Based on PBP 2019, does anyone know if it is possible to arrange for drop bags?
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In the past the ACP has complained that too many riders have personal support—about a third of them. The vast armada of RVs, campers, and cars can clog the control towns’ narrow streets and make the locals unhappy about PBP being in their town. The ACP has also lamented how the randonneur ethos of self-reliance seems to be in short supply fair often at PBP with so many riders brining support crews.
However, given the lines for food at the controls, or the dicey chance of finding a sleeping spot in the dortoirs for most riders in the “bulge”, it is not such a bad idea to bring your own support. If you are a fairly fast rider and can get ahead of the bulge, sleeping spots are much more open, and the lines for food are shorter. That said, as the speedy riders make their return from Brest for the ride east, they then run into the bulge still headed west, mainly at the busy controls in Carhaix and Loudeac. Ooof, it is a real mess.
So, all in all, getting some hot food without too much delay, or some sleep, or access to clean short, or recharging of lights & phones is not at all easy in the middle of PBP and much time can be lost. You begin to understand why you will see so many RVs parked along the streets leading to and from the controls. (I can tell you there is a good battle for parking spots too—your crew needs to be aggressive in fight for the parking spots.)
While waiting for my rider to arrive, or get up from a sleep, I’ve watched other riders’ support teams in action many times at PBP. They telephone their rider* when they think s/he should be approaching the control town and give them instructions on where to find their particular RV or car. The rider goes to the control, checks in quickly (usually no long lines for the actual control process) and then they cycle to their RV or car. Quite often the crews with cars will have set up some folding chairs on the sidewalk and a camp stove and have hot food & drink ready. RVs are better for sleep, but sometimes a sleeping bag and air mattress laid out in the back of an SUV or station wagon work fine too. Still and all, being a PBP support crew is quite grueling, what with driving a longer supporters’ route, shopping for groceries, locating the control (local streets are often closed to traffic for the riders), then preparing food, doing laundry, etc. And, the crew needs to sleep too! I’ve ridden and finished PBP twice, and been on a rider’s support crew at PBP twice. I think the latter is more mentally difficult and fatiguing than the former, and you don’t get a medal for all your efforts either.
*In the old days before useful cellphone communication, they would usually have a pre-arranged location, such as by the church (look for the tall steeple), etc.
At PBP, not wasting time is the name of the game, especially for slower riders who need to guard their minutes like gold. Whether it is to get some sleep or hot food, the controls are not often very efficient for all riders, but especially the slower ones. As always, strong legs take care of a lot of problems and it is the slower riders who have to worry the most about how much sleep they can get during the ride. A personal support crew could help with all these concerns but the crew members need to have the mental strength and physical endurance of the riders themselves. I’ve seen some crews fall apart before the finish and it is not pretty.
Bonne route,
Bill Bryant
RUSA #7
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A good post, Chip, very useful and a good reminder to us all. Your point about cognitive load during at 1200k is spot on, IMHO.
I’m curious how often you changed shorts? I did my first PBP with only fresh shorts in Brest that I carried along. I think I’d want to re-think that approach next time… but doing some quick laundry at a control lavatory sink and letting them dry on the bike while riding wouldn’t be a problem either, and probably still easier/time efficient than searching for a drop bag. At my second PBP I noticed that it was not easy to locate the overall RUSA drop bag locations on the outbound leg, and then locating one’s own drop bag among the pile going both ways. We got to ours before the rain started, so they were dry, but in other years we saw them get wet-ugh. Working at the Fougeres control in 2019, we saw a number of riders who had contracted a private drop bag service but couldn’t find it easily at the control and wasted a lot of time looking. (A big sign was needed, IMHO.)
Cheers, and thanks,
Bill Bryant
From: <randonn...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Charles Coldwell <cold...@gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 8:00 PM
To: Randonneurs USA <randonn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [RUSA] Drop Bags at PBP
I’ve done PBP three times (2003, 2007 and 2019). I never had support nor drop bags. As has been said upthread, I like the flexibility of having everything with me on the bike. I know there are mathematically inclined people who work out plans on spreadsheets in advance, but I’m not aware of any 1200 km ride that has gone according to plan. Certainly none of mine have (eleven so far).
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