Things I learnt on this PBP

[LiamFitz]

1. Hills can grow bigger in just four years
2. Australian audaxers were surprised to learn that some postings on YACF are actually serious
3. US audaxers are great company despite their reputation
4. All it takes to create a monster is to give a middle aged Frenchman a red tshirt with the word 'security' on the front
5. old people in green tshirts seems to be generally very nice
6. Some YACF members are surprised to learn that some postings on YACF are actually jokes
7. Asking for salt at a control can get you into trouble
8. MattC And Manotea remind me of the old blokes from the Muppets
9. Assos cream is proof of a higher power and should be rebranded 'magic cream'
10. Danish boys seemed delighted to give me a tug when I was feeling droopy
11. After 650k randonneurs loose all sense of decorum - which is my excuse for applying 'magic cream at Villaines just 2 metres away from a group of old ladies

[iddu]

8. MattC And Manotea remind me of the old blokes from the Muppets

*GUFFAW*

Statler and Waldorf

[DrMekon]

10. Danish boys seemed delighted to give me a tug when I was feeling droopy

Very liberal people the Danes.

[Manotea]

If you wear overshoes for 90 hours on a summertime ride, your feet will turn to mush and your shoes will be a tadge smelly...

[Andrew]

Sleeping is a good idea.

[Paul D]

French PBP riders don't smoke as much as you think

[DanialW]

French PBP riders don't smoke as much as you think

But the Danes do.

[marcusjb]

If you put your timing chip onto your shoe strap - make sure you tighten the strap back up properly.  I left it too loose and the vibration/looseness in the first 100km caused some real pain on my big toe which is still with me.

Hoping that the chef at Fougeres had learnt to put a little less salt in his rice by the time you went back through is not a good idea, he may have even resorted to throwing even more in.

Check the wheelnut on the SonDeluxe hub is properly tight every day - mine vibrated loose after 900km causing a massive vibration and a sudden panic that the bearings had gone.

But I guess the biggest thing I learnt was that I can ride 1200km in 76 hours and that I did learn a lot of lessons in my qualifiers, that led to a fairly trouble free PBP - particularly on the food/hydration front where I have had real issues all winter/spring.

[GrahamG]

No amount of advice, hints or tips can make up for riding with experienced riders.

[vorsprung]

Il vache ka pisse means "it (rains) like a pissing cow" in idiomatic French

Having a bar bag full of food suits me.  Thing1 called it a "Nose Bag" and claimed I went faster trying to catch it

The groups on the 90h start don't work together well, don't run double pacelines and typically seem to amble along at 20kph or less uphill.  I guess last time I was so near the back that I found a lot of 84h people

[red marley]

If you have acid reflux, don't try drinking coffee (hence only one small cup on the ride).

If you have acid reflux, mini Gaviscon sachets are a godsend.

A silk sleeping bag liner is excellent for impromptu sleeps, and much nicer than a foil survival bag.

When tweeting with none-hours' sleep, fighting my phone's autocorrect is a losing battle ("Mortgage-au-Perche").

After 1230km, almost everything Toontra says is hilarious (in a good way).

[L CC]

Sleep is for wimps. Unless it's in a real bed, with feather pillows and a fluffy cotton nightie.

All the words to all the Rihanna tracks on my mp3 player. I very generously shared this knowledge to all around me, which I guess may be why I rode alone so much.

If I hadn't had to lug an extra 20kg of me around perhaps I wouldn't have learnt just how bad one's backside can look. Baboons' are prettier...

[Manotea]

The groups on the 90h start don't work together well, don't run double pacelines and typically seem to amble along at 20kph or less uphill. 

On the first evening I latched on to a group of Slovenians, about 12 strong riding a double paceline motoring along about 35kph. Sitting in the bunch was great: thrilling, exciting, focused yet almost effortless. I was fine on the flat and climbs but eventually had to drop off as I couldn't match the group on the descents.

Didn't see any of the fabled Danish trains though; they seemed to be riding in groups of three.

[MSeries]

The groups on the 90h start don't work together well, don't run double pacelines and typically seem to amble along at 20kph or less uphill. 

On the first evening I latched on to a group of Slovenians, about 12 strong riding a double paceline motoring along about 35kph. Sitting in the bunch was great: thrilling, exciting, focused yet almost effortless. I was fine on the flat and climbs but eventually had to drop off as I couldn't match the group on the descents.

All terrain can be group friendly, hills and descents need less selfishness to keep a group together. Selfishness is what UK audaxers are quite good at though, people seem to like riding in groups yet don't do much to keep them together, they seem to believe that groups 'just happen', they don't, it takes effort, usually it means someone has to go a bit slower. Going slower is easy, realising one has to is what some riders just don't do or don't want to do. I learned all this long before I took up audaxing, it's what club riders do.

[LEE]

1) Serious sleep deprivation makes the simplest of task extremely difficult and knocks about 5km/hr off your average speed.

2) Once you start getting close to missing Controle closing times your ride becomes a constant succession of sleepless panics to get to the next control.

3) Sleep deprivation means you only remember short sections of the ride (and at least one of those may have been a waking dream).

4) It seems possible to ride whilst totally asleep.

[vorsprung]

All terrain can be group friendly, hills and descents need less selfishness to keep a group together. Selfishness is what UK audaxers are quite good at though, people seem to like riding in groups yet don't do much to keep them together, they seem to believe that groups 'just happen', they don't, it takes effort, usually it means someone has to go a bit slower. Going slower is easy, realising one has to is what some riders just don't do or don't want to do. I learned all this long before I took up audaxing, it's what club riders do.

