PBP 2019 - My Experience, 1st Timer

[Roy Ross]

PBP 2019

There is so much leading up to this ride and that is one of the things that makes it like no other. Logistics for a 1st timer are off the map. Really difficult. Brian Koss and I teamed up to tackle these many tasks to take care of. Brian did the bulk of the work and I am very happy and grateful that he did. We shared hotel rooms and he got an excellent deal on airline tickets (FrenchBee) and found a very good drop bag service. My hat (helmet) goes off to Brian for his work. Very, very grateful. Looking back, getting a hotel room at the Mercure the whole time would have been the best idea. You do it early enough and it makes things easier. Dare I say “next time”? No. Now that I have completed a PBP I really don’t have to do this again. There are several factors for this decision.

So, finally the day arrives that I and Brian take the plane Frenchbee out of SFO. Brian gets a ride and my roommate gives me a ride. Our bike bags are so “extraordinary” that separate cars or a damn u-haul truck would be the other way. Still, my bike bag, the Scion soft case worked out well. Not too damn difficult to pack and I only had to remove the front and back racks along with the wheels (must deflate before travel). I bought a second piece of luggage, a very lightweight piece of luggage that has wheels that turn where ever. The Scion case was also very manageable. Not too many panic moments when negotiating an airport rush.

There we are waiting to board. All in French but we deduced that it was time to board. We get on and I eventually start a conversation with the French person in the seat next to me. He has a younger child, but not screaming baby young. That prize was awarded to Brian who was up and to the left of me. He was beside a woman and her very young, fussy baby who upon settling in grabbed Brian’s water bottle putting potentially cold or flu inducing germs all over said bottle. Brian would not drink the whole flight. Brian took it all in stride and could relate since he had gone through the kid thing. The baby would introduce the flight to its impressive sounds that reached impressive volumes. Luckily the excitement of flying to another cool country and riding my bike forever in a day bulldozed over this dilemma. And so we fly. 10 long hours. The flight was getting back from Pappet or something in French Tahiti. 2 10 hour flights. Brutal.

We land, get our hotel and build our bikes. Brian has to drop his off at a Warm Showers host so he has a long night. I finish pulling my bike together and go to a McDonald’s thinking it would be open past 11pm which it was. Just closed. Wowo. I go back towards the hotel and just when I’m about to give up and go to bed hungry I come across Goodnice which is fast food crepes. What luck! The woman, a friend of the cashier helps me order. Kind of useless at the other language thing. So I was able to eat, shower and then, alas, sleep. Such a different country. The roads, the look and feel. Very cool.

The next day Brian picked up Rob Hawkes at Charles Degaulle Airport. It took him a while to locate him as this was one impressive airport. We flew in to Orly. Much more easy to deal with. We even found the rental car eventually. Bikes and luggage all arriving safely. Non-stop baby! Really a good, good idea. After all this we took the rental back, packed our bikes and rode back. Hard to get out of the airport as it was designed for cars and not bikes or people to walk around outside of it. We ride in the suburban urban landscape. A few bumps but all in all, a cool experience.

Rob invites us on a ride to Chartres. A couple on a tandem: Mary & Ed and their friend Jerry. Very good and fascinating friends. The ride is awesome as we ride to a massive Cathedral. We have a very great crepe lunch. The cheese is simply amazing. Awesome cathedral. It was an 80 mile ride. I felt a bit off but eventually came around. The ride is nothing like PBP. A lot of fun meeting and chatting with new riders.

We stay in Hotel Campenille in San Quentin until the day before. Then we move to the Hotel Mercure. Really would have been better to stay the whole time in Rambouillette. But, all in all, it worked out. Brian and I settle in after dinner and hope we can sleep. Luckily sleep spreads its much welcome sand across our pleading souls.

