The
Rain, The PBP, and Other Things
Note: This title was shamelessly ripped off from the Cowsills. If you don't know what I mean, click the title…
Riding in
I found the bike I
wanted in late June. It is a ’93 Titanium Litespeed. It was fully equipped with
an Ultegra triple just the way I wanted it. It was almost too good to be true.
I immediately sent it to Bilenky Metal Works in Philly. Bilenky did the
retrofit in 2 days and sent it back. After it returned, I put a new fork on it
and had to set it all up based upon what I was accustomed to with my Merlin.
While I was setting it up, I decided to shorten the reach about 1 inch and
raise the bars about an inch. Since this will be my “travel” bike, it will most
likely be ridden on long and very long rides. I figured that relaxing the reach
slightly would be a good thing. I immediately loved it! So much so that I've
pretty much decided to modify my Merlin similarly.
Now, with my new
ride having only about 1500 miles on it (not the Smart Money approach), I
headed to
My wife and I
arrived in
We moved to
I made it to bike
inspection. The 5 miles turned into about 10 miles (and 1 hour) after I kept
getting lost. There is also about 500’ of climbing in that 5 miles, so my
start/finish ride would indeed be a “bonus!” It turns out that because of the
rains, they couldn't do the bike inspections. So, I just picked up my
registration packet, my official PBP jersey, and chatted with friends. Spirits
were high in eager anticipation of riding with about 5000 fellow randonneurs. I
rode back to
There are 3
starting times that riders may choose. There is the group which has 80 hours to
finish and they start at 8 pm on Monday. The 90 hour group starts at 10 pm. The
third is my chosen group which starts at 5 am on Tuesday and has 84 hours to
complete the event. I was in bed by 9 pm on Monday and it was raining. The 80
hour group had about 1400 riders, the 90 hr group had about 3000 riders.
I awoke to foggy
skies but no rain. I rode to the start with wet roads but no other issues. I
even saw a porcupine on the way to the start. I checked in at about 4:20 and
headed for all the cues that riders must endure. At exactly 5:00 am, the
starting gun sounded and 700+ riders in the 84 hr group headed into the
countryside to the cheers of hundreds of bystanders. Ahhhhh, this is PBP!
The fairy tale
nature of this ride ended about an hour after the start when heavy rains poured
down on us. The rains were steady for 5 ensuing hours, then let up. The skies
were still very dark so more rain was anticipated. It didn't slow the pace at
all though. I felt great and the pace was just to my liking. The front group
had dwindled to about 20 riders by now and all was well. We reached the first
water stop at mile 86. The group split up as most of the front group had
support. I dutifully filled my bottles, tended to business, and headed back
out.
Within a few
miles, the group started to re-form. The rains also started to re-energize. The
temperatures held pretty steady in the mid 50s, so while riding it was warm
enough to be comfortable. This process continued all day to Loudeac (mile 280)
where I had a drop bag awaiting me with (oh sooooo welcome) dry clothes!!! I
changed, ate, restocked my bike bag with food, etc. and headed out. It wasn't
raining at the control, but within 1 mile of leaving, it was pouring again. Now
it was dark and getting pretty chilly. The hard rains coupled with the darkness
made route finding a bit of a challenge at times.
My planned sleep
stop was the next control at Carhaix (mile 330). All continued methodically,
albeit very slowly, until things started getting pretty difficult about 20
miles before Carhaix. I was getting sleepy, tired, and cold from being wet all
day. I had been riding for nearly 20 hours and my fingers and toes were
wrinkled from being wet so long. I was looking for someone to ride with and
with 4 miles to go to Carhaix, I looked back to see if I saw lights. I was on a
descent and was traveling about 25 mph. When I looked forward, I noticed that I
had veered to the right. I was confused (or overly tired) and steered into the
grass. When I (stupidly) tried to steer back onto the road, my front wheel hit the
edge of the pavement and I was sent scooting across the road on my left side.
Dang that hurt!
Once I stopped
sliding, my first thoughts were… does anything feel broken? I moved everything
and nothing seemed overly painful. OK, check! Now, how's the bike? I picked it
up and the saddle bag was askew. I straightened it. I looked everything else
over and saw nothing. OK, check, check. By then riders approached and stopped
to see if I was ok. I rode with them the last 4 miles to the control. I was
definitely going to get a couple hours sleep after dodging a major bullet.
I ate and gave the
volunteers my 2 hour wake up call. As soon as my head hit the, well, mat, I was
awakened. Hey wait, I said 2 hours, not 2 minutes. Time flies when you're
soaking wet under a heavy wool blankey and sleeping like a tired baby! I ate
breakfast and headed out into the cold rains for
As I approached
Well, it was rainy
and windy the entire day. The weather made travel pretty slow going. I rode to
my next scheduled sleep stop in Fourgeres. I arrived at about 2:30 am in the
pouring rain. I was getting really demoralized by this point. The weather was
not giving us any breaks at all. I was also still trying to complete the ride
in under 60 hours. In order to have any chance of doing so, I needed to be up
and away by 5 am. So, I was in bed by 3 and up at 4:30. I ate and was
technically ready to leave at 5 am. I had just put my cold wet clothes back on
and was shivering, even inside. It was pouring rain, 53 degrees, and dark.
Mentally, I couldn't bring myself to go out and get on the bike. I told myself
that I could do it when the sun came up.
Well, the sun came
up and I dragged my shivering body onto the &^#* bike. I could barely
breathe because of my shivering for about 3 miles and I debated turning around
and going back to the control. I didn't, and in a few miles I was breathing
normally and back to a more sustainable state of misery. I hit my low point
somewhere in here. Then the magic of PBP took over and changed my outlook
totally.
I passed through a
village and it reminded me of a village that I had already passed twice. On the
way to
Then, I went
around a corner in this small village and there was a cheerful man in his front
yard saying “free café and crepes.” This sounded really good, so I stopped. It
turned out to be the stop that changed my entire ride. He was positive,
cheerful, wanted me to send him a postcard from
When I finally
reached the penultimate control in Dreux, the rains had stopped. Further, the
skies looking toward Paris were much lighter than they had been in 3 days. It
didn't rain any more. I was now flying! No rain!!! I did miss a turn somewhere
and added a bonus 10 km to my ride, but it didn't matter. I could smell the
barn and I was passing riders like they were standing still.
I pulled into the
final control at 12:50 am on Friday morning, some 67:50 after I started on
Tuesday morning. I didn't attain my speed goal, but I had probably the most
satisfying ride of my life. It was easily the most difficult. My name will
again be placed in the “Great Book” as having successfully completed the 16th
edition of Paris-Brest-Paris. I really have the French people to thank for this
one. Had it not been for their unrelenting passion to keep me going, I probably
would have succumb to my weaknesses. This is why there is nothing else like PBP
in the world and why I can't wait to go back in 2011.
Thanks for
reading!
-Mike
PBP Ancien ’03,
’07, …