Author Topic: PBP Blogs  (Read 32842 times)

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #75 on: 16 September, 2019, 10:12:24 am »
Hi YB, we rode together for a few miles and then sat at the cafe by the bridge at Ambrieres les Vallees.
You must have kept your foot on the gas to finish at 2 a.m. Well done.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #76 on: 16 September, 2019, 02:37:21 pm »
Here's mine

Stephen

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

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Nice, l like a bit of geology. The US/Korean will be Jason Ham, I've interviewed him a few times, but didn't see him this time. In 2015 he said that St Martin des Pres made him think that France was the coolest country on earth.
https://youtu.be/14cV1fi64MA?t=173

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #77 on: 16 September, 2019, 02:49:45 pm »
Here's my report:

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

Super super write up Alex, I really enjoyed reading that. Great to fill in the gaps between seeing you at beginning, at Brest and the end. Great ride with some serious hurdles - the descriptioin of the last leg was speically fine, you really caught the mental states very well.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #78 on: 16 September, 2019, 07:16:05 pm »
Here's my report:

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

Quote
In my role as a weather Cassandra...
Hilarious, never heard that term before.

Quote
My Garmin, which has been behaving itself all ride, now chooses this moment to pounce, announcing that it has no routable map it can use (it does! I loaded it myself! you $%!*! piece of *%&! – I thus channel Basil Fawlty)
Also hilarious, I think we've all been there!

I had forgotten about the riders who looked like they were lopsided and sitting on eggs, I saw a lot of them. Also, the write up highlights at the end how when the mind is relatively relaxed everything seems to be able to go OK, but when you realised your timing correction, the pressure was on and things started going against the grain.

Excellent write up Alex, really enjoyed reading it.


Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #79 on: 16 September, 2019, 08:05:36 pm »
On LEL he did a good job of persuading me Korea is pretty cool for cycling as well. Another great bit of film btw - the films do a great job of getting behind the scenes. Thanks for posting them.

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Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #80 on: 17 September, 2019, 10:10:33 am »
Jason forms part of my 'reconciliation through cycling' project. We touched on the DPRK in 2017. Other elements include the tensions in the former Yugoslavia, the Russia/Ukraine conflict, and the abiding mystery that is the PRC/Taiwan/Hong Kong.


Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #81 on: 17 September, 2019, 10:19:59 pm »
Hi

That was a welcome coffee that morning. Good to travel with you.  I just kept plodding along - a ploddeur as someone else coined it in another blog.

More generally I forgot to mention that I  created a table at the end of my blog setting out the numbers of riders by country and % finishers (derived from the PBP results unofficial website).  Might be of interest to folk.


Stephen

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Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #82 on: 19 September, 2019, 07:58:47 pm »
https://stravaddict.wordpress.com/pbp-2019/

It's very, very long but separated into five parts
#makewattsnotwar

rob

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #83 on: 19 September, 2019, 08:58:18 pm »
https://stravaddict.wordpress.com/pbp-2019/

It's very, very long but separated into five parts

You hinted you had had a tough one when I saw you at the finish.  It’s these rides where the stories are.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #84 on: 19 September, 2019, 09:48:15 pm »
Yes Rob. Tougher than expected but as fulfilling as any I've done. It's Bubbles' story really, we were the supporting cast, and she dug deep in the lead role. Not everybody pulls it off as you know.
#makewattsnotwar

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #85 on: 20 September, 2019, 06:36:53 am »
Yes Rob. Tougher than expected but as fulfilling as any I've done. It's Bubbles' story really, we were the supporting cast, and she dug deep in the lead role. Not everybody pulls it off as you know.

Great story, and like your writing style.

And indeed Bubbles is the heroin of the story. Nice to read how you guys makes the group dynamics work and allow for own speed/time at times whilst still fighting together with cut off times. Gives a nice insight for me to where the real performances of PBP lie people giving or have to give it their all to make the delays. Hard to imagine at times for those of use who cruise around with plenty of time to spare at the end and time to sleep and eat when they feel like it.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #86 on: 20 September, 2019, 09:11:29 am »
https://stravaddict.wordpress.com/pbp-2019/

It's very, very long but separated into five parts

One of our many problems is that we can't make much sense out of our material until we've read the write-ups. That's one reason we don't rush to do everything all at once.

I've offered round our better pictures to some of the national Audax mags. I do like to see stuff in print if that's possible, so that leads to an embargo. I actually like that, as it's easy to lose impact by competing in a crowded arena.


FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #87 on: 20 September, 2019, 10:39:53 am »
https://stravaddict.wordpress.com/pbp-2019/

It's very, very long but separated into five parts

One of our many problems is that we can't make much sense out of our material until we've read the write-ups.

I'm still trying to make sense of my memories...
Where was it you recorded andy telling the Laurence of Arabia?
I remember it being a long straight and flat road and suggesting to a danish rider it might not be ideal to blat through the gap between you.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #88 on: 20 September, 2019, 10:58:12 am »
https://stravaddict.wordpress.com/pbp-2019/

It's very, very long but separated into five parts

One of our many problems is that we can't make much sense out of our material until we've read the write-ups.

I'm still trying to make sense of my memories...
Where was it you recorded andy telling the Laurence of Arabia?
I remember it being a long straight and flat road and suggesting to a danish rider it might not be ideal to blat through the gap between you.

That was about here. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.3289501,-0.2233346,3a,75y,206.5h,66.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssF-Mqn-toQEhjIE1jwbMcA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&authuser=0

Andy likes to roll out the 'Tonight we sleep in Aqaba' line somewhere between 200 and 100km from home. He did it on the Mile Failte in 2014. It's usually on the bike, so the wind or engine noise makes it unusable. Some people like to rehearse soundbites, and I go along with that, as it gives them something to think about, now that GPS has made miles to km conversion less fun.

I did five sections on the bike, Sizun to the Roc and down the first big descent. Villaines to Le Hutte. Into St Meen le Grand at night. The finish at night, and a day finish. Some people thought I was on the ride, especially as I had my 2015 frame number.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #89 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:17:47 am »
Thanks.  :thumbsup:


I do the Miles to Km for fun on rides, I did it once on the ride out of Ouistream, then realized I didn't need to do it.
I started doing it the other way round at one point, it makes things seem less far.

I'm rubbish at recall so goading the bleak Northumberland landscape with Lachin-Y-Gair fails once I've tripped over the minions of luxury.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #90 on: 20 September, 2019, 11:22:57 pm »

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #91 on: 24 September, 2019, 06:31:58 am »
Part 2 - Possible the interesting bit: https://fifeingeejit.blogspot.com/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-1200-and-bit-more-13_20.html

Very thorough write up, interesting to read and learn of the differing strategies people use, and how the strategy changes through the ride.

The address of the the roadside crêpe stall in La Tannière is;
ROGUE Paul,
16, Rue de Bretagne,
LA TANNIERE
53220 - St Berthevin la Tanniere
France

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #92 on: 25 September, 2019, 09:04:55 pm »
Part 2 - Possible the interesting bit: https://fifeingeejit.blogspot.com/2019/09/paris-brest-paris-1200-and-bit-more-13_20.html

A great read!

The photo of me looks like I'm ready to nut you!
It wasn't meant to look like that!

Can I have a full-res copy of that photo for my personal record?

R.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #93 on: 26 September, 2019, 09:04:17 pm »
It's been terrific reading all the other versions, here is another one from near the back, trying to right the wrong of my dismal 2015 experience and getting it (mostly) about right.

https://audaxery.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/pbp-2019-ride-report/

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #94 on: 27 September, 2019, 06:44:52 am »
It's been terrific reading all the other versions, here is another one from near the back, trying to right the wrong of my dismal 2015 experience and getting it (mostly) about right.

https://audaxery.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/pbp-2019-ride-report/

Great write up Allen.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #95 on: 27 September, 2019, 12:02:25 pm »
It's been terrific reading all the other versions, here is another one from near the back, trying to right the wrong of my dismal 2015 experience and getting it (mostly) about right.

https://audaxery.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/pbp-2019-ride-report/

Very nice. I read the first third, and skimmed the rest, so it would make a nice three part article. The spelling of the place names is a bit variable. Spell-check always has trouble with stuff like coup and coop. I especially liked this bit.


Quote
There are the priceless moments. Walking into the Villanes control I am behind an epically tall, tanned and buff cyclist, one of those guys who could have been a part time model. A middle aged french woman behind the barrier issues an appreciative ‘oh la la!’. I look back at her and she smiles and gives a dirty cackle, poking her friend in the ribs. So that’s one of the reasons towns come out to watch cyclists… pure filth.