Morning. Wake up, do the morning stuff and ride to the start. It goes smoothly and we pass through the arch. The riding is a bit scary but not too bad. There really are many, many people riding here it hits me. Luckily I stay upright and eventually we break off from the peloton. Much better, smaller group. Through the forest of Rambouillet is very wonderful. Everything is so green which makes me think we are all so lucky that it isn’t raining. It was at check in. Really hard too. I got soaked in my street clothes. A wool jacket that I left in my drop bag throughout the ride and when I came back it smelled like someone’s dog. We get to the first control. There is food. This is PBP. It all costs money. Don’t do this ride if you are worried about money. Not your average brevet here folks. The food is good. It will be similar throughout.

We ride on. I hit a dark patch. I am riding with Anson. We stay together till the end. That is another dark patch. I am struggling. There is considerable wind. The riding is always climbing. There is downhill but it is pretty negligible since you always seem to be climbing. When someone tells you it is all rollers, that doesn’t portray what the ride is like. A lot of climbing. Slow climbing and constant. My knees would suffer this constant climb. After lugging I eventually take a caffeine pill. Early in the ride and that is why I resisted. It picks me up. Soon I am pulling and I’m back. Like magic. I have other elixirs to get me through these tough moments. Later, I find there is no magic pill for lack of sleep. That is the thing that takes the biggest toll. For that reason, this is my toughest ride of all. This, then Cascade 1200K (sleep issues), and the first Orr Springs 600K (lack of sleep and lack of complete bike, forks).

Fougers control, Tintiniac, Quedillac these are names I am reading now. It is tough to remember the how and where of this ride since I have problems differentiating which is which. Maybe why I hesitated writing this report. I realize I have to do this, quite an effort. I remember arriving at a control and eating and afterwards sleeping on a warm day and on comfortable grass. I see Peter Curley twice and we trade jokes. I see Leif from Montana. I see others. So glad I see my friends. Great to see them dealing with what this ride deals them.

On the way, so many people cheering us on in these small French towns. So many cheers, so much encouragement. Unbelievable! Such a great feeling. Tintiniac. We push from there to Quedillac. Roughly 35 miles. Anson is a man possessed! We fly, fast, fast. In the start before Anson’s outbreak we are pulled by a very strong danish woman for past 5 miles. After this we fly. On the way, we get light rain. This we hope is just an aberration. We get to the control and it starts to open up. We only want something to drink but while we are getting drinks it really starts pouring! Unpredicted and unwanted. Because of Anson’s push we would have got soaked. That worked out well.

After the downpour we get back on our bikes and continue on to Loudeac. It takes time but we do get there. Anson blew himself out on that blast. It is slow going. We get to Loudeac and it is past 1:00am. We get through the control and can’t find our bikes. Ahhhhh! It takes an hour. Finally past 3:00am we can finally get to the hotel. I eat and then shower, then finally sleep. Boy, this didn’t go well. Much sleep dashed because of stupidity. Damn. We agree to shove off at 7am. Brian is already asleep.

In 2 hours we get up, eat, and are late.. The boat already has left but we catch up. This second day has promised to be tougher. We are with Ed and Mary of tandem and their friend Jerry. Breakfast was scant so we are looking forward to the feed station at Saint Nicolas where we stop. Brian has taken off ahead. The fight for the tandem wheel has begun. I concentrate on keeping the wheel and we switch off. It is very taxing and annoying. That is why Brian flew ahead. We get to Saint Nicolas and it is good to eat and relax a bit.

Soon we are off again. On to the next control. Saint Nicolas was not a control, just food.  That would be Carhaix. Cool because I see Peter Curley and Leif (from Montana) who I rode with on a few SFR brevets. Mental back slapping, good to see friends, good to know they are doing fine.

Off to Brest. Along this stretch we see Robert Sexton. He’s in fine form, always in a good mood. Taking pictures, I’ll have to take a look when I get back. I’ve been taking photos but it gets more difficult as the ride goes on. We ride through a very pretty wooded section as we are approaching Brest. I’m feeling pretty good. Brian is with us now and he said he didn’t have anything to eat at Saint Nicolas because they “waved him on” and gave him the impression not to stop but they were saying it wasn’t a control. He had to wait until Carhaix. All good now. We are on a long downhill. In my mind I think this will be tough on the way back since it seems like it might be windy and a sustained climb. But that’s later. Must get to Brest presently.

