"PBP… R.I.P.?" -- RUSA newsletter article by Bill Bryant

[Yogy Namara]

Apparently not enough people has read this, so here's the link:

http://www.rusa.org/newsletter/11-01-12.html

tl;dr: During PBP 2003, an American rider went around a closed railroad crossing gate and nearly got himself killed by the TGV, a "stupid" time-saving tactic of such "idiotic" proportion that could've spelled the end of PBP itself.

The bigger takeaway is that unless PBP is just another thing you need to check off your list, you need to be thoughtful of your actions and not jeopardize its long-term viability.

Yogy

[Ann Klein]

Wow, that is terrifying.

This reminds me of why I so enjoyed riding in France the times I've been lucky to do so:  everyone follows the rules and the rules always make sense.  All bikes stop and ride on the correct side of the road.  Cars do the same.  It's civilized.

And a railroad crossing sign always means a train is coming and yea, the TGV trains are a wee bit faster than ours!

Ann

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[Gintautas Budvytis]

Look no further then your own backyard. Did I miss some SF local law? It is so common running red lights on a bike in SF that it is disturbing.

GB
Not a saint

[John Gilmore]

It seems someone dies or nearly dies every time this century. There's the 2003 story here. I recall that an Italian may have died in 2007. An American was hit by a truck and died in 2011. And this year, 2015, a French rider from Loudeac was found dead by the side of the road between Loudeac and Carhaix.

Nevertheless, PBP is so ingrained in Brittany especially, I don't foresee them ever retiring the event. Rather, the bigger risk of riders' negligence is closing or severely limiting participation for those who have not done the qualifying brevets in France, which was ~50+% in 2015. These riders could arguably be excluded on the grounds that they do not sufficiently know and/or do not respect the French traffic rules and signage, say.  My sense of this is based on relatives, newspapers, and people whom I meet there.

I do see more liability mitigation on the part of the organizers each time, perhaps at the insistence of insurers. That's a good thing. They do their part. I say to do our part, don't give a reason to be uninvited next time.

On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 9:17:42 AM UTC-7, Yogy Namara wrote:

[Jack Holmgren]

Like, uh, "Don't do stupid stuff."

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From: John Gilmore
Sent: ‎10/‎5/‎2015 9:00 PM
To: San Francisco Randonneurs
Subject: [SFRandon] Re: "PBP… R.I.P.?" -- RUSA newsletter article by Bill Bryant

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