Questions from a Rookie Randonneur w/ 10K miles ridden in 2022 (Boston area)

[robertve...@gmail.com]

Hello everyone, I am In Search of Guidance from knowledgable Randonneurs.

Questions:

I read the Starting Guide. -very useful. -any other advice?

Is it all but impossible for me to qualify for PBP 2023?

Is there a Massachusetts Randonneur available for guidance or mentoring?

Thank you in advance,

Robert

Strava page:

https://www.strava.com/athletes/37419116

[Jake Kassen]

> Is it all but impossible for me to qualify for PBP 2023?
>
> Is there a Massachusetts Randonneur available for guidance or
> mentoring?
>

Hi Robert. My gut feeling is that so long as you can ride a full SR series before July 1st, you'll get a spot at PBP. Between the people who register and don't qualify and those who decide not to attend, they've always had spots for newer riders. But, time will tell if that holds true for this year.

In terms of questions, you've found this group so that's a good start. There are people on this forum who can answer just about any question including all of the organizers in the Boston area.

Jake

[Robert Wolff]

Given the amount of riding you do, I'd say you will easily qualify with an SR, but actually getting an entry slot may be harder than Jake implies.  I haven't read all the 2023 rules, but May 27 shows up as the date that registration opens.  I assume that's the date when riders who have not completed an ACP brevet by the 2022 cutoff date and are not eligible to preregister are eligible to register.  I suggest that you plan your season so that you have completed at least 3 of the 4 SR brevets by that date, so you can register the very first moment you are eligible.  There will be plenty of early brevets everywhere in the US where spring arrives earlier than in New England.  

Even for someone who can preregister, it's always a good idea to have a plan that gives you at least one backup possible date for each brevet, just in case you DNS or DNF for some reason.  

Happy to go on at length at what I found useful in doing PBP twice, and I'm sure many other club members would as well.  

[Eric Nichols]

Hi Robert, 

Good advice from Jake and Rob. I checked out your Strava profile and your RUSA status.  At 11,000 miles for the year, you have sufficient riding volume, that’s for sure. BUT, you appear to have no experience with rides greater than 200k and have not completed any brevets yet.  Assuming you complete the 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k qualifiers, you’ll know whether you’re ready and indeed still interested in events such as PBP.  I’d also recommend doing far more than the minimum, adding extra brevets and permanents to get more time in the saddle, and learn how to deal with long miles and inevitable fatigue.  

As a newbie randonneur you won’t get your pick of PBP start times, but that’s a minor issue.  There is some chance that the USA quota for PBP will fill up and you’ll get put on a waitlist, and then ACP doesn’t eventually accept everyone on the waitlist.  However, that hasn’t happened in previous PBPs so it’s a low probability. I wouldn’t let that stop you from trying.

I’d work on getting comfortable on your bike on the very long rides, on riding efficiently, and on being “fast off the bike” which means wasting as little time as possible when stopped.  That latter skill is something many riders don’t realize they need to develop until they they’ve done multi-day brevets.  Every minute wasted is an extra minute you could be sleeping… or finishing earlier... or both. 

There are many PBP ancien.ne.s in NER and I don’t know of any that won’t gladly dispense copious advice! So do the rides and learn all you can.   

Tailwinds,
Eric N
PBP 2015, 2019

[John D'Elia]

Hi all, I agree with Eric, it seems that they are usually able to accommodate people who didn’t ride any brevets the year before PBP, and for the recent LEL, everyone got in and I heard stories of the LEL organizers reaching out to people to get more riders as they did not fill up. For 2021, prior to cancelling due to covid  LEL did fill up and people were getting turned away, myself included but I got into LEL in 2022.  You can check the French Audax site also to see what the overall allowed PBP field limit will be, and if you were really curious there must be somewhere you could find out how many Americans went during different years versus the total field limit to judge your chances, there’s a site called pbpresults.com, believe it or not.   The field limit could be bigger and the number of Americans might be smaller than for prior editions of the ride.

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[jvl...@gmail.com]

Hi All,

My first 1200k was this year, though it obviously wasn't PBP.  In addition to Eric's advice about riding longer brevets, I'd recommend that you ride in inclement weather and get comfortable in it, especially on long rides.  Weather on a multiple day event will never be perfect. Know what to carry in case of rain, snow, hurricane, volcanic eruption, etc.   The longer rides will also inevitably include some sections at night which will be cold and dark.  

As far as non-riding prep goes get a good lighting setup and field test it beforehand on a 400 and/or 600.  Also, your bike may break and you might not be able to completely fix it.  Know how to deal with problems you might not be able to fix right away.  For instance, my rear mech broke on Day 2 of the WNY 1200k this year.  I rigged the rear to sit in a single cog while I shifted in my chainrings.  I'm sure others will have entertaining stories about roadside fixes.

Best,

Jacob