And we eventually do. We had all been taking nature breaks as you do but I forwent the last one (as did Anson) and by the time we got to Brest our damns were well nearing the breaking point. After many photo shoots I discover Anson is in the same boat (no pun intended) and we take off, not wanting to lose the rest but really needing relief. Finally we find an outhouse. Blessed relief!! Yes!!

We continue on not knowing where they are but stay on course and eventually we hook up at the control. Everything is good.

By the time we leave, it is rush our in Brest. As an aside, the only glass on the road I have seen is in Brest. And the roads are stellar! While riding to Loudeac at night we are flying pretty fast and even though unfamiliar territory you can trust the roads. The rush hour traffic isn’t as nice as we get horns and people rushing us. Still, there are people that cheer us on. Go, go, go as they say in French. We greet and wave.

The route back is different but eventually we are at the 10 mile long slow climb. Tandem at the front. Soon a Norwegian rider pulls us as just the right pace. It goes quickly and we are very happy to get the help.Long downhills hanging on for dear life! Fast!!! After a time Rob is also getting annoyed at the pack that is beside and around us. No pace line, just annoyance. But we all stop at the family run crepe place. We see Metin along the way and he advises us not to stop here. I, for once, forgo his advice. Great crepes! No money, just post cards. I’ll have to send a nice one.

 Looking at the route it is different on the way back. Very cool downhills and countryside. I finally relax on the tandem thing. Rob has pulled back and Anson pulls ahead. I join him and soon we are both cruising along. Knee pain but I am able to enjoy this riding. Evening and warm. I’m in France and I am riding along. Such a good thing.

Eventually we get to Carhaix. A control and there are a lot of people cheering us on. This really feels special. Kids on the side of the road with their hands out and we slap them as we go by. So much encouragement. This is something else. The town is decorated with messages for us and people greet us all along.

We pull into the control and stop for food and to check the brevet cards. All along I wear mine. A system that I make sure and always put it away after checked. A nice long meal. Good to relax a bit. Sleep would be nice but that will come. Hopefully more that last night.

On to Saint Nicolas. This is a control on the way back. Stop we do and soon we are off again. The group is crowded and scary. Not a pace line. Good to talk to Jaques who I rode on SFR brevets. But he’s right next to me and it is getting dark and I need my space. That is the difficult thing at times is people don’t give you much needed space. I drop back and relax a bit. The hills are steeper here and toward Loudeac, the coveted destination. It is dark now and the riding is fast at night. Scary and intense. There is a group of asian riders who are really pissing us off. One guy on a travel bike with 20 inch wheels (what the hell?) pushing, pushing. Very annoying. Taxing. Eventually he gets on the tandem wheel and sticks there. You cannot pull him off with a spatula! We stop after too long and the group goes ahead. This all takes time and by the time we get to Loudeac it is, yes, after 3am. Will I ever get sleep? Only 2 hours. Wake up call at 7am.

We make the call but Anson and Rob don’t. Riding along after Tinteniac we enjoy the countryside as we pull ahead of the tandem, Anson first and then me and it is good and warm. Knee pain persists but it is bearable. Fougeres is another control, more cheering and such an exhilarating feeling.

It gets dark. The ride gets tougher. This is the last day of the ride. 270 miles or there-about. Roundabouts, and Anson pulls ahead, then I pull Anson, the we ride with Rob and then all solo, various combinations, keep it going. We see quite a lot of people. I am riding with Rob and we come across a rider the is a bit wobbly. I don’t really notice or am maybe out of it or selfish or something, not sure. Rob says he’ll talk with him. I ride ahead and Rob eventually rides up and questions me about that rider. Turns out he was very sleepy. Rob asked him if he had caffeine and should take it (he tells me). He chooses to forgo that. Apparently it was a SFR rider that I failed to notice the vest. Rob says I should have helped him out. Ah, now I’m feeling shitty about this. Another dark patch on the way. We catch up to Anson and Rob explains. We continue to ride.

