time I saw Sven on the ride. Typically randonneurs look at the next nibble to measure their progress, but I now took the opposite approach to convince myself I could complete the ride. Leaving Edinburgh at 20:16 meant that I had taken 56 hours to ride halfway, with about 61 hours to get back to the start. Fine, that would have to do.

Got to Innerleithen at 23:19 where I somehow used 51 minutes to eat and set up for the next segment. No sign of brother Sven.

Day Four: Innerleithen, Eskdalemuir, Brampton, Barnard Castle, Thirsk: 163 miles (1025km in, 425km left):
Leaving around 00:10, this next section had a number of long climbs - I measured one that took over 30 minutes, followed by long descents into the darkness. I'm sure it was quite scenic in the daytime, but I could see absolutely nothing, so it got rather boring after a while. At the bottom of one descent a rider was stopped with his hand raised, so I stopped. Seemed he was convinced something was wrong with his recently purchased front light, but not sure as neither of us spoke the other's language. I convinced him to go on and at that point my GPS batteries died so I had to dig around for the next set of AA batteries. 

 In Eskdalemuir I was pretty tired and was able to get a bed spot for one hour. With eating before and after, plus faffing, I did not get out of there until 05:39. On my second meal a phone alarm was going off for a rider napping on the floor next to me. I thought he would want to be awakened but it was like he was dead. It took me a minute of prodding and in the end some light taps to his face to wake him from his slumbers. Then it was off to Brampton.

Back at the Howard Arms I ate a cold breakfast plus juice and coffee. Finally I heard some news that Sven had gotten lost but was on the road to Brampton. After I showered and napped for two hours and was back on the road at 12:30, there was still no sign of Sven. According to the control card, I had 585 km remaining with almost 45 hours to complete. Since the time limit for 600k ride is 40 hours I still figured I had a shot at getting to the finish on time.

In Alston I was hungry and still had to climb Yad Moss, so as the food control was closed I opted to burn more time to refuel at a local hotel with a nice lunch. Then it was up and over Yad Moss and the long descent to Barnard Castle, where I somehow managed to spend only 34 minutes at the control. Perhaps there was hope for me after all.

At Thirsk after eating I tried a table nap then instead napped on the floor of the cafeteria. Being on the tail end of the ride meant for me plenty of food and few riders so undisturbed I got in some good ZZZs.

Day Five: Thirsk, Pocklington, Louth, Spalding, St Ives: 190 miles (1331km, 119km left)
Leaving Thirsk at 00:17 I had about 424 km to complete in 33 hours. As the time limit for 400k brevets is 27 hours,  I knew I could do this!

As I left the control I encountered a small group with one rider who said he lived in the area and was offering to lead us on an alternate route on main roads rather than the hillier regular route. I found out later this seems quite common for UK Audax and is called "route hacking".  I was game so five of us set out - the leader (Phillip?), Lawrence from Philippines, plus two women from Romania. This group ride quickly disintegrated: first the two women riders had to stop for a nature break, then there were a couple of quick stops where I almost crashed into the rider in front, and Lawrence almost crashed into me. Then the women dropped off for unknown reasons, and in the next town the two remaining riders stopped and sprawled on the sidewalk saying they needed to nap. So I went on alone. I located the Pocklington  control on my GPS and navigated a route to it, which took me on a sequence of broad straight highways with very little traffic, with various roundabouts to navigate. It was straightforward riding on these even the portion where I believe I was on a limited access road with on and off ramps. At any rate I got to Pocklington in good time for which I was truly grateful.

I took the opportunity for perhaps my last real sleep in Pocklington in a vast hangar-like building. I asked for a 05:30 wakeup but ended up waking up at 06:00 with my wakeup call apparently missed. Now it was crunch time, with long stretches into a nasty headwind with little relief. For these next two stretches it took me 5:41 to Louth and 5:43 to Spalding.


On the way into Louth I stopped on A46 for some coffee at the "Top of the Wolds" cafe.
I think this was the Louth control where I took a picture of a Bianchi rider for my Bianchi-riding work buddy Jeffery Brown.

Since I had a drop bag in Louth I did take time for a shower and one last change into clean kit - just like Minnesota Fats in the movie "The Hustler" I told myself.

Image result for minnesota fats the hustler washing his face

Now came the long slog to Spalding. I remember napping in a bus shelter, stopping for a Coke and ice cream bar, and sharing pulls with a couple for a while, until they tired of this and dropped off the back. I did later hook up with a small group that I rode with all the way into Spalding - with one guy at the front pulling all the way. On this stretch we got stopped at a railroad crossing where I discovered that some crossings use manual gates the block either the road or the tracks - and that it is a manual operation to move these gates whenever there is an approaching train. Something we don't really have in the US.

