Author Topic: PBP Blogs  (Read 32838 times)

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #50 on: 29 August, 2019, 08:46:19 pm »
Mine's here: https://adultmale.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/pbp-2019/, but it's really not that exciting.

It'd be great to read about everyone else's experiences. There must be some great stories out there.

I loved reading that - picked up a lot of detail that I had possible 'blacked-out' but was so nice to relive!


Glad you liked it. I wrote it down so I’d remember it better than last time, but 64 hours without sleep doesn’t help one’s recall. Hope I didn’t get any facts wrong. I’m now wondering if writing it down has distorted my memory of it ...

Diesel

  • or Richard
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #51 on: 29 August, 2019, 09:04:54 pm »

Alexander Turner

  • Enough is plenty. Good enough will do.
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #52 on: 31 August, 2019, 03:51:21 pm »
Hats off to everyone that does a write-up. I enjoy reading them but find doing them myself a bit of a slog. Still, PBP is one that I decided was a must-do so I have and here it is https://www.monaxle.com/2019/08/31/pbp-2019/ to share with you all.  Hope you enjoy the read. It's a bullet point summary with a few pictures for good measure.

Phil W

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #53 on: 31 August, 2019, 04:45:37 pm »
Just had a mammoth read of the write ups whilst it rains here. Quite a variety of styles and different amounts of focus on aspects of the event. A single event with thousands of stories weaved together into a whole.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #54 on: 31 August, 2019, 07:30:33 pm »
Updated our blog. http://www.pbp2019.co.uk/

Phil W

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #55 on: 31 August, 2019, 08:58:40 pm »
Sorry to hear about Tony's knee issue at Loudeac.  Well done on your pulling through after getting behind time. Well done on Tony sticking around in camper van to help you succeed.

I never got started due to gut issues that started on ride down Friday and didn't clear till Tuesday evening. The first food stop at Montagne Au Perche is as far as I got before deteriorating fatigue and bad guts (which I started with) did for me. I'd loved to have got much further then,  than to feel as though I'd never really got going. The only positive I have is that I am injury free, enjoyed the slow ride back to the ferry, and don't have a post PBP lack of cycling motivation.

I agree it's the generosity and enthusiasm of the villagers lining the roads and the stalls that pushes you on. The route isn't memorable, but the encounters are, and that is what drives me to return again despite my gut wrenching non event this year.

I plan to be back in 2023, recumbent next time, and gut issue free. Hope to see you both there for a successful PBP.

Maybe see you at LEL 21 first or WAWA 2020 next year.

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #56 on: 04 September, 2019, 10:14:34 am »
Nice report here ( https://ridewithgps.com/ride_reports/4309-2019-paris-brest-paris )from an American rider - including mention of our own Laid Back Rich   :)
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Alex B

  • Headwind specialist
    • Where is there an end of it?
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #57 on: 12 September, 2019, 04:55:47 am »

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #58 on: 12 September, 2019, 02:13:14 pm »
Here's my report:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/blog/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-randonneur-2019

Really enjoyed that one (possibly helped by knowing so many of the other characters weaving in and out). I'd say that your experience is more typical of PBP than many of the accounts I've read.
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #59 on: 12 September, 2019, 02:56:11 pm »
https://theradavist.com/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-2019-exactement-cela-et-rien-dautre/

PBP report by a German guy (near the front by the sound of it) up on The Radavist site. Notable at least for some Brits in a few photos (ACB in one (is that with Drew? I can't tell), the back of T0BY at the start in another, Damon in another). Also an excellent pair of moobs. ;D

Alexander Turner

  • Enough is plenty. Good enough will do.
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #60 on: 12 September, 2019, 09:37:54 pm »
Here's my report:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/blog/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-randonneur-2019

Good job on the write-up. I enjoyed reading it too. I like the summary piece in the end. A very well thought out account.   

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #61 on: 12 September, 2019, 11:11:41 pm »
https://theradavist.com/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-2019-exactement-cela-et-rien-dautre/

PBP report by a German guy (near the front by the sound of it) up on The Radavist site. Notable at least for some Brits in a few photos (ACB in one (is that with Drew? I can't tell), the back of T0BY at the start in another, Damon in another). Also an excellent pair of moobs. ;D

It's not me in the pictures, The best picture is of Richard Leon finishing on his 753 Dejouannet from 1983. which he did his best time on in 1995. His luggage is interesting.

A German friend told me that Fiona Kolbinger is part of a scene in Dresden with Bjorn Lenhard. I forget the name, but it ended with 'Spitze', which means 'Peak'. They ride off to the Alps at weekends for bikepacking adventures.

I'm a bit amused by the talk of the support afforded to RAAM riders, as I witnessed the support that Marko Baloh had, and while it was effective, it wasn't as impressive as people imagine.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #62 on: 13 September, 2019, 04:30:37 am »
It's not me in the pictures

Who's this chap then? (There's a 'View Gallery' button which brings up more pictures than used directly in the article).

JonB

  • Granny Ring ... Yes Please!
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #63 on: 13 September, 2019, 08:53:27 am »
(There's a 'View Gallery' button which brings up more pictures than used directly in the article).