Catching up to the tandem and Jerry. They stop at a roadside food stand. I continue on. Eventually we are together again. Then they all pull ahead. It is dark. I am feeling miserable about my lack of empathy. I should stay behind and act small. Uphills, downhills, a lot of riding. Changing landscapes, we are getting closer, but it is slow. Jerry comes along and talks to me. Yes, good to talk. Bring myself out of my funk. Deserve it? Probably not. I ask if he did LEL and Jerry has a story. He did it lest 48 KM. He got sick but with plenty of time in the bank. Violently ill. Decided to try to sleep it off, woke up and then vomited and could not finish. So close. That must have been devastating.

We get to Mortagne, I arrive last and check in. We eat lots, heaping piles of pasta. Mgood. The plan is to sleep on the floor like many others. Awkward but I manage to sleep. We get up and press on. Brian is nowhere to be seen. Turns out he sleeps longer at starts at 7 in the morning. The riding is a lot of downhill and scary. I hold on. We eventually get to solid ground. Rob gets a flat. He pushes us on. Anson and I continue. Cheryl passes us. The sun comes up. No warmth. It is super cold. I’m getting cranky. I forwent another morning bathroom necessity. This I pay for at this point all the way to Dreux. Anson asks me to pull of which I do. I am very inconsistent. Very. Slow, fast, slow. Dragging and hurting. I manage to get in a rhythm. But Anson stops me. I can’t seem to ride correctly. I have to get to Dreux. Anson stops me. I find out later he is having problems of his own. We try to ride on. I eventually take off, fast. Putting my legs in a meat grinder. Later finding out Anson did have problems seeing. Apparently his pupils were dilated and had a hard time seeing. He worked it out luckily. Another thing to feel bad about. Yep. Thoughtless Roy, that’s me. I fly on, passing a lot of riders. It takes a while but I do get to Dreux. I do the control thing and go straight for the toilet. Of course, there’s a line. Take forever but, yes, blessed relief at last.

Yes, just a short ride back and we’ll be all done. But the ride just keeps on going. My mind is hurting. Lack of sleep. I’m talking to myself. We get to the new re-route and we are all confused. I put in the right route and still cannot make anything out of it. The direction seems confusing. Eventually a course motorcycle directs us and we are on our way.

Through this flat portion. Towns every once in a while. And I am done. Really done. The riding dead. Zomby! I get ahead and stop for a “bio” break. Good. Then continue on. Rob and Anson catch up. They pass. Hard to keep speed. What an effort. I can’t believe it isn’t over. I thought it would be much less miles this last stretch. My mind is reeling at every bit that my Garmin says more, And more. With a little more. Then a long more. Then a bit more. I’m muttering. Very tough. It is getting warm finally. Eventually we get to the Rambouillette forest bit. I rode this before PBP started. Famiiarity doesn’t help.

Finally we are getting close. Through town. People cheer. Finally I see it. The finish. A massive cheer. So depleted and done that I almost start bawling. I manage to stop that. Can’t have that. And then, done. I see Deb Banks! She gives me a hug. We get medals. We eat. I sleep on the grass. I get up and run into my drop bag. I figure out eventually how to get the rest of my stuff at the Hotel Ibis. We thought we were going to finish much sooner and booked it for the night before. Didn’t happen. I eventually find the Hotel and get my other bag. Come back to the Hotel Mercure. I see Brian. He is a bit spaced. Good to see him back. He needs to travel on to England after a night at a warm showers host. He can’t find his drop bag, same guy as mine. I tell him where it was and he goes back there

I take the train back to San Quentin. I see Bill, Megan and Eric W. I am burnt. They plan a dinner. 7:30pm. It is around 5pm. I have my doubts. I sleep way past that dinner. Get up the morning feeling better. That was the toughest ride I’ve done but I managed to survive somehow. Tough.

[Eric Walstad]

Roy, thanks for taking the time to share your PBP story. What an adventure you had! I enjoyed hearing about what was hiding behind that post-ride-thousand-yard-stare I saw at the Campanile the morning after. Congratulations on your ride and all the work it took to make it happen.