Leaving Spalding around 19:16 my offer to ride with a small group was ignored, curious since one of them nearly took me out on a quick wrong turn near the Humber bridge. So I was solo until I came across a couple of stopped riders, one of who was packing it in because his knee was so swollen he could hardly pedal. The other rider was Thomas Krechel from Germany and I ended up riding with him to St Ives and into Cambridge. As a bonus Thomas had the "alternate" route that I did not which went through and not around Cambridge.

Day Six: St Ives, Great Easton, Loughton: 74 miles ( 119 km, FINISHED):
Tired in St Ives, we took a 10 minute floor nap then headed out at 23:50. St Ives was hopping with people including some drunks, one of whom tried to kick Thomas and his bike over, and kept yelling "Are you afraid of me?". Thomas avoided the guy and I replied that yes we were afraid of him because he was drunk and an idiot. This seemed to satisfy him and he left us alone.

Related imageFrom St Ives we then found our way on this great bike path to Cambridge that ran in parallel with a bus lane that I recall was to be avoided because the bus lane had sections with big holes called car traps which were designed to prevent cars from driving in the bus lane. Riding into one of these on a bike would have been a disaster - we managed to stay on the bike path and had no issues:


Still tired we stopped for a 10 minute ditch nap. As we got up a big group passed so we hustled to catch up with them and the adrenaline kept me going with this group all the way through Cambridge. We passed some local riders who knew we were riding LEL and they cheered us on.

All this was not enough as I was having extreme difficulties staying awake and my field of vision would keep transforming and I was seeing things that weren't there. So I drifted to the back then dropped off for another ditch nap. I woke just as dawn was breaking and with this I was able to stay awake to the last control at Great Easton at 0430, where I got some food and calculated I could definitely make it as there was just 48 km to go with over four hours left.

Sitting across from me was a tired looking rider, who said he had just two hours left and he was not going to make the cutoff, after riding almost 1400 kms. I gave him the can of Coke I had been carrying since Pocklington and wished him well.

On the final stretch I still had to stop twice for brief naps, but made good progress. I sped up and passed some riders, all the while checking my GPS waiting to see the final little red flag appear indicating the end of the course. Finally it came into view and then there was the final control. My posse of Sven, Kathy, and Suzanne were all there cheering me on - even though I had put them through the wringer of wondering when I was actually going to finish the ride. But now it was finally over and I finished at 08:31, after 116 hrs 16 minutes. 
Epilogue
I found this ride harder to plan for than PBP in terms of breaking the ride up into chunks. I probably should have ridden futher the first day to get some time in the old sleep bank. As I was "behind time"
for most of the ride, most projections would have me DNFing because of fatigue and the headwind all the way back. But I was determined, never doubted I could complete in time, and managed to do so. According to RWGPS:
Moving Time: 72:32:19, Stopped Time: 43:45:21 (36:36 at controls, so 07:09 "on the road"). 

So I stopped a lot on this ride. I probably only slept a total of 10-12 hours at the controls, and 2-3 hours of other sleep. So there was a LOT of faffing at the controls for sure. My main weakness was being tired, so the body was willing but the mind was weak. I had no issues riding and no mechanicals. My butt  was getting a bit sore by the end but that's about it.

I didn't know what to expect on this ride and expected the worst weather-wise, but the weather was not a big issue. I probably carried way too much gear, no surprise there. Roads were narrow but the drivers were 99% of the time wonderful and careful. After a while nothing really mattered - the traffic, the road, the hills, the wind, the rain - it all sort of blended into the background and all that mattered was to just keep moving forward.

Maybe I got lucky, but the controls were GREAT! I always found plentiful tasty food, and I was able to sleep and shower when I needed to. The volunteers were very helpful, especially those waving you into the controls.

It was very special to be able to ride LEL with my brother Sven, who before 2017 had not even ridden a century. But in 2017 we did a number of long rides together and Sven really rose to the challenge for LEL in terms of getting in miles and equipment in preparation for the ride. Sven ended up DNFing in Brampton after initially missing the control at Innerleithen which resulted in a costly 3 hour setback by the time he figured it out. Sven was still riding strong though and I think he will be back for more randonneuring action in the future.

I got a lot of support from friends and family with IMs etc. As I rode along I could hear the steam whistle going off whenever someone added a new comment to the IM chain. So thanks everyone for that encouragement.



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Thursday, September 24, 2015

Tour de Twin Cites Redux

Minnesota is a great place for cycling, in particular in and around the Minneapolis area. I went up there to ride a 600k brevet on Sep.19.2015. This would be my fifth 600k with the Minnesota Randonneurs group.

 The ride was the second edition of the Tour de Twin Cities. Here is an image of the route, which consists of two clockwise loops starting and ending in Brooklyn Center, MN. Blue and green are the seven legs of the first loop (231 miles), yellow and red the four sections of the second loop (144 miles). 

Weather forecast was for lots of sun and temperatures in the 50s and 60s.

