As a fan, I want to hear the good, bad and ugly of your ride. From other reports I've read, the conditions were horrible. I hope to read about it soon.

Probably having a great time touring/vacationing. She didn't go over
just for PBP. I am sure, in due time, we will get a report once the
experience has faded a bit. Reports by others suggest a horrorific
ride.

I only ask becasue I've thought much about this PBP and the struggle it must have been. Hour after lonely hour riding in the rain can torture your soul. Some insight into this from Machka would be valuable for all of us. How does one come to the decision to abandon after so much given. I rode the DC Randonneur 600K this year so I have some idea what it must've been out there on those desolate chipseal roads in the rain. I don't mean to call her out our judge because I may have done the same. In fact, hope to participate myself in '11. Perhaps we can enjoy the Randonneur smile together at that time.

I leapfrogged with rowan and machka for many hours. I actually shared the bus depot with them in Loudeac. I can't speak for them but for me, I was slower than I wanted to be (rain?..not a big deal but it did slow me down) which put pressure on the clock. I felt tired at the start. I was way behind on getting to loudeac and than started to lose it with sleep deprivation. I tried dozing at the side of the road twice, and finally went into a wet and muddy ditch, with eyes closed. Found a place to sleep. Slept for 30 minutes and got to loudeac wasted. I had no time and wasn't thinking clearly , slept a bit too much, headed out behind in time and hit big rollers with a significant headwind. I wasn't going to make it in time, or so I believed. My average speed was terrible. My stomach had been a problem for many hours and was having a hard time with any food. I stopped and had a desparate moment. Tears don't really describe the pain of the moment. Very very low. I wan't going to make it to Carhaix or to brest or paris in time. Grief and despair. I headed back to Loudeac. I ran into machka and rowan at a bus depot later on. The answer for me is get stronger. Friends who were middle pack riders in Seattle (faster than me) finished with little or no time to spare. A few slower riders finished and they were very efficient. I obviously wasn't. I needed to get my controles done earlier and sleep for three hours straight....it didn't happen.

Papawizo....Great report from the road. What an epic event. I consider myself one of the "slower riders" so your insiight is valuable. Do you plan to make it back in '11? I hope others will post their stories as well.

...curious about how her trip went.

How does one come to the decision to abandon after so much given.
I have never attempted a ride of this magnitude, but regardless if you are cycling, writing a book, learning an instrument, or whatever, there is always a point at which you have to ask yourself why you are doing it and what you get out of the experience.

We all need to get some satisfaction out of riding, and hopefully it is fun as well. While testing the limits of your mind and body can be part of that experience, it's perfectly reasonable to come to the conclusion that all you're doing is torturing yourself and that it's time to hang back for a bit. Nothing wrong with that, and it's good for your sanity in the long run.

From the sound of it, PBP is the sort of thing I would do once, primarily for the satisfaction of having done it. It's not exactly sounding like Disneyland, at this point.

For anyone interested, here's a Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlerando/) I came across with hundreds of photos from PBP. Lots of great shots -- I think this one (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1267346396&size=o) really captures the spirit of the event.

For anyone interested, here's a Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlerando/) I came across with hundreds of photos from PBP. Lots of great shots -- I think this one (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1267346396&size=o) really captures the spirit of the event.

Wow these pics are truly beautiful! Thanks!

. Do you plan to make it back in '11? .
It is like a disease that has changed me. I'll be there faster and stronger, barring injury and the unplanned.

For anyone interested, here's a Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlerando/) I came across with hundreds of photos from PBP. Lots of great shots -- I think this one (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1267346396&size=o) really captures the spirit of the event.

SIR had a fellow photographing the event. He did an amazing job. Many of my good buddies are there in thier blue wool SIR jerseys. Nice to see so many I know.

From the sound of it, PBP is the sort of thing I would do once, primarily for the satisfaction of having done it. It's not exactly sounding like Disneyland, at this point.

Honestly, if not for the rain, I think it would've been an utterly fantastic experience. The people on the route were some of the kindest, most hospitable folks you can find. The terrain was gorgeous and the food was excellent. Part of what the ride work for me was taking time to stop at roadside stands and the various patisseries along the route (I joked with others that they were doing a brevet, and I was doing a survey of Bretonnian pastry craft by bicycle). Meeting so many people who were keenly interested in seeing you continue made the event for me, and riding with cyclists from all over the world who weren't focused on beating you but on sharing the magic of the experience was, itself, exhilarating.