Eric

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[Roy Ross]

Thanks Eric. I was hesitant as writing this up was such a huge task. And maybe re-living some of it is not that pleasant. I'm glad I did though.

Roy.

[Peter Curley]

Roy - Great write-up. Also nice to see you out there. At one point we tried to join your tandem-led paceline but there was already for too many hangers-on....

Congrats again,

Peter

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Peter Curley
415-513-8950

[Roy Ross]

Yes! I remember Peter!! I tried to add all my experiences from the ride but failed to add this. You get my drift as to how difficult it is hanging with a tandem on PBP. Everybody wants a piece of the tandem, jockeying for position and riding beside, etc. Seems dangerous as I later pulled ahead with Anson and just let go of it and it was like a giant burden was lifted. Good to see you out there. 

Roy.

[Greg Merritt]

Wow...reading that really stressed me out, Roy! lol...

Even though I had a collision, a 9- or 10-mile detour, a broken spoke, and countless hours with my fat supple tires below 25psi (oops), the bits that really come to the forefront for me for my ride are the ice cream, a lovely sandwich (butter, cheese, mayo, HB egg, tomato & lettuce), a huge meringue, a kouign amann, pasta with butter, pasta with cheese, hot milk, Twix bars, an impersonation of a brownie, a hot cheese panini on a cold night, fresh-out-of-the-oven croissants for dipping into warm warm soup at Dreux...

...riding with Nate, Luke & sister & Vinnie et al., #meganeric, Boyz, Mirko, John "American" French, DJ NoNo, a Portuguese dude who lives in France, a couple of tandem couples, Dan "Potis's bike is a finisher" "Lizard-man" Beringhele, a chill, fun-loving Italian trio, a German dude who pushed wind for ages, another German dude and self-proclaimed feminist (who had nice conversation until he told me that there are limits to his acceptance of feminism, however, when it comes to things like cycling and driving, oh and by the way in Austria the wives volunteer to run the brevets, isn't that great? What an ass...), the 15-year-old competitive mountain bike racer who rode along w/ PBP riders between towns after Loudéac...

...getting a personal tour of the Quédillac sleep control by a volunteer who convinced me to stay there and *not* press on to Tintinéac, getting treated like a rockstar by volunteers at V-au-J, the crazy old lady so happy to see everyone on the way back from Brest, the young man at the inn who told me to not believe the owner who told me that midnight was way too late for me to get my bike out of the back room, the charming couple who told me that I could absolutely not change my shorts in the empty tourbus, but if I were right quick they wouldn't speak of it...

...SEEING LOIS & BILL, TWICE!...

...the fox running in the field, the ass (hey -- donkey!!) screaming at us in a roundabout, several mice on the road...

As hard as it was, in retrospect, I think I had it pretty lucky / easy!! Definitely more chill the second time around...

-Greg

[Eric Walstad]

Oh, you mentioned lots of little details I would have forgotten. And, riding/finishing with you was definitely one of my ride highlights. Thanks, Greg!

Eric

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[Sourav Das]

Greg,

Like Roy, I was also in the 84hr group. ** I ** believe your 90hr start made for a very different, and better, PBP experience.

I had a very lonely PBP until after Fougeres on the return leg, when I was running into the bulk of the 90hr starters. Only at Tinteniac (on the way in) did I run into Rob and group who were riding with a tandem, and rode till Loudeac with them. On the next leg, owing to miscommunication, I missed having my brevet card stamped at the secret control. The electronic tag did scan, but instead of risking it, I rode an extra 30km or so and wound up riding solo again.

All throughout the ride, I never quite found a good group to work with. The pacelines were terribly inefficient (even unsafe) with lots of seesaw-ing. The riders were for the most part not interested in conversation, preferring instead to have their head down looking at the wheel in front. By the time I caught the 90hr groups, I was myself in a low mental state (the last 20km into Vilaines was a drag where I burned time) as were some of the others. I did chat with a Brazilian rider for a bit. 