As you know I am not a club rider but I entirely agree.

One group I joined had a couple of Swedes on the front pulling at a nice speed.  Then they took a rest so I moved up to the front.  Out of the group of 10 or 12 noone else moved up.  I waited for a while for something to happen but it didn't.  I looked back and paced along for a while.  Noone joined me.  Maybe I could have said something in English- but it was clear that the Swedes were taking it easy and I had moved to the front.  After a few minutes I slowly pulled away uphill.  The Swedes caught me on the next downhill and we did work with a French guy as a 4 for a while

Another occasion on the Monday afternoon I caught a 80h person.  They seemed in a hurry so I offered a tow.  We got talking and it seems that he was right on the time limit and was trying to catch a group just up ahead.  So I worked with him and slowly we caught the group.  The group was good, going at 27kph on the flat.  However, after a while whoever was doing the work stopped and the group slowed and slowed to 20kph.  I tried going on the front but noone would take my wheel.

It's not just the UK riders!

[LiamFitz]

My experience was that only the Danish lads I rode with were that organised.  On two occasions I can remember when we were mixed up in a group that wasn't working I was given a light tap on the shoulder before they burned away.

I think you do need an organiser who makes sure people actually know what they should be doing next - the Danes shout 'skol' when they want someone to take the lead off them.

On another note I did have a go at a French rider who jumped on my wheel when I passed without even saying 'hi'.  When I upped the pace he hung on in there so I towed for a minute or so then invited him to take his turn which he declined on the grounds on the basis that he was too tired.  I'm afraid that I was so tired that I'd lost all restraint so I told him what I thought of him in robust terms.

He dropped off anid then passed me a minute later stuck on the back of someone else

[The Seldom Killer]

I learnt that some of the kids around Fougere are riding on some lovely looking Motobecanes that would make excellent conversion to fixed to I might have to go on a Decathlon trading shopping spree.

[Hummers]

If you enter the 80 hour group the opportunity is there for you to go for a ~60 hour PBP.

If you are not up for that and can't commit the time to get yourself up to speed before the event, don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure and go with the 84/90 hour group instead.

H

[DanialW]

I learned that keeping on top of the little things makes for a much more comfortable ride.

From the start, I was careful at each control to stretch properly, add electrolytes to my water bottles, use sunblock and apply magic cream. On the road I drank constantly and snacked all the time to avoid the munchies at controls. I could have easily ridden another 200km if needed, I was in good nick when I got back.

[marcusjb]

If you enter the 80 hour group the opportunity is there for you to go for a ~60 hour PBP.

If you are not up for that and can't commit the time to get yourself up to speed before the event, don't put yourself under unnecessary pressure and go with the 84/90 hour group instead.

H

I need to commit this to memory to avoid clicking any silly boxes in 4 years time - good advice Hummers.

[ian_oli]

That I enjoyed doing PBP again in decent conditions and that you eat much better if you avoid feeding at controls.

[Pete Mas]

My experience was that only the Danish lads I rode with were that organised.  On two occasions I can remember when we were mixed up in a group that wasn't working I was given a light tap on the shoulder before they burned away.

I think you do need an organiser who makes sure people actually know what they should be doing next - the Danes shout 'skol' when they want someone to take the lead off them.

On another note I did have a go at a French rider who jumped on my wheel when I passed without even saying 'hi'.  When I upped the pace he hung on in there so I towed for a minute or so then invited him to take his turn which he declined on the grounds on the basis that he was too tired.  I'm afraid that I was so tired that I'd lost all restraint so I told him what I thought of him in robust terms.

He dropped off anid then passed me a minute later stuck on the back of someone else

I found that the groups were more 'friendly' than 2007 (better weather?), in  2007 I was waved away by some groups (Danish, Italians, and others), but this time more mixed groups of riders seemed prepared to work together. With the generally favourable wind directions, wheelsucking was less necessary this time anyhow.
Later on tired riders did jump on passing wheels and hence 'push in' to existing groups of friends, and quite rightly would be told to move over or drop back.
At one point on the rollers to Mortagne a rider would always overtake me on the descents, and move over to the right, right in front of me each time, impeding my progress, even though I was much faster on the climbs ( so had to move back left to pass again). After a while this annoyed me sufficiently that I upped my  speed and whizzed past the rider on his RIGHT as he tried to overtake me on the descent. He didnt try that again...Other riders whizzed past me left and right throughout the ride, without any thought.

[MattH]

I had problems with groups a few times; they'd chase me down, assimilate me into the group, then slow down (presumably because they'd burnt themselves out chasing me). So my cruising speed, which had been say 28km/h, would drop to 24km/h. And because I'd be on the the right in the middle of their group, I'd have to fight my way out to  accelerate back up - at which point the group would drop behind.

This happened three or four times, with different groups. Not a big issue, just irritating -  like those who'd do similar then descend like grannies, blocking me in and forcing me to be on the brakes all the way down.

But things I learnt -
Despite what AndyH claims, Pain Au Raisin doesn't exist 
I really do prefer having tribars for long rides.
It is expensive leaving your family in Paris whilst you go off on a bike ride.

[NRB]

1 astonishingly, some people think I make a good pace maker. No idea who they were, but twice I was thanked for setting a good steady pace for an extended period, once by a Brit and once by a French Group.

2 don't rely on being woken up by staff at Loudeac.

3 you can get away with breaking all the other "rules" about long rides provided you eat and drink enough

4 some people just don't like to be "caught" on climbs and get out of the saddle each time you reach them on long ascents