Yes, the rain made it hard and miserable, but I've done 'short', flat charity centuries rides in driving rain and had an equally terrible time. Don't let temporary circumstances dictate your future perspective of the event itself.

Well said spoken word, I think you captured the spirit of the event. On my first Brevet (a 400K with the DC Randonneurs) my rear der got caught in my spokes, ripping it in half, breaking the chain, and pulling the threads out of the dropout. I was only 25 miles into the ride. As other riders came up behind me, they stopped to offer advice, and help in trying to convert my bike into a single speed. This ultimately proved to be a failure but the gesture of support meant the world to me.

So much so that I was determined to finish the ride to honor their kindness. I coasted back down a mountain sans chain, hitched a ride back to me car, drove to a bike shop, bought new parts, made repairs, drove back to the start point, and finished the ride (taking a slightly shorter route). Of course I was officially a DNF on the Brevet but great feeling after finishing was the same.

Any of you "long distance riders" that haven't experienced the camaraderie and teamwork on a Brevet should try one sometime. You will not regret it.

Read this story:

http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html

What a great read!

Incredible ride report!

That report was amazing, really inspirational stuff. Maybe in four years time some of us may have our own stories.

I wasn't able to go this year for financial reasons... I'm starting to save now for the next one, though! :D

That report was amazing, really inspirational stuff.

Perhaps you were inspired to learn how to work on your bike, improve your bike handling skills, and maybe receive anxiety disorder counseling?

Or maybe I'm just being too cynical, for this thread. She did finish a ride I've never even started...

Oh... on topic: I know Machka DNF'd the ride, as did her friend Rowan.

Edit: Hmm... I remembered incorrectly... her father posted a little about the dnf. I'm sure we'll get a great ride report when she gets back!

I have put together my ride report:

http://web.mac.com/ronsmithjunior/pbp

For anyone interested, here's a Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlerando/) I came across with hundreds of photos from PBP. Lots of great shots -- I think this one (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1267346396&size=o) really captures the spirit of the event.

Going through Loudeac the first time I got a plate of food and sat at a table where all the other occupants were sleeping. I tried to eat quietly.

Btw, apparently a surprising number of people decided to just sleep wherever they could, with seemingly little thought about potentially rough conditions. I tell you, a sleeping bag and mat can give you some quality sleep. What the guys in the photo are getting is not.

I have put together my ride report:

http://web.mac.com/ronsmithjunior/pbp

Ron, I read your ride report and found it fascinating. It's pumped me up to the point where I'm thinking I could do this in 4 years. Problem... I'll be 62. Not sure if I'll have the mental fortitude to suffer through the conditions and I've never ridden at night before. All in all, I could be in for a really big challenge. But for now, really enjoyed your experience.

For anyone interested, here's a Flickr set (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlerando/) I came across with hundreds of photos from PBP. Lots of great shots -- I think this one (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=1267346396&size=o) really captures the spirit of the event.

Is that a blind cane on the table in that picture? :eek:

Ron, I read your ride report and found it fascinating. It's pumped me up to the point where I'm thinking I could do this in 4 years. Problem... I'll be 62. Not sure if I'll have the mental fortitude to suffer through the conditions and I've never ridden at night before. All in all, I could be in for a really big challenge. But for now, really enjoyed your experience.

I have have also just recently made the same resolution. New Zealand doesn't have any randonuerring (sp?) organisation I can find, but there do seem to be events held in the year of the PBP. I've never done much more than centuries so I'm going to have to start ramping it up a little...

Im doing 320km around taupo this year. Will see if the bug bites me.

Before reading Machkas pages I never thought anyone would ride that far for fun. Now I have some idea.

Is that a blind cane on the table in that picture? :eek:

Yep. I saw these guys a couple times with the sighted rider leading the blind fellow through the control. I believe they were on a tandem of some sort (there were quite a few), but never saw them on the road.

Quite inspiring.

