Drop bag provisions at PBP

[Keith (ne' trekman1420)]

I know Des Peres arranges for drop bags, but is there any way to do so
if you don't use their services?

[Mark Wooldridge]

ACP posted on their website that they were trying to set up a drop bag service, but no specifics that I've seen.

Des Peres has always had their drop bag service open to anyone, not just their travel clients.

Mark W

--- On Fri, 1/14/11, Keith (ne' trekman1420) <sksut...@cox.net> wrote:

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[Greg]

Des Peres Travel offers their services a la carte. I used them to book my hotel room, transportation to/from the airport, and for bag drops. Not the airfare, though. Were I to do it again, I'd still use the bag drops. Putting on a clean jersey provides a great mental boost. Seems silly until you do it.

[William Beck]

Amen to what Greg said! And putting on the same damp/wet clothes after
the nice hot shower would have been torture.

Bill Beck

[Marcello Napolitano]

What do riders put in their PBP drop bags?

I have done two 1200k (Gold Rush and Cascade), and the bulk of what I
had in the drop bags was bike repair stuff (from spare tires to a
bottom bracket tool, with matching spare bottom bracket), and food
that I knew I was not going to find in the rural areas that those two
rides go through. (This time I am not taking either bike repair stuff
or food with me, and I am going to get food on the road, or at the
controls.) I also had some clothing in my drop bags, but other than
the daily change of jersey and shorts, I had some extra layers that I
really missed not having with me on the cold descents at night, or
when the weather turned rainy and cold at the end of last year's
Cascade.

Right now I am leaning towards not using the drop bag service, and in
the spring I will do the qualifiers carrying what I think I will have
with me during PBP. But maybe I am missing something, and I would be
better off using the bag drops? (I plan on sleeping in Carhaix on the
way out, and Tinteniac on the way back, so having a bag in Loudeac may
also not be ideal for me.)

Maybe I should have an empty bag as my bag drop, so that if I find a
nice bottle of Calvados, or some other heavy memento of Brittany, I
can have them carried back to San Quentin for me...

[Dan Driscoll]

Attached is a spread sheet that we developed in 2007 for PBP, to figure out
what we would be wearing at the start, carrying on the bike, and what we
would stash in our drop bags, adjust it to your needs if you like, hope it
helps. 1,200 Kms are not my specialty, I do one every four years, I want all
the insurance I can get if I'm flying to France, I will use both drop bags.
DD

--

[Bill Bryant]

Marcello--

I'm sure the contents will vary a bit from rider to rider, and you are smart to use your 400k and 600k brevets to work up a personal packing list for what you carry on the bike, and what you pack in your drop bags (if you decide to use them.) 

One surprise I've observed at PBP, though, is that if you pack 600k times two worth of butt balm (assuming you use it, that is), it may not be enough. I think many riders during the second half of PBP really slather the stuff on and run out before the last day. So, I'd recommend you take 3x the 600k amount. Of course you don't need to use it all, but I'll bet you hear other folks asking around for who has some extra to share.   ;-)

About using the drop bad service or not, I've done it both ways. I really prefer having some clean clothes to change into at roughly 1/3 and 2/3 distance. It helped a lot compared to just carrying an extra pair of shorts and changing at Brest , as I did on my first PBP. The thing with drop bags is that you have the option of not using them out on the route if you desire. But perhaps you will, and then they might provide some extra clothes, spare tire/tube brand, snack food, ointments/meds/potions that you are particularly fond of using but don't want to drag a big amount of for the entire trip. Most of the control bike repair services do offer a lot of stuff for sale besides bike parts but perhaps getting something personal from the bag that you know to work well for you will be better, and more reliable--or you can skip the bag stop if you don't need anything. You do have to stand in a long line the day of the ride and then pay some money for that extra option, but in my opinion, it is worth it. Even a simple sink "bath" at a control and some fresh shorts and jersey will do a LOT to revive a weary randonneur--a shower and clean clothes is even better--but you need to bring your own soap/towel/washcloth at most of the controls. And as you write, the drop bag could be useful for dropping off something not needed to finish the ride too. Overall, the drop bags give you options not open to the rider without them, and hopefully, it will contain some spare items that will make your ride easier than doing without.

