Sunday 20th August was the 76th edition of the Paris Brest Paris iconic ride, which takes place every 4 years. To be able to enter the event, 1 year before you need to start the pre-qualification Audax rides which are BRM events
1 year before you need to ride an SR series of events to complete Super Randonneur BRM
200km, 300km, 400km 600km - if LEL (London - Edinburgh - London) is in the same year then it will count towards your pre-entry
once completed pre-entry takes place in January of the same year as PBP starts in August. This is where you can book your slot and preferred start times.
80 - 84 and 90-hour slots and the time of day.
1200km (745.64miles) to be completed in one ride
6,820 registered
5,100 cyclists on the starting line
27 Waves of cyclists set off from Sunday to Monday morning
71 Nationalities represented
6.14% were women
2 men have completed PBP 13 times
2500 volunteers
Pictures from the ride
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cNuD8GJ7KiAHTQfp9I hadn't really put much thought into PBP / Audax, I knew they existed. Madeley had been reading his cycling weekly and read an article on the upcoming Paris brest Paris and thought I know someone who would be interested in this or mad enough to ride.
the only Audax event I did have my eye on was the Bryan Chapman 600km from Chepstow to North Wales and back
From there the seed was planted and joined the Audax UK club and started signing up for events to be able to obtain the SR and pre-qualification.
By June I had completed my 2nd 600km AU PIED DE COCHON - FRUITS DE MER. From riding these events I made some great new friends from the Cardiff Audax groups and riders on the ride.
then things turned to shit when on my normal 15-mile commute to work some dickhead in a van drove into me from behind. where I had a 6-hour wait for the ambulance - broke my back, 5 ribs and sternum, and a two-week hospital stay after having back surgery to stabilise my L3 to my L2 and L4 with some metal work.
At the time the doctor's outlook was good in that I could get back on the bike over time, but the unknown was how long for and how much could I bend my back.
3 months in a body brace. December was the final scan and the operation was a success.
From here it was a hard decision on whether to continue with my same goals or delay everything. slowly started doing indoor cycling sessions. with the first ones being around 5 miles a day just to get used to being on the bike.
After 1 full month indoors cycling by mid feb I was able to go outdoors and had my first event 200km - completed this and just took it easy each while slowly putting in more miles.
The driver of the van who blamed the low sun is still due to go to court. Last week the police had my camera off me to run forensics and get the speed he was travelling at the time of the accident. So, any day soon I should have this result and him going to court.
Back pain is something new to get used to whereas before I never had it,now I've got a constant reminder and can range in pain each day for instance most days a niggle where I need to move about to ease it. I can no longer lie on my front for instance due to the pain it causes on my back.
progress was going well with each event - it felt harder than the previous year but at least the signs were good where I was improving and achieving the big miles.
May was the last of the SR series to complete meaning that I could now validate my place in PBP2023
the plan for going to France would be driving down - Sarah dropping me off and leaving me on Sunday, where she and Paul would go and visit Disneyland for a couple of days
The drive down felt very stressful with the bike on the rack. We left Friday, stayed near the tunnel and crossed over sat morning.
4hr drive down to Rambouillet where it was 30c heat. into the grounds to pick up my registration documents and bike numbers. This is when it sinks, and you see how big the event is, there were cyclists everywhere.
The route is made up of 14 controls and at these controls you must pass your bike over the timing gates and then go to the control to get your card stamped. These are roughly 50miles apart - at each control you can have food, drinks, shower, or a bed / floor to have a sleep.
Sunday 20th 5pm start. Bike and myself already to go, it was a 1hr easy ride over to the start from my hotel. Got there with a few hours to spare and was killing time.
Was interesting to see all the different bikes that would be ridden. Bromptons - Fixed gear bikes - Tandems - triplets - recumbent bikes - Carbon super bikes with hardly any bags - found out later these would be the fast people using bag drops or having people en route meet them to provide support
You need to be in your pen 1 hour before the start for a pre-bike check - high viz jacket - lights brakes -though they did seem to let anything through as I saw one girl with a spar carrier bar on her bars and a teddy bear on the other.
onto the first stamp then the start line. There were at least 200 riders in the group and this was fast from the start. how there wasn't an accident I don't know there were a few idiots using their tri bars in the group.
stayed with this group up to the first control which it was very fast-paced with a 19mph for 75miles.
