PBP Audax, not PBP Randonneur

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Just say you'll be picking up some cheap wine...

HK and I are likely to enter the second session (early August), along with most of the Anglophones who've expressed interest in PBP Audax.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

HK and I will be riding the second session of PBP Audax, organised by the UAF and leaving St Quentin-en-Yvelines at 10 pm on Sunday evening.  The route is slightly shorter and flatter than PBP Randonneur, a variation on the traditional route used by both PBPs before 1979.  The first PBP Audax session of 2011 was held in July and had 7 DNFs from 102 starters.  Pelotons/sessions are limited to manageable sizes.

HK will be one of the 'capitaine de la route', riding at the head of the peloton and responsible for the group maintaining the ride schedule.  AFAIK, she is one of few female UAF peloton leaders and the first AUK appointed as a PBP Audax leader.  A few Brits have ridden PBP Audax in the years since it was first held in 1931 (in parallel with the first PBP Randonneur) but I don't think any GB ladies have done so.  Several estrangers will be taking part in this session, including a few others of this parish.  Several of us will also be lining up for PBP Randonneur a fortnight later.

HK is aiming to do the Twitter thing during PBP Audax and PBP Randonneur and the updates should be visible on HK's blog, http://judithswallow.wordpress.com/

[frankly frankie]

Very good - that's definitely a feather in her cap.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Both finished, along with AUK's Jan Eric Jensen. Not the easiest long brevet, time for a nap.

[Fidgetbuzz]

Well done - chapeau indeed

[IbisTouche]

Dorte & I dropped out on our new tandem after a blast on the rear tyre: Continental Gatorskin 28 mm on 18-622 rim, had opened the sidewall. We didn´t have any extra tyre... No matter: after having givin up, we discovered that the front tyre was about to go in the same side. We only rode for 175 km, through the first night with rain and small towns with holes in the tarmac surface: this last thing I think might be a reason for the faillures. Nice people anyway. But we had expected to ride more... We don't buy more Gatorskin!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Oh that is terrible. You two were going so well in the group, we couldn't work out why we didn't see you after a while.

A folding tyre is a good insurance policy but I've never taken two folding tyres as spares. I wouldn't trust a tyre 'boot' for any significant distance with a tandem.

[Assasin]

32 mm Panracer Paesala's work for me on the tandem
I gave up with continental tyres years ago as they split at the sidewall.....................
Something with a more robust casing is better
Performance difference is negligible

[IbisTouche]

We have been using 32 mm Panaracer Tourgard on one of our Ibis Touches - 35 mm on the other, which now have Schwalbe Supreme 32 mm on. On the Speedster we wished something more sporty, racy and faster and went with the Gatorskin 28 mm as delivered on the standard Speedster. All said that the standard was very good to brevets and PBP. I now see that our experiences from the other year was the right: 32 and 35 mm is our way. The rims are probably to narrow (Velocity Dyad are 18 mm inside and 24 mm outside), so we have to find a new rim for the future if we go with 32 and 35 mm tyres.

Talked to Dave from SJS cycles. I asked if we could use the Panaracer Pasella Tourgard 28 mm tires from our Thorn Audax mk III. That should be OK Also asked if we could use the Panaracer RIbmo 32 mm I have. He said it could be done without too high a pressure, but Velocity seem to specify the Dyad rim to tyres between 20 and 28 mm.

So now we discuss if we are going to use Pasella 28 mm or RIBMO 32 mm on the speedster on PBP Rando.


Regards,
Carsten & Dorte

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I think that matching tyre/rim widths is overstated. MTBs have tyres massively wider than their rims. I remember using 2" tyres on cut-down Mavic road rims on 1990s MTBs. I've racked up a lot of miles over the years on my early Cannondale tandem with Velocity Aero rims (narrow) with tyres from 23 mm to 35 mm (mostly Paselas).

[border-rider]

You can certainly run 32 Panaracers on a narrow rim like an Open Pro. My PBP bike has just that.

I used 35s in 2003 & 2007, but you do have to watch the pressure with those.

[IbisTouche]

Do you think it could have had an impact, that we were riding in the peloton (captain guided Audax) and not individually like we could have done in PBP rando ? Would we have been able to navigate better around obstacles?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Definitely. When riding in a group, you have much less freedom about where on the road you can ride and how much last-minute avoidance of obstacles you can do without adversely affecting others.

That said, there will be tandems pacelining out of Paris on Sunday night.

[Assasin]

And My crew will be off the back at the first RAB!

[IbisTouche]

We wonder what you mean with RAB?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Roundabout = traffic circle

[LittleWheelsandBig]

PBP Audax (UAF) has traditionally been held every five years (2011, 2016), while PBP Randonneur (ACP) has been every four years (2011, 2015, 2019). The latest FFCT magazine mentions that the UAF is swapping to every four years, so the next PBP Audax will be in 2020, probably in June/ July. Time to start planning next year's big rides!
https://twitter.com/LWandB/status/1140349710013743107/photo/1

[T42]

It's quite an experience - very different from PBP Randonneur.



IRC we were about 180 on the road in 2006.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I think they will limit each peloton to 120 as it is too difficult to find sufficient hotels and restaurants along the route that can cope with more riders simultaneously and splitting a group between multiple hotels/ restaurants doesn't work very well. They may do a couple of start dates if there are lots of entrants early on.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

It used to be uncommon to ride both PBP Audax and PBP Randonneur in the same year (first done in 1971, HK and I were amongst the few in 2011) but it looks like that combination will never happen again.

[T42]

They only coincided every 20 years, so maybe they're protecting the UAF of 2031 from the ACP version pinching their potential entrants. OTOH as I remember the UAF is ageing: a couple of years back the average age of committee members was 66, so it might no longer exist by then.

ETA come to that, the FFCT is flailing a bit in its old age, e.g. changing its name after several geological eons of existence.  Mind you, every so often the FFC has a natter with the Ministry of Sport, Youth, Truth and Organic Yogurt and waltzes home with responsibility for cycle touring added to its remit, at which point the FFCT puts its false teeth in and hisses until it gets it back again, only slightly soiled.

[oggy]

if some one wanted to ride PBP audax what how do they enter and what are the qualification requirements

[LittleWheelsandBig]

To get the full details, just email the UAF Cycling President Jean-Michel Vincelot, who speaks excellent English. At the beginning of 2020, the UAF website will have a webpage giving preliminary details and dates for 'expressing interest' and entry dates (which may be earlier than you expect). Long UAF brevets can't be entered at the last minute because of the logistics of booking food and hotels.

French UAFers have to do qualifying UAF brevets (up to 400km?) but not many countries run long UAF brevets so practicality is the word. Foreigners just have to show that they are capable of finishing a long brevet, so a 400(+) BRM done that year or a PBP Randonneur finish or a previous year's Super Randonneur series would all count. Give them a good reason to think that you'd get round and your entry would be accepted. The perfect UAF brevet would have every rider at the start getting to the finish and exclaiming how good the food, wine and weather was.