Pre-registration, in particular the option to select a preferred start slot looms (only 'days' for the longer BRM 2018 randonneur).
I have extracted this advice from the 2015 brochure:
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/en/download/BROCHURE-GB.pdfVeteran: After many participations, you know all the nuts and bolts of long-distance riding. You know yourself perfectly, you adapt to changing circumstances and finish your ride without excessive fatigue. Of course, you will not read these lines, because you already know what you will do this time!
Your start: You have already experienced all options. Maybe you choose the 84-hour start and set off at 5h00, to be more relaxed.
Your ride schedule (starting at 5h00):
If you feel fine, you will try to ride until Brest without sleeping, and sometimes even until Fougères on the return. On the way out, you will make only short stops, 10 to 30 minutes. Your first overnight stop will be after 36 hours riding. At that point, you will have caught up with those of the 90-hour field who have stopped overnight between Loudéac and Brest. You will probably reach the finish line in the late afternoon of the third day. Your total time will be between 55 and 67 hours. Or, if you’re not feeling good, you will sleep 3 to 6 hours during the first night and then ride behind the bulk of the 90-hour field, avoiding queues and crowds and still be able to finish within 75 to 84 hours.
Hedonist: You are a strong rider. You have already ridden the Paris-Brest-Paris, maybe several times and sometimes very quickly. Today, you are still able to ride fast, but you will rely on your fitness and spend time talking with people on the road and at the checkpoints. You will make long overnight stops to fully enjoy the ride. You will avoid the crowds by staying ahead of most of the riders, then you will slow down and let them catch up with you. Eventually you will use all your allotted time to get to the finish.
Your start: In the first 90-hour waves, or in the last 80-hour waves.
Your ride schedule:
On the way out, you will make short stops (15 to 45 minutes) and a first overnight stop (5 to 7 hours) between Brest and Carhaix on the return. Then your stops will be a little longer (20 to 60 minutes) and you will have your second overnight stop between Fougères and Mortagne, in order to finish in the evening, in under 80 hours. Or if you have chosen the 90-hour option, you will have a little less sleep on the way out. You will have a third overnight stop between Villaines-la-Juhel and Dreux and finish next day around noon, at relaxed pace.
Contemplative:You ride relatively slowly, but steadily. No doubt that you will choose the 90-hour option, to make the most of this beautiful randonnée. You want to enjoy the scenery, to talk with people and socialize. Paris-Brest-Paris is a long journey that will enrich you. You just need to ensure a safety margin to make sure you don’t run out of time but sometimes, you will forget this safety margin!
Your start:
You choose the 90-hour option and preferably start in the last waves, so you can watch the first waves taking off. This will also allow you to finish in the mid-afternoon on the last day. If you start at 20:00, you will perhaps be back at 14:00 on the last day.
Your ride schedule:
Depending on your average speed, you will spend from 15 to 45 minutes at the checkpoints and other rest places. You will try to have a first overnight stop between Tinténiac and Carhaix, and a second overnight stop between Carhaix and Tinténiac on the return. Your naps may have to be quite short, because you must make up for all the time spent off the bike. You will try to have a third overnight stop in Mortagne-au-Perche or Dreux, in order to enjoy the last stage to its fullest.
Athlete:You enter PBP with the personal ambition to set a good time.
Although the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur is not a race (you may find difficult to accept that it is not !), you want to push your limits and achieve a ‘personal best’.
Alone or with some friend, you will join high-paced groups in order to progress faster, without being averse to long solo riding when necessary. You will spend very little time off the bike.
Your start: You choose the 80-Hour option and preferably start in the first waves. If you feel that you will not be able to follow the hectic pace of the first waves, you will strategically start the next day at 5h00 (84-hour option), so you will still be riding in strong groups and pass the checkpoints at off-peak times until Loudéac.
Your ride schedule:
You will have very short stops on the way out (5 to 15 minutes), just enough time to get your card stamped and grab some food that you will eat on the road. You will sleep as little as your strength will allow, and maybe you will not sleep at all. Most of your fellow riders will sleep from 30 minutes to 4 hours on their way back, between Brest and Fougères. On the return, your stops will be 10 to 30 minutes, with perhaps a second sleep stop between Villaines-la-Juhel and Mortagne-au-Perche. You must arrive no later than midnight if you started at 16:00.
Perseverant:You know that you are a slow rider, perhaps too slow... but you also know that you can finish, come what may. Your friends and family will support you, they will follow your progress. You will achieve your personal challenge, even if it takes 89h59. You will experience hard times, but you will find the physical and mental strength to go further. If you ride at an average speed of 18 km/h (11.2 mph), you can stop 12 hours overall... which is not much indeed, and you will have to minimize the time off the bike in order to make up for your relatively slow speed. But you will finish!
Your start:
You choose the 90-hour option and preferably start in the last waves, in order to benefit from maximum daylight on the last day. Or, if you want to ride with groups sometimes, you might choose the first waves, but make sure to pace yourself.
Your ride schedule: Your average speed will determine the length of your stops. You will try to sleep in Loudéac or nearby.