Prologue: Brooklyn Center
After driving up with Kathy to the Twin Cities from Chicago, on the recommendation of a co-worker we had dinner at a trendy place called Victory44 which was on the way to Brooklyn Center. They had good food and unusual entrees. I had a cucumber salad plus  Ham and Pickle Tots, and part of Kathy's "The Perfect Burger". We also had some brews (Deschutes Hop Henge and BauHaus Stargazer). Then it was on to the Doubletree. The hotel was quite nice, a highrise and we were on the 9th floor. After organizing things for the 6AM start I set my alarm for 5:00 AM.
zzzz...bing bing bing 
I showered, had coffee and a Fosdal's chocolate bismarck for breakfast. Yes we had stopped in Stoughton, WI on the way up at Fosdal Home Bakery for a dozen chocolate bismarcks. It was a little cooler (mid 40s I heard) than the forecast but well within rando variability.
Everyone met in front of the hotel at 5:30 AM.  One of the ride volunteers, Norman Ehrentreich,  did the bike inspection. 
I saw some familiar faces - Marc Olsen, Bob Elias, plus  Jonas Nygard, Rob Welsh, and Alex Piotrowski all three of whom had just done PBP. Someone named Rich Gordon recognized me and introduced himself as a friend of Dawn Piech, who rode PBP with me this year. We rolled just after 6:00 AM, heading NW to Wyoming, MN. Here is a link to this section: Brooklyn Center to Wyoming.

Part 1: Brooklyn Center to Wyoming - 33 miles
As the first part involved riding on trails, Norman led us out to make it easier for us to navigate the turns. I asked jokingly if he would be around later to lead us back to Brooklyn Center on that trail section. Once we got on roads we were on our own. Although we crossed the Mississippi there wasn't a lot of climbing and the group mostly rode together to the first control in Wyoming. I just got some water for my Infinit powder and took off, but went back to ride with the group because I mistakenly thought my GPS was telling me to go the wrong way. 

 Part 2: Wyoming to Taylor Falls - 22 miles
A couple riders made a light and went ahead, and the rest of us had to bridge the gap to catch them. We kept up a fast pace on this short section all the way to Taylor Falls, which had a nice descent into the town. Along the way Jonas noticed some workers in a field and called out to them asking if they were growing hops, it turned out they were. Beer making is big in the Minneapolis area these days. Jonas also told me about the town of Lindström, MN with the water tower in the shape of a Swedish coffee pot, and how a famous Swedish writer wrote about the fictional characters Karl-Oskar and Kristina whose statues appear in this town. The movie "The Emigrants" featured these characters. 
At Taylor Falls I just got water and mixed up some more Infinit and was ready to go.

 Part 3: Taylor Falls to New Richmond - 31 miles
I was looking forward to the next control where there would be food provided by the TCBC volunteers, so I didn't wait around for other riders. I figured they would catch up to me. From the control there was a bit of a climb on a busy road, which crossed over a gorge where the St. Croix river runs and there were the falls. After crossing the river we were now in Wisconsin. The climb wasn't too bad, then there was a bit more climbing before turning onto a scenic low traffic road with a nice descent. Then it was mostly mild rollers to New Hastings.  
Here is a link to the section from Wyoming to New Hastings. 
The control in New Richmond was in the town's community center. TCBC had a pile of Subway sandwiches, different kinds of chips, a big plate of cookies, bananas, plus a cooler with different kinds of drinks. It was quite a spread. Others showed up pretty soon after I got there. Gary Bakke and his wife were there to greet us and sign our control cards. I spent almost 45 minutes at this control.
Part 4: New Richmond to Hastings - 42 miles
I started out this section with five other riders. Jonas and his buddy would peel off just after crossing the St. Croix river back into Minnesota around mile 21. The route to that point was a mostly  gradual descent to the river. The approach to the bridge was a bit rough on a sidewalk paralleling WI-35, which led to the bike path along I-94. Shortly after crossing the river Jonas and friend turned north, and I was riding with Malcolm Fraser, Bob, and Hall Sanders. We next rode on a series of challenging rollers, until we descended to cross the Mississippi river into the town of Hastings. After riding through town we crossed the scenic Vermillion river gorge and entered the park where TCBC had setup a control stop with snacks and food. This was a real treat to have food provided at these two controls. I had a Coke and some fruit, filled my water bottles, grabbed a Snickers for later and was ready to go. Malcolm was ready too, so we took off together heading west. 


 Part 5: Hastings to Burnsville - 26 miles


This short section seemed to take forever as there was a moderate headwind from the west. We were dragging on the 15 mile stretch on 160th St/CR-46. We traded pulls into the wind which worked really well. At one point where we switched over th the path parallel to the highway, we passed a woman riding a fat bike  pulling a child in a trailer. I told her it looked like she was getting a really good workout. In Burnsville Malcolm said he needed about ten minutes, so I found the last portion of mac-and-cheese and that was my dinner. I also loaded up a bottle with a couple of hours of Infinit powder for the next leg. Just as we were leaving, Bob and Hall arrived.