Bill Bryant

Santa Cruz Randonneurs

[Bottle]

Dan, Thank you very much for sharing this list.
I'm planning to attend my first PBP in 2011. This information will be
very helpful. Hope you don't mind that I share this with my friends.

Another thanks to Bill Bryant. I just got my member's handbook.
Probably 70+% of the content comes from your articles. I've finished a
SR in Taiwan in 2010 but haven't done one brevet here. It would be a
very different experience for me. Look forward to the spring (when
snow is gone).

Bottle

>  PBP 2007 files #2.xls
> 547KViewDownload

[Dan Driscoll]

Feel free to share. We will send out another, with many more tabs, including
things to do and schedule of events. May even add a few of the rides I've
done and an invitation for others to a few rides I plan to do, prior to the
start. DD

[Bruce...@gdc4s.com]

> What do riders put in their PBP drop bags?

I'd recommend something for sore joints other than NSAIDs, e.g.
pop-and-mix ice packs, Icy Hot/camel snot, capsaicin cream, etc.

Personally, I've avoided capsaicin cream for its inherent risk of
accidental eye contact when half-awake. My preference was to bathe in
the mentholated cream between shower and sleep on my last 1200km.

- Bruce

[Don Bennett]

Best things I packed in 2007 were:

(a) plenty of dry socks;
(b) washcloth, towel, and backbrush picked up at Carrefour before the ride.

Don

[DrCodfish]

Marcelo asked: "What do riders put in their PBP drop bags?"


For me, the how is perhaps as important as the what.

On all the 1200's I've done I find that whenever I fianlly catch up tp
the drop bag I'm usually pretty much whacked, so it is valuable to try
to eliminate as much thinking from the process as possible.

To that end I pack a complete change of clothes in a large zip loc
bag. I'm talking big, these things are 3 or 5 gallons or somethng
like that. They will pretty easily hold a complete change of clothes
and that's what I put in: Shorts Jersey, Ushirt, sox, gloves, head
happenings, the whole ball o wax. This way, I never find myself
rummaging aorund it the bottom of a dark bag in a dark room looking
for a dark glove or sock. ..... I just know that if I pull out one bag
I should find everything I need and nothing I don't, .... no thinking
required, and also no loose odds and ends rolling aorund in the bittom
of the bag or onthe floor.

The flip side of having that zip loc for the clean clothes is you also
have an odor proof container for the biohazzard that your dirties have
become. Really, leave two or three days worth of dirties in your drop
bag, and you will have trouble sleepng in the same room with it, and
have a little pity on the rest of humanity too..

As the time for the ride draws near you can even make intelligent
guesses about which gear should go in for which day. If you know you
will be in the mountains one day, maybe a spare wind vest, if you will
be in the desert the next day, maybe a few more sweatbands. I always
number the bags with a felt pen: day one, day two, day three, etc.
again, no brain strain.

I also pack additional ziplocks with 'spares'. One for nutrition and
meds, one for maybe tubes and batteries etc. and one for little
things like spare bandanna hankies, long finger gloves, spare leg
warmers and booties, that sort of thing. Again, this way without
having to be completly awake you still have a pretty good chance at
getting away for the days ride without leaving too many essentials in
the bag.

One thing I found useful at PBP was to use a backpack as my drop bag.
I booked rooms w/Clause in Loudeac and it was a ride of a couple
blocks from the controle to the hotel and it would have been a little
more wobbly if I was trying to pedal/navigate and hold onto a bag w/
handles. Shoulder straps made it a snap.

As for that bag, get thee to William Good or some other second hand
junque shoppe and find the loudest, gaudiest most ugly/colorfiul Barbi
Pink-Kermit Green Mutant Ninja Transformer backpack you can: It will
be much easier to spot in a sea of upscale Nike, Reebok Addidas
bags, and NOBODY is gonna wanna steal it.