In 1999 I saw some local ladies hosing down a couple of fit-looking naked Danish riders in the bike park at Loudeac. They looked very happy. It was one of the vignettes that reminded me of 'Apocalypse Now'.

This section interested me.

Quote
A minute later I heard the woosh of a solid bank of riders coming up behind me and the unmistakeable lilt of Irish accents. Soon I was engulfed in a sea of Audex Eire riders, maybe close to twenty of them, and a good few hangers on at the back.

They were steaming along, near 30kph. Getting a jolt of energy from god only knows where, I jumped on the back and held on for grim death. The adrenelin kick was great, it felt like I was back in a race as a junior many many years ago doing that racing thing of pulsing hot and cold, measuring the effort needed to keep in the slip stream.

At the first sign of a hill someone near the back called out ‘Steady up’ and the pace instantly dropped to 20kph, then, when the road flattened again, someone would call something else out and off they would fly again.

They were working a system. A couple of monsters on the front who look like they could have ridden the whole thing at 40kph with some more ‘mature’ road captains making the calls at the back and between them a whole crew of young, old, men and women riding together.

It was kind of mental and wonderful all at once. I shamelessly took advantage and overheated massively in my down jacket, but the buzz was terrific. Perhaps it was just the sheer difference of it, after days now of plodding along at my pace, to be suddenly on a high pace.

I've got a series of interviews over three events with one of the key 'locomotives' in that group. He'd decided to have a 'sociable' ride, and really enjoyed it. I can see how the Celtic imagery on the shirt suggested 'Eire', but it's Audax Ireland, and they operate throughout the island of Ireland.

I boiled down my impressions of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 into this article. http://www.damonpeacock.com/paris-brest-paris.html

The 2015 film was more of an overview of the event, without the technical difficulties of filming on the bike.

In 2011 I wrote this.

Quote
I was making a film again this year, which is what a lot of this metaphysical musing is about. I don’t know what the film is about until I know what PBP is about. For a grumpy 52 year old like me it’s about faith in humanity redeemed. That might strike a chord with that big section of riders who are much like me. But it’s also about a communion with a rising generation of new riders, one which is as likely to come from China, Taiwan, Russia, Brazil or India as from anywhere nearer my home. This game is about long distances after all.

I wonder what the next PBP will be like? I’ll be a 56 year old bloke, will that be the biggest group?


I'm actually interested in PBP as a symptom of globalisation, the interaction between the image of cycling as 'eco friendly',  the act of middle-class people flying in for a specific event, and the changing nature of rural France. I did evolve a short explanation of that for the ex-pat Brits we met en-route.

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #96 on: 27 September, 2019, 01:17:59 pm »

[/quote]

I'm actually interested in PBP as a symptom of globalisation, the interaction between the image of cycling as 'eco friendly',  the act of middle-class people flying in for a specific event, and the changing nature of rural France. I did evolve a short explanation of that for the ex-pat Brits we met en-route.
[/quote]

Rural France looks like it's dying. It was striking the amount of small villages that looked dead. I know it was August but properties all shuttered up that clearly aren't occupied.  I understand the changing rural economy and the impact of tax/inheritance laws are having a big effect but as someone who has spent a lot of time in France over the years, it was striking to me.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #97 on: 27 September, 2019, 01:25:47 pm »
It's been terrific reading all the other versions, here is another one from near the back, trying to right the wrong of my dismal 2015 experience and getting it (mostly) about right.

https://audaxery.wordpress.com/2019/09/19/pbp-2019-ride-report/

Very nice. I read the first third, and skimmed the rest, so it would make a nice three part article. The spelling of the place names is a bit variable. Spell-check always has trouble with stuff like coup and coop. I especially liked this bit.


Quote
There are the priceless moments. Walking into the Villanes control I am behind an epically tall, tanned and buff cyclist, one of those guys who could have been a part time model. A middle aged french woman behind the barrier issues an appreciative ‘oh la la!’. I look back at her and she smiles and gives a dirty cackle, poking her friend in the ribs. So that’s one of the reasons towns come out to watch cyclists… pure filth.

In 1999 I saw some local ladies hosing down a couple of fit-looking naked Danish riders in the bike park at Loudeac. They looked very happy. It was one of the vignettes that reminded me of 'Apocalypse Now'.

This section interested me.

Quote
A minute later I heard the woosh of a solid bank of riders coming up behind me and the unmistakeable lilt of Irish accents. Soon I was engulfed in a sea of Audex Eire riders, maybe close to twenty of them, and a good few hangers on at the back.