My first significant interaction was with Jinuk at Vilaines, where he thankfully convinced me to split my sleep between Vilaines and Mortagne, instead of pushing on to Mortagne. Then the sun rose as I approached Mortagne and I made good time after that. Enough time that we made a leisurely stop at Dreux, slow rolled to the finish chatting with an English rider, and hung out for 3 or 4 hrs after. In hindsight, I am glad I slowed down so it was not just one long suffer fest for me.

I will probably choose the 90hr group the next time. More chilled out and relaxed riders.

Sourav

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[John French]

Thanks for sharing your story, Roy!

I am very interested in different peoples' sleeping strategies/experiences - one of my goals in PBP was to sleep as much as I could without jeopardizing a finish within 90 hours, and while I did maximize my 90 hour allowance, I didn't succeed in sleeping as much as I hoped. (Never was it so bad that I was riding in a state where I felt that I was endangering myself from lack of sleep - though there were points where I felt that other riders were endangering me either through their lack of sleep or by riding close to me as though assuming I was fully capable of holding my line as well as I would be if I were well-rested.)

Especially interesting that you were talked into stopping at Quedillac. I would likely have stopped there too, but was convinced to keep going to Tinteniac after hearing from multiple sources that I would appreciate waking up closer to sunrise and with a more manageable distance remaining. The final deciding factor was that the group which I had been riding with since Loudeac, consisting of an Irish club riding together and Ryan Thompson, were also continuing on to Tinteniac. The company helped me stay alert and ride at a good pace and when I reached Tinteniac I found the best sleeping accommodations I saw anywhere on the ride (I have heard that only Brest had better, if you were lucky enough to get them, but I was at Brest midday so didn't sleep there.) The Tinteniac couchage facility consisted of a building with multiple separate rooms, each containing four beds (actual bed frames with mattresses!) with disposable sheets and warm blankets and blackout curtains. So instead of a cold dimly lit gym with 300 snoring randos and constant interruptions from people going in and out, I was in a warm pitch-black room with 3 snoring randos and no interruptions. That was the only really good sleep I got on the ride.

My other sleep consisted of:

- two hours in Loudeac on Monday afternoon. Decent cot, blanket, but bright room (it was afternoon) and loud. Trumpeter practicing nearby when I arrived. Woken up 2 hours into planned 4 hour sleep by a full brass band playing RIGHT OUTSIDE THE GYM. It somehow echoed more loudly inside the gym than it was outside.

- two hours in Carhaix Monday night. Ran out of cots just two people ahead of me, so was on the floor of a dojo. Slightly padded but pretty firm. Pretty dark and good blanket. Man next to me punched and kicked the floor all night (?!?!). Bad sleep quality.

- Aforementioned excellent sleep in Tinteniac Tuesday night

- Multiple ditchnaps throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, set timer for 20 minutes, earplugs + eyeshade on, lie on park bench or grassy verge etc, close eyes. Did not break out the burrito foil blanket. Never fully fell asleep but still very good for restoring alertness. Had some weird semi-dream auditory hallucinations while doing this but they never persisted once I took out the earplugs and sat up so that didn't worry me.

- 1.5ish? hours in Mortagne on the return. Yoga mat. Very firm. Not good quality sleep. I think there was a blanket though.

- 1.5ish? hours in Dreux. Didn't see the sign for Couchage and didn't really care. Wedged between rolled up mats in the corner, improbably quite comfortable. Set alerm for 2 hours. Woke up with no alarm going off and panicked that I had overslept but actually had underslept.

If I go back, I will definitely reassess my sleep strategy. I do wonder if (per the thread about bivy) it might be better to carry a minimal amount of equipment to allow good sleep outside controls, where it is darker and quieter and less time overhead with checkin. That won't work if it rains. Or maybe hotels will figure into it. Or just better time management and recon about which controls have good sleep facilities.

I have heard that other 1200k+ events are more amenable to good sleep than PBP. That is appealing to me.

-John

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[Metin Uz]

John,

How much sleep you can get is a function of two things: how quickly you can get to your overnight control, and how big a deficit you are comfortable with when leaving the overnight control. If the next timed control is far enough ahead, you can leave quite a bit after the closing time (like in Fort Bragg 600).