 Part 6: Burnsville to Waconia - 38 miles
We still had an hour or so of daylight as we left just after 5:30 PM. This leg had a few sections of bike trails and included an info control. We had some good views of the sunset while riding on one of these trails. We crossed the Minnesota river at Chaska and stopped to put on our reflective gear, with about twelve miles to go to the Waconia control. When we got there I scrounged the last of another soup pot, some sort of ham and cheese I think, and loaded my bottles once more with Infinit. I still had a few potato scones which I had been eating all day, and I bought a couple of bananas as well.

 Part 7: Waconia to Brooklyn Center - 38 miles
Finally on the last stretch of the first loop! This section is mostly on trails, and I knew from last year that this section would be slow, due to the many trail-road-trail transitions. We started out with a  long stretch, 12.5 miles, on the Dakota Trail. There was a surreal section on this trail where ahead was a fireworks display, and in my mirror I could see the quarter moon setting to the southwest. After the Dakota trail the cue sheet had 37 instructions with many road and trail crossings. Both Malcolm and I had a GPS and these were indispensable on this section of the ride. I was having some trouble interpreting my GPS and at one point we were 100 yds apart each yelling "This is the way" (Malcolm turned out to be correct). We finally arrived at the Doubletree at 11:43 PM. Upstairs TCBC had lots of food, in a room right next to ours. I had some pizza and Asian food, and took some Ensure for the road. Back in my room I had some chocolate milk, then showered and crawled into bed. I slept OK but remember hearing the door next door a number of times as later arriving riders stopped in for food.

 Part 8: Brooklyn Center to St. Bonifacius - 37 miles
At 5:00 AM I met Malcolm as planned in the lobby and we took off into the pre-dawn. I remembered this stretch from the previous year and we made our way on trails first crossing the Mississippi then heading south through St. Paul parallel to the river, passing a railyard
Not my photo but we went past this bridge.
to the left and the city waterworks to the right. Some of the bridges we passed were lit up with colored lights which was really cool. We eventually turned west and rode over the river and then hooked up with a sequence of great trails through Minneapolis. We made faster time compared to the previous night, but still had some navigation confusion. Back on the road we passed through the tony suburb of Wayzata where the route took us to a road where the bridge was out, so we had to find an alternate way to get around that and back on course. Then it was seven miles on the Dakota trail which took us to the next control. I got some food and a yogurt parfait which I ate on the sidewalk, only later noticing the chairs and tables inside.  Here is a link to the second loop: Parts8,9,10,11

 Part 9: St. Bonifacius to Cokato - 36 miles
The route continued on to the west first with another 11.5 miles on the Dakota trail, then back to country roads. Yesterday's west wind was now a south wind, and getting pretty strong. Along this stretch Malcolm stopped and I kept going, and quite a gap developed. At the top of a hill I waited until I could see him in the distance then I continued riding. The road now had turns with sections headed north, and on those stretches you could make really good time. Otherwise the cross wind kept the speed down. Finally the route headed straight north which was blissful - I estimated the tailwind at 17 to 20 MPH. As I approached the control there was a rough set of RR tracks for which I failed to slow sufficiently, and the shock knocked some stuff out of my handlebar bag. No impact to the bike fortunately. As I was about ready to leave Malcolm arrived, and got some food at Subway. Feeling a bit pressed for time, I took off thinking I might not see him again.

Part 10: Cokato to Monticello - 36 miles
 After another nine mile stretch north, the route started angling back to the east, with pretty much non-stop rollers to then next control and beyond. I was feeling pretty sleepy this stretch and when I unexpectedly found a McDonalds in Annandale I got a medium coffee, which seemed to help. Or maybe it was the crosswind that was present pretty much all the way to Otsego. I pedalled along, enjoying the pretty countryside and enjoying the nice day. In Monticello I ate whatever food I had left and mixed up my last batch of Infinit. Just as I was ready to go Malcolm arrived! So I waited with him to ride with on the last leg.

 Part 11: Monticello to Brooklyn Center - 36 miles
The route started out headed east, then angled southeast and finally south. We could tell by the flag that there was a strong south wind so we decided to try and take turns pulling as we did the day before. This lasted just a few miles then Malcolm said he wanted to drop the pace and encouraged me to go ahead. I would have stuck with him, but I knew he would be OK on his own as he is a strong cyclist. Besides it was the last leg and still daylight, and there were plenty of riders that would be coming along behind. So I kept going and soon Malcolm dropped from sight. In addition to the wind, there were quite a few rollers that kept the ride interesting. As the miles passed by, I continued to ride past farm fields with corn and soybeans, even as Minneapolis became ever closer. Once the route headed south the route finally approached urbanization. Near the end of this last section we were supposed to be riding on a trail. but most of the time I elected to ride on the street that ran in parallel to avoid the bumpy street crossings on the trail. I was tired with the wind and the distance, and at one point it looked like a hybrid rider on the path was going to easily pass me, but he turned off. After a certain point cross streets were numbered, and I needed to get to 66th Street: 129th, 128th....85th...etc. until finally 66th Street! Then it was just about one mile to the end. 