Jon

Machka's back! :)

I just flew in today from a month of cycling in Europe, and starting to feel just a bit jet-lagged. And I've got my first day of classes at University tomorrow (300 km round trip commute every day to attend those classes). I'll probably go to bed soon.

But briefly I will say this ...

Rowan and I had a great time in Europe! I have now been from one side of France to the other at the widest part of France. I added Belgium and Germany to my list of countries I've cycled in. I took 486 photos!! :eek: I improved my French. I met all sorts of interesting people and saw all sorts of interesting things.

I'll start working on the story, and posting some of those 486 photos soon. :)

Welcome back. We'll look forward to the ride report!

I'm so glad you had a good time and welcome home. I'm looking forward to reading your full report from all European travels and of course the photos.

Ron, I read your ride report and found it fascinating. It's pumped me up to the point where I'm thinking I could do this in 4 years. Problem... I'll be 62. Not sure if I'll have the mental fortitude to suffer through the conditions and I've never ridden at night before. All in all, I could be in for a really big challenge. But for now, really enjoyed your experience.

I am glad you liked the report. Btw, I updated it to fix some of the rather embarrassing grammar errors. Hey, I wrote it at 35k feet crossing the Atlantic on the way back! :D

Concerning PBP in 2011, carpe diem, man, carpe diem. What else are you doing in August of 2011? :) Start your preparation now. Older folks (not that I am calling you old) do better on long rides simply because they know how to settle in for the long haul, and because they have more experience working through tough times. That is my theory, and I am sticking to it.

FYI, PBP was the first time I had ridden through the night, and it is only the second time riding big miles two or more days in a row, the first time being the 600k I did in qualifying.

My first century was in the Spring of 2003. Since then I have had a lot of experience, both good and bad. All of my DNFs have served to prepare me for whatever happens.

I am glad you liked the report. Btw, I updated it to fix some of the rather embarrassing grammar errors. Hey, I wrote it at 35k feet crossing the Atlantic on the way back! :D

Concerning PBP in 2011, carpe diem, man, carpe diem. What else are you doing in August of 2011? :) Start your preparation now. Older folks (not that I am calling you old) do better on long rides simply because they know how to settle in for the long haul, and because they have more experience working through tough times. That is my theory, and I am sticking to it.

FYI, PBP was the first time I had ridden through the night, and it is only the second time riding big miles two or more days in a row, the first time being the 600k I did in qualifying.

My first century was in the Spring of 2003. Since then I have had a lot of experience, both good and bad. All of my DNFs have served to prepare me for whatever happens.

Don't worry about calling me old. I don't feel it or act it but nature has a funny way , from time to time, of reminding you where you are in life. I've read some other reports from PBP riders and some sound horrific. As much as long rides test your physical ability, I think they are more a test of your mental ability. I find that if I set my mind for a 3 hour ride, lets say, I can do a 3 hour ride. But afterwards there's no way I want to go another hour. I'd have to set my pre-ride mindset to 4 hours. I guess it's just mental preparation. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Here are a couple photos to get started with ...

One of me grinning in front of Buckingham Palace, and one of Machak and me smiling in front of the Eiffel Tower. :)
.

Machka's back! :)

I just flew in today from a month of cycling in Europe, and starting to feel just a bit jet-lagged. And I've got my first day of classes at University tomorrow (300 km round trip commute every day to attend those classes). I'll probably go to bed soon.

But briefly I will say this ...

Rowan and I had a great time in Europe! I have now been from one side of France to the other at the widest part of France. I added Belgium and Germany to my list of countries I've cycled in. I took 486 photos!! :eek: I improved my French. I met all sorts of interesting people and saw all sorts of interesting things.

I'll start working on the story, and posting some of those 486 photos soon. :)

Good, welcome back to your universe. Sorry we could not meet on the ride. Since you improved your French;) (how odd for a Canadian:D), you may want to read some of the Abeille's reports, at least those of the people you know. My report, nearly final, is here (http://abeille-cyclotourisme.chez-alice.fr/souvenirs/2007_pbp_07_jp.html), in French of course to confirm your mastery of the language

Good to see you got out of the bus station in Loudeac and continued on with your journey. I too am back to work teaching high schoolers. Enjoyed running into you and Rowan on the road. It took me a bit to deal with my DNF but well ... c'est la vie. 4 more years.
john

Well, if you're bored and looking for something to read, I've started writing up the whole event.