Because the persistent headwinds on the first day put me 2 hours behind my plan, I ended up leaving the first overnight a little before the control closed, and the second overnight 1 hour after the control closed. If this were my first time riding the course, I probably would not have risked it and gotten 1 hour less sleep.

--Metin

[John French]

There was a third factor for me, which was: "ability to actually get quality sleep at the control".

My optimistic plan was to sleep Monday at Carhaix and Tuesday at Tinteniac, leaving each around the closing time. On Monday the plan fell apart in a few ways: the headwinds both slowed me down, and caused me to decide to sleep earlier than planned, since the forecast had the wind dying down after sunset. That fallback plan itself then fell apart because of the loud brass band *right outside the dormitory* (seriously, WTF).

My Tuesday plan was executed well and resulted in good sleep, which probably saved my ride. I am glad I found good company to get me to Tinteniac or I would likely have made bad sleep choices.

Wednesday I was exhausted, and unwilling to stay past any control closing time because I wasn't sure I could make up that time especially if I had a mechanical or other unexpected setback, which led to splitting my sleep between multiple ditchnaps and two controls. The quality of sleep in those circumstances suffered.

-John

[Charlie Martin]

Entertaining and stressful report Roy, thanks for writing it up! Crossing my fingers that you get a generous helping of randonnesia and decide to go for round 2.

For folks who go into a ride thinking they might write a report afterward, I have several strategies I employ for remembering details:

1. Take pictures along the way. If you practice, it takes minimal effort. Some less obvious things about pictures are that they often have time and geo metadata, which really helps piece together what happened, when, and where. In combination with your brevet card or tracker split times, it's a quick exercise to figure out which leg of the ride you were on when you took a picture.

2. Jot down notes along the way. Just one or two words that you know will jog your memory later. Doesn't matter if they're misspelled, the whole point is to not completely blank on something you thought was interesting or important during the brief period it passed between your ears. For me, something obscure and poorly typed like "acrdnmn" wold be plenty to remind of of the guy playing "Amazing Grace" on an accordion for me as I climbed a hill. I like to use the Google Keep app for these notes. Opening up a draft in the Gmail app works fine too. Lots of options. Instead of writing down words you may find that recording a video for a couple seconds frees up your attention a bit more.

3. Review your Strava flyby. This can give you a more complete picture about when and where you stopped along the route. Maybe you forgot to take a picture or jot down notes, but you know you stopped for crepes somewhere along the way. Set the playback speed to something high and watch your Strava flyby to see where it was you took breaks along the route. You can also get exact timing details for how long you stopped for those ditch naps or how long you really spent at each control.

One thing I wonder about PBP is the balance of spending time to get a full experience and having time for getting good sleep. Part of that question involves figuring out what gives you a full experience. I built my sleep strategy heavily on the idea that I didn't want standing in unnecessary lines to be my PBP experience, and several stories I heard indicated that I could expect a line for everything. With all the support along the route and services in towns (during the day at least), I found there was quite a bit of opportunity to keep well fed and bottles topped off outside of controls. I found sleeping opportunities abundant along the route or at unofficial plots of floor at controls. I understand people may have different philosophies or levels of comfort regarding "nature breaks". Sitting down for a meal has its merits, but eating on the bike gets you down the road. For folks who were hurting for sleep, were there things in hindsight that were time wasters you would have gone back and handled differently if you did it over?

- Charlie

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[Roy]

Good point on time savers. Yep. Experience helps. That and stubbornness to finish. I used every ounce of mine. Sleep is important and I normally have opportunities to sleep on 1200K rides. PBP is wildly different for good and bad reasons. The whole experience is unbeatable. So many people generally interested in all of the riders cheering them on when they know what they are putting themselves through. Huge respect and really wanting you to finish. Hard to imagine a San Francisco or Texas or Georgia or Washington 1200K with anywhere near the interest. Really, PBP is the highest accolade for those of us who stair-step to a 1200K ride. I knew that when I first heard of it. And I really know it now. Thanks for all of those fellow randonneurs who have encouraged me to ride this jewel of a ride.