The first stop was like a massive party and this would be the theme then for each town. There were loads of different food options on, grabbed a drink and some bananas and pressed on.
It was now starting to get dark, and the groups were all spread out. all you could see in distance was 100's of red lights. for the next few hours, I was jumping between groups and could see a lot of people were not so used to riding in the night. For me I like riding in the night. most parts it was very remote and very dark. a bit like the ITV news at 10pm for North Wales not much in the way of streetlights.
Through the night the temp stayed around 14c and then around 5am a thick fog set in making it damp in places
At the Carhaix I got talking to a volunteer from South Wales who is now living in France – he recognized the oggy top.
Got to Brest at 20:26 Monday evening this is the halfway point 600km – this is the fastest I’ve ever ridden this distance. The section from Carhaix to Brest was hard with the heat and the constant long up and downs. At this point I was ahead on schedule and making good time for the 80hrs
At the top of one climb I was glad there was some local people there giving out bananas and water.
At Brest was a huge control where they had dorm rooms available for sleeping and showers.
Had a shower and felt a lot fresher after this, changed my kit. Got myself a bed with the intention of having 4-5hrs sleep. This didn’t happen, the room was boiling hot and I think I had mild heatstroke. Got about 90mins sleep and needed to get up for some fresh air.
I had something to eat and pressed on and road through the night.
On the next section, I was In a strong group with a few French and some Irish fellas. We were stopped at a secret control and the reason for this is to make sure you stick to the set route and don’t take shortcuts. Penalty here is 1hr added on for missing control
Back to Carhaix – same as going out to Brest going back was just as hard. At this control, you now start to appreciate how big the event is. Here is when you have a crossover over people going to Brest and people coming back from Brest due to the mixed start times.
The control was really crowded. There were people everywhere on the floor trying to sleep. Q’s were massive.
This is for me where food fatigue was setting in and struggling to eat. In front of me was plate of spag bol and it was 5.25am
Topped up the water and back on the bike. Rode with 2 french guys were we worked well together for the next 2 sections.
Tuesday mid afternoon we went through a town that had a shop that was open I was so glad have a break and something different. This is where we are spoilt in the uk with COOP and 24 hr garages.
Here I was able to have a milkshake magnum and something ice cold. It was far to hot for my ginger complexion, and this is where I started doing mental maths on whether to avoid the sun and just ride in the night
Tuesday night got in with a strong group of 3 Finish riders and one Japanese rider. This was a good working group and we ticked off the miles.
Villane La Juhel was the next stop 1018km the finish riders had a longer break because one had knee problems.
From here I was able to get into a big group of about 50 riders. And the Irish lads I rode with earlier were in this group. This was a welcome break to be in group onto Mortagne au perche. 1099km
Another portion of Spag bol and a cat nap.
Back on the bike 9.30am ish and it was boiling hot. Only 2 more controls to go to the end and they just seemed to drag through wide open country lanes.
There were few groups in front but they were not really working well moving fast enough. I went past them and this other one jumped on my wheel for a tow. Got talking to him and he was from Russia. He didn’t have many nice things to say about putin mind.
Onto the finish line at Rambouillet Wednesday 15:38hr with a total time of 70hrs 32 minutes and a shiny new medal.
I was of course glad to get over the line and finish. The bike performed great never skipped a beat. Having a dynamo setup to power my light and provide 5volts to my Wahaoo bolt (GPS) makes it so much easier and no faffing about with external battery chargers
With the people I know from Ajax it was good to be a whatsapp group with other people who had ridden it before and were attempting it for the first time and share questions on the ride.
There were certain points where you have moments and question why am I doing this and how am I going to finish. This is where you need to be careful with how long you have a break, as this soon mounts up over 14 stops.
The route and roads were amazing. 90% there was hardly any cars and the support from the locals was amazing. Whereby you would be in the middle of the night some where and some local is out with his table giving you water and some cake and shouting lots of encouragement. It was like this through every town.
Bac
The road surfaces were great think I saw 2 potholes if that.
Learnt a lot from this ride and what to do while on the ride
Controls – have a bag and put everything in it . Has you spent a lot of time walking between controls and restaurant
Micro towel – which I had, came in useful for having the second shower where there were no towels.
There were a few people who didn’t finish due to heat stroke.
Back home now and will be a having a rest off the bike for the next few days.
Thanks everyone for your support over the last year.