Epilogue.
Norman was there with food and drinks from the back of his car. What a guy! He noticed dark clouds to the south and then the rain came in as I was coming back out of the hotel after showering. Malcolm had come in ahead of the rain, asking about dinner, but we had to get on the road.  Got on I-694 and missed the first two turns (my fault) but then we got on track and made good time all the way back to Illinois. Listened to "Go Set a Watchman" on the ride home. Not her best work I'm afraid.

 Thanks to TCBC members Rob Welsh, Gary Bakke & Co., Bill Hague, Norman Ehrentreich and Jerry Hofmann for their many hours of planning, emails, checking routes, providing food and refreshments and supporting everyone on the ride.

 GPS Stats:
Total ascent: 13590 (ridewithgps says 9916)
Max speed: 41
Moving time: 25h 6m
Stopped time: 3h 42m
Odometer: 380  (bike computer says 382)
Moving avg: 14.9 (bike computer says 15.2)
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Saturday, May 24, 2014

1200K PBP 2007

Great Lakes Randonneurs before the ride

Sizun on the way back
The Ride

So on August.20, 2007, I went on this bike ride, 1227 km long (that’s kilometers), which is 762.4 miles. If that sounds like a long ways, here’s the kicker: it’s a group ride that starts at night, and you have to complete it in 90 hours. That’s four days less 6 hours. If that seems too short a time, note that there is also an 84 hour group and an 80 hour group. Some other points:

  • At least three riders completed the ride on fixed-gear bikes – one fixed gear with no coasting!
  • One rider completed in less than 50 hours on a bike weighing over 34 pounds!
  • There were at least two riders with “rowing bikes” – no pedaling.
The 90-hour group starts at 9:30PM Monday night. Since there are so many in this group, they are released in packs of a few hundred every ten minutes. The pack I was in started at 10:50PM. 

The Course
The course is pretty much an out-and-back, between the suburbs south of Paris and the coastal town of Brest. Major cities are avoided but you ride through the countryside and dozens of small villages that are hundreds of years old. The terrain is mostly rolling hills, none of them very steep, but there is a lot of up and down on the course.
Here's some more information:


The Participants
There were a total of 5321 riders. 2298 were from France, the remainder (3023) from 41 other countries. After France, the top ten were:
USA 606
Germany 387
Italy 368
Great Britain 334
Spain 205
Denmark 182
Australia 125
Belgium 121
Canada 116
Japan 112

There were ten countries with just one participant. 6.6% of the riders were women, (14% of the USA and Canada riders). For 51% of the riders (including me) this was their first PBP.
Ride Plan / Synopsis
First of all, I planned to get ahead of as many riders as possible by riding non-stop from the start to the first control – either 140km (food stop) or 222km (first real control).
Second, since I actually like the 400K rides, I divided the ride into three “400K” sections, and estimated my arrival time on my worst 400K time in 2007 (20 hours), assuming a 9:30 start, and 6 hours at each rest stop for a planned total of about 72 hours:
  • 450km to Loudeac (ETA 8:00PM Tuesday; actual 11:27PM Tuesday)
  • 465km to Fougeres (ETA 1:15AM Wednesday; actual 11:52AM Wednesday)
  • 312km to Guyancourt (ETA 11:00PM Thursday; actual 1:27PM Friday)
My actual time to complete the ride was about 86.5 hours.
So what happened with my plan? Mainly that I spent much more time off the bike than I had anticipated. The rain caused me to fuss with my clothing a great deal - until I realized that I would simply be riding in damp/wet clothes all the time. Also I spent more time at the controls than anticipated, plus stops outside the controls, and also I took a number of naps along the way whenever I felt too sleepy. Finally I simply rode slower than anticipated, especially in some of the later stages. How slow – I don’t know since I did not keep track of that.People
  • Kathy - my "better half", who met me at the two hotels along the way (Loudeac and Fourgeres) where I'd made room reservations. Somehow she managed to find these places, and meet up with me despite having no idea when I would show up.
  • Mike, Doug, Jon, Jim, T.C., Roger - fellow riders from the Chicago area (GLR - Great Lakes Randonneurs)
  • Tom, Fred - riders from Ohio that did some of the GLR rides.
  • Mark Olsen, Harold - riders I met on the Cedar Valley brevet series in Iowa.
  • Ray - guy I met at the Campanile prior to the ride