Roy.

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[Eric Walstad]

Heh, you said "next time."

Eric

On Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 22:19 Sourav Das <sour...@gmail.com> wrote:

...next time...

Sourav

[Eric Walstad]

If you start saving right away You will have a quiet, private room with a hot shower 3 times during the ride, for about $0.30/day. Less than that if you share the room with another rider.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUIBbXhB2mPBjVqSKJ6wG8vm9ZqT0Mc67Qvc0A0/?igshid=v3ac211rggzz

Eric

On Sat, Aug 31, 2019, 02:07 John French <m...@johnfren.ch> wrote:

...quality sleep ...to sleep ...good sleep, ...I was exhausted... splitting my sleep ...sleep in those circumstances suffered.

[Sourav Das]

I meant to say, "next times."

Sourav

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[gary.d...@sbcglobal.net]

I definitely suffered for lack of sleep and am still trying to figure it out. (13 hrs to get to Villaines.. wow!)

• I overestimated my ability to ride through the first night with an evening start.
• I failed to get a 90 min or more nap anywhere.
• I relied on the small cups of coffee sold at controls, when a good 24 oz cup would have been more familiar. Or a 32 oz coke, for the bottle.
• Never considered caffeine pills, mint gums etc. Saw other riders headed to pharmacies and never considered options.
• Another rider showed off some natural alertness tab, without caffeine. (Screenshot, not the actual tabs.)
• I was too willing to ride slowly when tired, figuring that forward progress was more valuable than time not moving. Bad decision.
• I’m just appalled by the many incredibly bad decisions I made-too many ditch naps and no good sleep breaks. My desire to get to Loudiac before a good rest. My decision to leave Loudiac without a good rest. (Looked too crowded…)
• My only good decision was to never ride unsafely.

- 1.5ish? hours in Mortagne on the return. Yoga mat. Very firm Not good quality sleep. I think there was a blanket though.

- 15ish? hours in Dreux. Didn't see the sign for Couchage and didn't really care. Wedged between rolled up mats in the corner, improbably quite comfortable. Set alerm for 2 hours. Woke up with no alarm going off and panicked that I had overslept but actually had underslept.

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[Peter Colijn]

On Fri, 30 Aug 2019, 14:19 Sourav Das, <sour...@gmail.com> wrote:

Greg,

Like Roy, I was also in the 84hr group. ** I ** believe your 90hr start made for a very different, and better, PBP experience.

I had a very lonely PBP until after Fougeres on the return leg, when I was running into the bulk of the 90hr starters. Only at Tinteniac (on the way in) did I run into Rob and group who were riding with a tandem, and rode till Loudeac with them. On the next leg, owing to miscommunication, I missed having my brevet card stamped at the secret control. The electronic tag did scan, but instead of risking it, I rode an extra 30km or so and wound up riding solo again.

All throughout the ride, I never quite found a good group to work with. The pacelines were terribly inefficient (even unsafe) with lots of seesaw-ing. The riders were for the most part not interested in conversation, preferring instead to have their head down looking at the wheel in front. By the time I caught the 90hr groups, I was myself in a low mental state (the last 20km into Vilaines was a drag where I burned time) as were some of the others. I did chat with a Brazilian rider for a bit. 

My first significant interaction was with Jinuk at Vilaines, where he thankfully convinced me to split my sleep between Vilaines and Mortagne, instead of pushing on to Mortagne. Then the sun rose as I approached Mortagne and I made good time after that. Enough time that we made a leisurely stop at Dreux, slow rolled to the finish chatting with an English rider, and hung out for 3 or 4 hrs after. In hindsight, I am glad I slowed down so it was not just one long suffer fest for me.

I will probably choose the 90hr group the next time. More chilled out and relaxed riders.

Though if you're going for Charlie Miller next time that may not be super compatible with "chilled out and relaxed" :P

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[Irving]

Would like to remind anyone that if they are interested in hearing or telling some PBP stories to please check out the event I'm organizing at Lucky Duck Bicycle Cafe in Oakland on Thursday September 19th.

- Irving