If you go to my site: http://www.machka.net/ and then click on the 2007 - Paris Brest Paris link, I've begun developing the Pre-PBP link in there.


-----

And papawizo, I've returned to University working toward getting my Bachelor of Education. I've just started my third year. The challenge this year is my 300 km round trip commute to the University ... no, I'm not cycling it!! :D

Your website wont let me access your report. Says "page cannot be found". Could be my computer, I'm not a brain with computers.
J

Your website wont let me access your report. Says "page cannot be found". Could be my computer, I'm not a brain with computers.
J

she did say that she's started developing the Pre-PBP link, so it looks like it's just her prelude days in England are written up, but the PBP entries haven't been posted yet.

Glad to hear you had a good time in Europe, Machka, despite the 'not-fun-ness' of PBP itself. Looking forward to reading your journal.

though, I must say that if your opinion of the controles was that they were much cleaner than before, I would shudder to think what 2003's controles looked like, especially near the end. By Wednesday night, some of those controle bathrooms looked like biohazard zones ;)

Machka, your trip to Europe sounds wonderfull. I was wondering if you had to learn any new languages such as French, Dutch or German in order to MOO to the cows or can French, Belgium and German cows MOO in english?

I have have also just recently made the same resolution. New Zealand doesn't have any randonuerring (sp?) organisation I can find, but there do seem to be events held in the year of the PBP. I've never done much more than centuries so I'm going to have to start ramping it up a little...

Hi, I met a guy from New Zealand on PBP. He confirmed that there was no organization there. From what he said some people have tried to organize brevets there under the supervision of the Australian randonneurs, but there was an issue with some form of insurance required by the Australians that was not available in New Zealand. Anyway, he also told me that they were trying to gather all interested people to create there own organization (minimum 15 people needed, or so). So: keep listening and looking.

First, my website seems to be working again. It's been up almost an entire week!

Second, I've added more to the story ... all three sections are up now (Pre-PBP, PBP, and Post-PBP) and I'll be adding even more to them this coming weekend.

I can't wait to read what you thought about PBP...
So did you visit Chateau-Thierry? The castle is pretty cool... or maybe I should just wait for the next page!
And did you find a place to live that looks like mine?

First, my website seems to be working again. It's been up almost an entire week!

Second, I've added more to the story ... all three sections are up now (Pre-PBP, PBP, and Post-PBP) and I'll be adding even more to them this coming weekend.

I am sympathetic about your assessment of riding on the Champs Elysee. I rode through there on the way out to Guyancourt for registration on Sunday and thought the cobblestones were a literal pain in the ass. The rotary at Place Charles De Gaulle was also bit tense to negotiate, but one of my lingering memories is seeing a sixty year old Frenchman on a Velib easily and casually negotiating the free-for-all around the Arc de Triomphe and mixing it up with all of the traffic merging in and out of there. Bonne courage, indeed.

New Zealand doesn't have any randonuerring (sp?) organisation I can find, but there do seem to be events held in the year of the PBP.

That isn't strictly correct.

NZ does organise some rides (Audax Oz is helping out) in other years. Next year's calendar is available on the Audax Australia website calendar listed under the <NZ> button, rather than the various Australian states.

There are regional differences between North and South Islands that are confusing the situation. Hopefully NZ will develop their own randonneur organisation at some point.

I'm up to the "Bike Check" day now ... including several photos I took that day. :D

I've added quite a bit more to all three sections of the story! :)

http://www.machka.net/pbp2007/2007_PBP.htm

I'm still working on the photos ... they take a bit longer than the text. But if all goes well, I might even be finished it all by next weekend.

I've added quite a bit more now ... I've just got the actual story of the PBP itself to write, and a few more photos to put up, and then I'm done. :)

http://www.machka.net/pbp2007/2007_PBP.htm


BTW - I put up my pictures of Greenland! Seeing Greenland was an unexpected surprise. :)

Ahh the breath of fresh air is back. Welcome, welcome, welcome...have I worn out my welcomes yet? Anywho, I'm glad you had a great time in Europe. Did you say your attending classes at a University? What numbered degree will this one be?