But that's just me.

Yr Pal Dr C


PS: Marcello; You'll find all the Calvados you want at the Carrefor
in St Quntin.

[Mark W]

The ziploc bags also provide another layer of waterproofing between your 'dry' change of clothes and any water that has found it's way to your drop bag. The drop bag area cam get Kind of hectic and stuff happens.

Mark w

[Greg]

This is purely a personal choice... I had a layover in Chicago last time and was at a food court. It didn't occur to me until after I took off that I could buy a few bottles of Mtn Dew and or root beer and put them in my carry-on luggage. You can't get those sodas in France, but they would have been a great 'comfort drink'. -Greg

[Glrf...@aol.com]

I don't think you can bring water or soda cans or bottles in you carry-on bag, at least not at O'Hare.

 

Frank

 

In a message dated 1/20/2011 2:11:00 P.M. Central Standard Time, greg.o...@gmail.com writes:

I could buy a few bottles of Mtn Dew and or root beer and put them in my carry-on luggage. You can't get those sodas in France, but they would have been a great 'comfort drink'. -Greg

--

[William D. Volk]

I think you can IF you buy them AFTER you clear Security.  

Don't know what will happen in France when you land though.

William Volk

CCO, PlayScreen

858 692 1124

PS, We Love Games!

http://www.playscreen.com

[Brian Ogilvie]

When you land at Roissy/Charles de Gaulle, you just claim your checked bags at the baggage claim* and then walk out through customs. There's no exit inspection, unless you have something to declare or you're selected for a random customs inspection.

If your flight to France connects via Heathrow, or another airport outside the Schengen zone, you might have problems with bottles in your carryon luggage. In that case, check with your airline about whether you'll have further inspections as part of the transfer.

Brian

* Unless baggage workers are on strike. I've flown into Paris ten times, and one time the baggage handlers were on strike. We had to wait in the airplane until the crew had unloaded our bags from the hold onto the tarmac, and then we had to go out on the tarmac to find and claim our bags. It was actually a lot faster than waiting at the baggage claim; in my experience, baggage service at Roissy is terribly slow.

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 7:21 PM, William D. Volk <willia...@gmail.com> wrote:

I think you can IF you buy them AFTER you clear Security.  

Don't know what will happen in France when you land though.

--
Brian W. Ogilvie <bwog...@gmail.com>
Hadley, Massachusetts, USA
http://homepage.mac.com/brianogilvie/

[Vik Banerjee]

The French are not paranoid so bottled drinking water is not considered a threat to their national security. 

safe riding,

Vik

On 2011-01-21, at 5:21 PM, William D. Volk wrote:

I think you can IF you buy them AFTER you clear Security.  

Don't know what will happen in France when you land though.

William Volk

<playscreen_small.jpg>

[Bill Pustow]

Infact, they're evenly balanced. They have a chip on both shoulders.

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Randy Graves]

Don't feed the troll...

[Bottle]

I'm also thinking about not taking a rest in Loudéac but in other
places (considering my riding time)
Can we arrange bag drops directly to the hotels where we're planing to
rest, instead of two official controls (Loudéac & Villaines-la-Juhel,
I think)?

Bottle

On Jan 16, 9:38 pm, Marcello Napolitano

[Veronica Tunucci]

Bag drops directly to hotels? Not quite, in 2007, my bag in Loudeac, sat
outside of the control, in a puddle of water. I spent part of that night in
the basement of the Hotel France doing laundry. The first of two times that
I would do laundry on that trip.

At RUSA's current size, I would think the group could coordinate bag drop
service with more service, more drops and at a lower cost. But that would
then spark a debate among the "purists" on whether more bag drops are in the
"spirit of randonneuring". :-)

Veronica

-----Original Message-----
From: ran...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ran...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
Bottle
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 6:00 AM
To: randon
Subject: [Randon] Re: Drop bag provisions at PBP

Bottle

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