Ah, now I can see the pictures ... that's the back of me in the ACB top at the finish along with Telbert James and Drew Buck looking on


Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #64 on: 13 September, 2019, 09:06:14 am »
Thanks for that Paul, I hadn't seen the additional gallery. It's useful, as I didn't know that Heather had made it onto the podium. I'd asked Jean-Pierre Chardon if she could, and been told no. I can now look through her footage for any views from there.

There's a funny story about the safety announcement from the podium. In 2011 and 2015 Heather got to see the script. The English was Google translated by the look of it. 'Do not drive to more both frontally' was one classic line in 2015.
https://youtu.be/78wr8UAJmpE

I was determined to ensure that the script was in English this time. So I showed them a section of my 2015 film on an ex-LEL laptop to show that the English was initially garbled, but got edited as the starts progressed. They were a bit puzzled, because they didn't have any safety announcement on file. After some consideration, it was decided to have one, and that the one from 2015 would be the template. So they typed the French from my 2015 video into Word, with gaps for the English, which I filled in from the evolved and edited 2015 text.

They added couple of instructions, one about not passing trucks and buses on the inside, and one from Velocio. I translated those and got Heather and Danial to proofread it. That's what was read out, although only the first few rows heard it, so I put the text on the unofficial Facebook PBP page.



There was a similar problem with the press accreditation. It seemed that there was a bit of a hole in some of the preparations, due to the changed arrangements from previous editions.

The controls largely run themselves, so I expected those to be much as before. In 2015 the tracking system had a blip when Fougeres went offline for a while, so I did wonder how that might have been tweaked.

We took the precaution of scoping out the start on Saturday evening. It had cleared enough for us to get a drone view of the area. I had thought of riding the start myself to get footage, but decided that the chance of something going wrong was too high. In 2015 I'd qualified, and was a paid-up participant. I also realised that I would immediately get dropped on the hill after the cobbled roundabout beyond the gates, so wouldn't get the shots of the lead car and motorbikes I wanted.

At some point I'll make a video, but it has to be informed by blogs and other accounts.

vorsprung

  • Opposites Attract
    • Audaxing
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #65 on: 13 September, 2019, 10:50:20 am »
Here's my report:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/blog/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-randonneur-2019
Quote
This was the first of many pieces of questionable cyclecraft I was to see throughout the event.
:)
nice writeup

Phil W

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #66 on: 13 September, 2019, 07:01:39 pm »

Alex B

  • Headwind specialist
    • Where is there an end of it?
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #67 on: 13 September, 2019, 08:01:03 pm »
Well done on finishing and good read. Loved your sunrise photo.

As per the credit it's Martin's photo. We both snapped it but his iPhone did a much better job than my Samsung Galaxy, which blew the highlights (even in HDR mode).

In general I find I hardly ever regret having stopped to take a photo, but I have many regrets for the interesting things I've seen on rides that I haven't photographed.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #68 on: 14 September, 2019, 12:22:59 pm »
Nice report here ( https://ridewithgps.com/ride_reports/4309-2019-paris-brest-paris )from an American rider - including mention of our own Laid Back Rich   :)
And in that report he references another:
"Brendan decided to head out into the night alone. We never saw him again. [Read Brendan's ride report here: https://ridewithgps.com/ride_reports/4311-paris-brest-paris]"

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #69 on: 15 September, 2019, 06:21:50 am »
Here's my report:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/blog/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-randonneur-2019

Really enjoyed your report Alex, the riders that can finish with 10, 20, 30+ hours to spare are interesting but they may as well come from another planet, the riders that graft out a finish are the ones that inspire me and give hope I could (maybe) do the same, thanks for sharing your journey.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #70 on: 15 September, 2019, 12:49:44 pm »
Its taken me a while, and its pretty long... here's my write up; www.diagonaliste.com/pbp2019/

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #71 on: 15 September, 2019, 05:36:27 pm »
Its taken me a while, and its pretty long... here's my write up; www.diagonaliste.com/pbp2019/
Enjoyed your narrative and the images. Hope your neck is (or quickly gets) better.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #72 on: 15 September, 2019, 05:49:58 pm »
Its taken me a while, and its pretty long... here's my write up; www.diagonaliste.com/pbp2019/
Enjoyed your narrative and the images. Hope your neck is (or quickly gets) better.

Thanks very much. Neck is OK now, but haven't stress tested it with rides of any distance yet.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #73 on: 15 September, 2019, 06:09:11 pm »
Here's my report:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/blog/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-randonneur-2019

"It is an almighty grind but eventually Rambouillet arrives and I turn into the grounds – only to find myself dodging camper vans, impatient cars and milling spectators on the approach road to the finish. ...  Finally it's a turn into the courtyard, a surprising circuit on a cobbled then loose surface, and past the timing device to get a time. 89h30m48s – cutting it finer than I'd planned.

After this there was some unseemly barging on the way to the bike park, as some riders were desperate to get a "time" stamped into their brevet card (maybe because their chip had malfunctioned, or maybe because they were unaware that the chip time had primacy). Unfortunately the end of the event had been chaotic. "

My experience exactly, except my Adrian Hands finish was entirely unintentional.


Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #74 on: 15 September, 2019, 11:09:44 pm »
Here's mine

Stephen

https://yorkbadger.wordpress.com/2019/09/07/pbp-2019/

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