Ride Details
Here is my recollection of the details of the ride – I must admit that while I can remember some events with great clarity, sometimes I am actually guessing where these actually occurred since much of the ride is a blurred continuum. As I don't like crowds or lines, I don't say much about those scenes at the controls - I'm sure there are plenty of descriptions elsewhere of the carnage occurring on the ride. What I do find fascinating is the 24-hour nature of the ride, at all hours of day and night these thousands of cyclists were out there pursuing a common goal - to get to the finish line.
Monday 7:00 PM: Wait in line for close to an hour for the pre-ride dinner. See some unusual bikes.
Sit at table with a couple of riders from Belgium. Then ride over to stadium to get in line for the 90-hour start.
8:30PM: There are quite a few cyclists ahead of me in line, which advances at a snails pace. Wait to be released with waves of other cyclists, starting at 9:30PM. While waiting in line, rain squalls come and go.
10:50PM: Released with 9th wave of riders. Ride through towns where police have blocked traffic with hundreds of other riders until we get out into the country where it is very dark and there is a ribbon of red taillights extending as far as you can see into the distance. Pass cyclists for 90km until I start to see a break in this line of lights. Roads are somewhat wet but the rain holds off. Continue on without stopping to food stop where it starts to rain heavily.
Tuesday 4:15AM, 140km arrive Mortagne Au Perche: Before going in for food I fix the handlebar tape on the right side which has started unraveling with some electrical tape. Inside I get some “puree” (pureed mashed potatotes) and an orange drink. Switch to rain gear and head out into dark, wet night. A NW wind has picked up as well. Continue on to first real control (Villanes).
9:55AM, 222km: arrive Villanes La Juhel: Grab more food - potage (soup), huge plate of spaghetti, and a Coke. Head back out into more rain. Really struggled in this stretch, putting clothes on, repeatedly stopping to take clothes off trying to keep dry from the rain yet not overheat from too much clothing. Still there are people out in the country offering coffee and cakes.
3:37PM, 310km: arrive Fougères: Seem to be ahead of the bulk of the riders as it is not too crowded. Grab a jambon et beurre (ham and butter) sandwich and a Coke.
Head back out. Somewhere in here, leave leg warmers and rain legs at convenience store and get 5km out of town before realizing mistake, return to pick them up.
6:47PM, 364.5km: arrive Tinténiac : I probably eat something here but I don’t remember what. Back on road, see fast group, already returning from Brest, flying down a hill. This is somewhat demoralizing. Take a quick catnap lying in a parking lot outside a restaurant in the country.
11:27PM, 449.5km: arrive Loudéac: Ask numerous people for directions to hotel, show them my map, someone points me towards a round-about in town. Head into town riding through dimly-lit narrow streets, foggy like an old Humphrey Bogart movie. I ask a French couple in the street, show them my map, but they do not know. Next I try at a hotel – the clerk gestures and tells me something in French, then repeats it – again in French. I ride off in the general direction to which he gestured and soon a car approaches - it’s the French couple – who have apparently figured it out and they lead me to the hotel. Merci Merci.
The hotel is, well, pretty dumpy. I stash my bike and climb three flights of narrow stairs to our room where Kathy is sleeping. She’s glad to see me but this is my low point, I wonder if I will be able to continue on since it seemed to take way too long to get here (actually I was only two hours behind schedule but my fuddled mind could not figure that out – although soon my plan would really be blown out of the water).
There was only one shower for three floors of guests – so the silver lining was that my late arrival meant I had only a brief wait for the shower. I set my Casio watch alarm for 4:45 and set it on the table next to the bed and fall fast asleep. Sleep for four hours, and recalled much clatter of riders talking and clacking down the hall. I restock the bike, ride to the control and get breakfast.
Wednesday 6:30AM
Leaving the control, I head out into daybreak. After about 10km I pass a few people and then a friendly guy from Nova Scotia chats with me and we start riding together. Meanwhile a woman rider has clamped onto my wheel where she pretty much stays until the next control. We do switch off at the front a little but it’s mostly me and the guy from Canada.
10:11AM, 525.5 km: arrive Carthaix: The weather is finally improving, there is some blue sky and even sunshine! I stop in a town with an outdoor grill cooking to buy a sausage, a Coke, and share some frites with a recumbent rider from MA (Alan Dopfel, who I later found abandoned on the way back at Loudeac). I start to see many returning riders as I slog up up a long hill called Roc Trevezel. Along the way I see the most amazing recumbent – it’s a tandem with the riders sitting back-to-back. It is very low-slung and they are simply flying down the hill – very cool. At the top of Roc Trevezel there are fantastic vistas all around.We now head downhill and continue into Brest. Along this stretch I see an accident site – there has been a collision between a car and a cyclist. It looks bad, there is someone covered up by the side of the road. I move on.
3:00PM, 614.5km: arrive at Brest: The halfway point – about 40 hours so far - but I don’t hang around, just get my card stamped and start to head back.