They were steaming along, near 30kph. Getting a jolt of energy from god only knows where, I jumped on the back and held on for grim death. The adrenelin kick was great, it felt like I was back in a race as a junior many many years ago doing that racing thing of pulsing hot and cold, measuring the effort needed to keep in the slip stream.

At the first sign of a hill someone near the back called out ‘Steady up’ and the pace instantly dropped to 20kph, then, when the road flattened again, someone would call something else out and off they would fly again.

They were working a system. A couple of monsters on the front who look like they could have ridden the whole thing at 40kph with some more ‘mature’ road captains making the calls at the back and between them a whole crew of young, old, men and women riding together.

It was kind of mental and wonderful all at once. I shamelessly took advantage and overheated massively in my down jacket, but the buzz was terrific. Perhaps it was just the sheer difference of it, after days now of plodding along at my pace, to be suddenly on a high pace.

I've got a series of interviews over three events with one of the key 'locomotives' in that group. He'd decided to have a 'sociable' ride, and really enjoyed it. I can see how the Celtic imagery on the shirt suggested 'Eire', but it's Audax Ireland, and they operate throughout the island of Ireland.

I boiled down my impressions of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 into this article. http://www.damonpeacock.com/paris-brest-paris.html

The 2015 film was more of an overview of the event, without the technical difficulties of filming on the bike.

In 2011 I wrote this.

Quote
I was making a film again this year, which is what a lot of this metaphysical musing is about. I don’t know what the film is about until I know what PBP is about. For a grumpy 52 year old like me it’s about faith in humanity redeemed. That might strike a chord with that big section of riders who are much like me. But it’s also about a communion with a rising generation of new riders, one which is as likely to come from China, Taiwan, Russia, Brazil or India as from anywhere nearer my home. This game is about long distances after all.

I wonder what the next PBP will be like? I’ll be a 56 year old bloke, will that be the biggest group?


I'm actually interested in PBP as a symptom of globalisation, the interaction between the image of cycling as 'eco friendly',  the act of middle-class people flying in for a specific event, and the changing nature of rural France. I did evolve a short explanation of that for the ex-pat Brits we met en-route.

Thanks for reading. It is way too long, but mostly it's for me anyway and, to paraphrase someone famous, I didn't have time to write a short one. If you want elegant brevity then this will suit you more: https://audaxery.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/lel-the-uncertainty-principle/ I will probably do something like that for PBP once the dust settles in my mind a little more.

Also I think that my piece on failing PBP is probably better, and one on LEL is more interesting because it was more challenging personally... I guess after a while you see the patterns and it all becomes less OMG! The first time you enter hallunication land is compelling, the second a little less, and so on.

FWIW I think cycling and 'greeness' is mostly nonsense. IF you are really replacing a car then fine, but for most of us it's nothing like. The largest percentage of my car use is driving to Audaxes! Being a kiwi living London I am deeply familiar with trade offs between local and international travel, carbon footprint and so on - the ledger is not in my favour. The only compensation is that, being an endurance person, I will probably end up costing the NHS less.

Finally, a little rewrite -  For a grumpy 52 53 year old like me it’s about faith in humanity redeemed. I think we are on the same page there!

Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #98 on: 27 September, 2019, 02:22:47 pm »



Rural France looks like it's dying. It was striking the amount of small villages that looked dead. I know it was August but properties all shuttered up that clearly aren't occupied.  I understand the changing rural economy and the impact of tax/inheritance laws are having a big effect but as someone who has spent a lot of time in France over the years, it was striking to me.

Experience at PBP and Sem Fed since 1999 shows that the last things to go are the pharmacy, the hairdressers and the funeral directors. I did research St Martin des Pres in detail, as we planned to spend time there. http://www.linternaute.com/ville/saint-martin-des-pres/ville-22313

PBP gives a distorted view. If it was unsupported, the emphasis would be on the petrol stations and convenience stores that are just off the route. As in rural Britain, there are little by-pass roads where those facilities are concentrated, they don't tend to be in village centres.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: PBP Blogs
« Reply #99 on: 27 September, 2019, 02:40:53 pm »
In Google Street View Troarn looked dead.
I assumed the huge Carrefour on the edge of town had killed it off.

At 8am on a Thursday morning it seemed pretty dead too.
At 3pm on a Sunday it was very much alive.