I hear that it is now raining in Loudéac. Oh well. Lines are very long, so on the way out of town I make some stops – first at a small bar where I use the toilette. Then I stop at grocery store to buy water and juice. I have some extra water which I give to a local guy out on a bike ride. Finally I stop at a bakery where I buy a jambon baguette – I eat some now and stick the rest in my jersey pocket for later. I talk to a Dutch guy there about his bike pod. A few kilometers down the road I stop in a small picturesque town – Sizun - to finish my sandwich – I see Jim Kreps, Harold, and Ray (who takes my picture).
Jim and I stop at a bar to get Cokes. Then it’s back up Roc Trevezel where I take the last pictures while riding - I put the camera away due to the approaching rain, and the feeling that taking pictures is going to slow me down too much.
Two-speed bike, you pedal
backwardsfor the lower gear.
8:30PM, 697km: arrive Carthaix: Yep it’s raining again. I see Jon and Mike, plus some woman from our travel group who wants to know where I got my bottle of Pepsi (it was the last one). I eat a filling meal including some sort of dessert. Then it’s a snooze with my head down on the table. As I’m leaving I see Jon again, he tells me he’s been falling asleep on the bike going downhill. Yikes! He wonders where he can find some caffeine pills so I give him most of mine. I leave Jon trying to sleep sitting up in a hallway. I force myself out into the night and the rain has stopped for now, it’s rather balmy and nice and there are lots of red lights ahead to follow on the road. After a while I get pretty sleepy though, and I notice a rider leaving a little spot by the side of the road where there is a sort of entrance to a field. So I stop, get out my space blanket which I must have bought thirteen years ago on my first backpacking trip, and unfold it. Lots of the mylar is flaking off but I use it like a ground cover and lay on the ground and take a snooze. All the while bikes are streaming past me. I don’t think I sleep long, but enough so I feel alert enough, so I fold the blanket up as best I can and stuff it under my pack cover and continue on. It starts raining again. After a few more hours I come to a town where they have erected a tent and they are grilling sausages and cooking frites. Perfect! I wander into the tent and have this delicious food, covering the frites with catsup. Best meal ever.
Thursday 3:09AM, 775km: arrive Loudéac: I’m not that hungry, but I do get a bowl of coffee and two croissants. As I leave I notice I am right behind the back-to-back tandem, and we pass each other over the next few miles as we go up and down the hills. It is a very cool looking machine, it even has what look like running lights. Towards daybreak I get sleepy again and when I notice a covered concrete apron I head over there, wrap up in the space blanket, and catch a few more winks. Sometime later I’m awakened by someone starting a truck. That’s my cue to get up and back on the road.
9:11AM, 858km: arrive Tinténiac : Get card stamped and leave quickly. I am hoping to get to Fougeres by noon.
11:52AM, 913km, arrive Fougères: Amazingly, Kathy is waiting at the control, from there we walk to the hotel which is very nice. I stash my bike in the basement. In the room I organize my stuff, shower, and take a nap while Kathy goes out shopping. I get two hours of delicious sleep before I simply wake up on my own. I get ready to go, restock the bike, and Kathy returns with two baguette andwiches. I eat the chicken one and save the ham for later. The staff has been very accommodating in letting me stay way past the checkout time without any additional charge. Later Kathy tells me that she went and bought a gift of flowers for the hotel, and when she offered this to the person at the desk, she came out to Kathy and gave her a hug and kisses on both cheeks!
4:30PM: leave Fougères: The route back is just in front of the hotel and I take off waving goodbye to Kathy. A few towns later there is a little stand where a local cycling club is cooking crepes and coffee, free to all takers. They have little pieces of paper with their address on it and I grab one. Along this stretch there are many places where families are offering snacks, coffee, and water. There are also lots of Breton men on bicycles out in the country, riding up and down the many hills.
9:06PM, 1001km, arrive Villaines La Juhel: It’s been raining, and my glasses are completely wet and fog up as I enter the control. After getting my card stamped, I look for napkins, find none, drop my helmet causing the batteries in the LED light to fall out, but I can’t look for them because I can’t see, so I go back to looking for a napkin, which I find, then I can’t find all the batteries, one must have rolled a ways, then I find it. Finally, I get some coffee and sit down and eat my jambon sandwich. As I sit there I hear someone saying that this is the section with a very long descent (I remember going up it the other way on the way out), and that the rain has let up. Not wanting a long descent in the rain, I now hurry out. After the descent, there are long stretches with no signs. For the first time, I feel I may be off the course, but am reassured at each town where there people waiting and clapping as I go by. In some small town I find an open bar / restaurant, I get a delicious bowl of soup there and also find that they are offering a place for riders to sleep. I lay down but there are too many snoring bodies. Also, there is a guy that they are trying to wake up but no one can rouse this person. As I get up to leave I find there are people lined up outside to take my place.
Friday 3:50AM, 1083km, arrive Mortagne Au Perche: Get some warm food, then fall asleep with my head on the table. It then just so happens that my watch alarm is still set for 4:45AM, this wakes me up, and I raise my head to see Doug Slack at the end of the table holding forth on some cycling topic. I am amazed to see him, we have a nice chat, then I head out. I ride through forests and farms with fields of horses, sheep, and goats. Looks like some sort of animal museum, but with live animals. I really start dragging and for the first time notice that there are many more people passing me rather than the other way around.
Then someone hands me a Lemonhead candy for some reason. Then I jump on the wheel of some passing Brit riders, leave them, and speed all the way into Dreux.
8:51AM, 1157km, arrive Dreux: I buy hot food, see Mark Olsen. I wake a woman I knew from the hotel sleeping over her tray of food, since the time is now starting to get short. After I ride fast out of the control, a few kms down the road I see T.C. and Roger from GLR. They are keeping their speed down due to some ailments, Achilles I think. I notice that mine has started to hurt a bit too, the left one. I pass a bunch of people and then end up in a kind of paceline with a Danish rider, some Italians, and an American woman who looks fresh as a daisy (and color coordinated). I remember her from a day or so before, when she was also color coordinated, but in a different color. Eventually I end up at the front of the line, but it’s getting crazy, with too many other riders, and cars, clogging the road, so I peel off and the Italians all gesture disgustedly at me. So I just leave them all behind and continue on alone. As we get close to the finish, it gets crazier, with stoplights, lots of traffic, lots of riders. Very near the end I find myself riding alongside Fred and Tom from Ohio, who I have not seen since the registration:
We ride in together to the finish. As we approach there is Kathy with a new-found friend with a loud voice yelling my name.
1:27PM, 1225km, arrive Gymnase Droits de l’Homme: arrive, park my bike, and turn in my card. At last the ride is over. There are some coupons for a free drink, so we head over to the food tent where I get a beer which is very good and doesn’t even make me want to pass out. I am pretty tired though, and falling asleep on my feet, so we head back to the hotel, where I shower and take a nice nap.
AftermathYes, the rain was a drag - but the temperatures were in the 50s - 60s so it was actually quite pleasant once you got warmed up. Better than baking in the sun. The cloud cover meant that it did not get real cold at night. But you had to have the right gear and the right clothes to stay warm even though you were damp or even wet much of the time.
There are lots and lots of pictures taken by others out there on the internet. Thousands and thousands!
Physical - my feet and ankles were pretty swollen. Some saddle sores, not too bad. My left Achilles is tender for some reason. I was pretty tired but not exhausted. One week later and my tendon is still tender, and my toes are still about halfway numb, although the swelling has lessened.
Bicycle – the wheels were extremely grimy and dirty. Other than a broken light bracket, no mechanical issues or flats. It took a couple of hours to clean them and the rest of the bike. Very dirty.
Mentally – I was glad the ride was over, but already scheming about ways I could improve next time (if there is ever a next time). I’d done some things I’d never done before:
  • Ride all the way through the night – did this three times
  • Ride in the rain for long periods of time.
  •  Ride for 24+ hours
I certainly learned a lot on this ride. It was my first 1200K, and the longest ride I have ever done.
Here’s what a cycling newsletter had to say about the ride:
RBR (Road Bike Rider): Massive DNFs at Paris-Brest-Paris
  • Randonneuring is certainly catching on. A record 5,320 cyclists from around the world earned the right to ride Paris-Brest-Paris on Aug. 20-23. That's a 31% increase over 2003.
  • The big question, after a frightful experience in France this year, is how many from that huge peloton will be brave enough to return in 2011 for the quadrennial randonnee's next edition?
  • PBP, cycling's oldest event since 1891, puts riders on a 1,200-km (745-mile) out-and-back, west-east course between the suburbs of Paris and the seacoast city of Brest. The distance must be covered in 90 hours or less to be an official finisher.
  • That's tough in the best conditions. This year, the veterans (anciens) and all those rookies were hit by rain, wind and unpleasantly low temperatures. It's being called the worst weather for PBP in 50 years.
  • As a result, about 1,800 riders quit somewhere along the route -- a massive 34% dropout rate. That's two-and-a-half times the norm. Among the 623 American starters, an estimated 200 abandoned.
  • PBP veteran John Lee Ellis of Colorado says the temperature ranged from the low 50s to upper 60s Fahrenheit (11-20C). He describes a "persistent northerly crosswind, at times stiff, with moisture influx off the sea and waves of showers -- from drizzle to heavy rain. Most of the time the pavement was wet. During my sleep breaks, one aim was for my socks and shorts to dry out. I suspect this was a common theme.
  • Many riders who quit were stranded for hours as trains back to Paris quickly reached their bike-carrying capacity. To compound the wet chill and exhaustion -- or because of it -- a number of people became sick.
  • "Ironically, if there was a concentration of misery, it may well have been amongst the dropouts trying to get back to Paris," says Ellis. "Many riders had to wait quite a while and make several connections, each of them iffy. I believe the only direct train was from Brest, and it did not take unpackaged bikes."
  • randonneuring is founded on the ability to persevere through all manner of conditions, but this PBP's weather clearly strained many riders' capacity.
  • Mark Thomas, president of Randonneurs USA, calls it "the toughest of my three rides."
Thomas completed this PBP in 84:50. He exhibits the spirit of randonneuring by saying, "Despite the weather and the DNFs, it was a wonderful event. The French people along the route were undaunted by the rains, offering food, drinks and, above all, good cheer. Many great stories of perseverance and mutual support will be heard" as riders return home and relate their experiences.


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