{"id":1055,"date":"2019-09-17T10:38:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T14:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.randonneursontario.ca\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2019-09-17T10:40:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T14:40:53","slug":"paris-brest-paris-2019-ride-report-by-charles-horslin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.randonneursontario.ca\/?p=1055","title":{"rendered":"Paris-Brest-Paris 2019, Ride Report by Charles Horslin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I’d first heard about PBP way back in 2011 or thereabouts, but didn’t complete my first brevet until 2015… I tried to do a whole series that year and thought if I could do that I’d try PBP then. I had to abandon my first 600K in 2015 due to poor fit causing leg issues. This probably turned out to be a good thing since I would go on to finish a 600K in 2016, and then I did the Ontario 1200K (The Granite Anvil). In 2018 I did the Ottawa Devil\u2019s Week (kinda hilly!) and went on to try the Cascades 1200 in Washington State but I had to DNF as I thought I\u2019d hurt my Achilles tendon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 I started Devil\u2019s week but chose to skip the 400K\nsince it was similar to the 300K and had just as miserable weather. Then I\nDNF’d my first 600K due to some painful saddle sores that had started from\nriding in the rain and afterward I was thinking about abandoning my\nregistration and skipping this whole thing… it turned out that it had been a\nbit of a rocky road to get to PBP 2019 but I managed to finish a different 600K.\nI decided to do an additional 600K and a 1000K brevet in early August before\ngoing to PBP. Thankfully the DNF earlier in the season probably helped build my\nresolve and strength. I felt confident in my training and had worked out all my\nissues with bike fit and saddle sores. I bought a nice pair of castelli rain\npants to avoid riding with wet shorts… so naturally I didn\u2019t get any rain on\nPBP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I booked a direct flight on Air Transat and put my bike in a\nplastic bag since I didn\u2019t have any place to store a bike box and I was\nthinking of riding right from the airport across Paris. When I landed it was\novercast so I unpacked my bike and took a train into central France and rode\nthe 35km to my hotel, passing the Louvre and the Eifel tower along the way. I also\nrode through Versailles and saw the palace but didn\u2019t stop to see anything\nelse. I was surprised at how hilly it was getting to my hotel in Montigny-le-Bretonneux.\nMy hotel was a 20 minute walk from a huge grocery store in the town of\nSaint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, otherwise there was nothing else around. There were\nother cyclists staying there, including a fellow Ontario rider! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start for PBP had been at the French National velodrome\nin Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines but they moved it farther out of the Paris Metro\narea to a place called Rambouillet which is the home of the national sheep\nfarm. This town was also part of the Tour de France this year so they left all\nthe bike decorations up for us! Thankfully this was the last town on the\nsuburban trains coming from Paris so it was easy to get to. I remember people\nonline saying the trains would be overflowing but there was plenty of room for\neveryone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bike check\/registration happened on the Saturday before\nthe ride start (three possible time choices: 90, 84 & 80h) The 90\/80 hour\ngroups all started on Sunday evening and 84h groups left on Monday morning. 84h\nbike check\/reg was also on Sunday. Saturday was really rainy so I chose to take\nthe train to the bike check instead of riding as I’d originally planned… I\nstill ended up standing around in the rain for an hour or so as it chaotic\ndespite having signed up for a bike check time. I missed the Canadian\/Ontario\nriders photo so I just got my packet and left town after dropping off my bags\nfor a drop bag service that would provide me clean clothes along the route\ninstead of having to carry all my changes of clothes. I also threw a bunch of\ngranola bars in the dropbags so I could have something besides baguettes to eat\non the route. I had worried about finding enough vegan stuff to eat as French\nfood is very meat-centric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike most brevets, this one doesn’t require the use of a\nGPS track or a cue sheet since the route is well signed in most places. I had\nthe tracks loaded as I found them useful at night time to alert me to turns and\nto figure out how far the next control was. They were also useful for riding in\nthe heavy fog we encountered during the first two nights as I could at least\nhave an idea of which way the roads were turning, visibility was probably only\n50m or so. I remember feeling really alone during the second night\/third\nmorning when the fog was thickest for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The weather on the ride was favourable, though I had been training in hotter weather so I found the cold a bit much, I had enough gear with me to be able to adapt to the range of 3-30C temperatures that we encountered. The fog that we rode through was really thick so it soaked every surface with water. There was a headwind on the way out to Brest, thankfully it was not a strong one but it was constant so it did grind me down a little more than I’d have liked. It was almost a perfect westerly wind so the route offered little relief from it. The weather on the return leg was even better without any real winds, rain, or fog on the last night it made for very pleasant riding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people commented that it was a mistake to do a 1000K only two weeks before but I didn’t really notice any problems from it and it allowed me to completely test my bike setup as well as make sure the new cables and stuff all worked perfectly. I had no flats or any other bike troubles to speak of… I did have to turn the barrel adjusters on my front shifter a few times but otherwise it the bike was mechanically flawless. Every control also had a professional mechanic on duty 24h a day which is comforting to know. Tubes, tires and other stuff is for sale at the controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nutrition along the route is available at the controls,\nwhich are typically in schools or other community centres. Each control is run\nby a local cycling club so the food varied a little bit but I could count on\nplain pasta, baguettes, coke, fruit, coffee, veggies, and sometimes other\ntreats. Vegetarians would have an easier time since there is basically butter\nor eggs in every French baked good. They sold beer and wine at the controls as\nwell yogourts and other things. Many times there were fruit cups or apple\nsauce. Some controls had veggie sauce but a lot of times it had meat in it or\nthere was a heavy cream sauce. Others told me the sauces were a bit bland but I\nthink that’s probably on purpose so folks don’t get too much tummy trouble from\nspices and whatnot. I worried too much about finding food and could have relied\nalmost completely on baguettes but the granola bars I packed were a nice change\nof pace. Next time I go I\u2019ll make a point of stopping at the grocery stores to\nget some vegan cheese since that\u2019s a thing in France too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The control points also have a gymnasium or other room full\nof cots or mats for sleeping. There is small fee charged for this service and\nthey don’t provide ear plugs or anything. I hadn’t had good experiences trying\nto sleep in a similar setup in 2018 so I reserved an airbnb in Loudeac for two\nnights so I could have my own shower and bed. I didn’t get great sleep either\nnight but it was nice to be clean and rest in the quiet for a few hours each\nnight. I had figured if I needed more sleep on the third night I would be tired\nenough to sleep at a control and I did so in Mortagne-au-Perche where I got the\nbest 90 minutes of sleep I had during the entire ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many riders bring “space blankets” and just sleep\non the side of the road but that doesn’t appeal to me… though I did stop and\nsleep on a nice wooden bench for 20 minutes a few hours after I left Loudeac on\nthe return leg as I was feeling really tired and wasn\u2019t making much progress. I\nsaw many riders weaving and bobbing as they had long past the point of\nexhaustion… I didn\u2019t want to crash or get too wobbly so it was time. The\ndifference I felt after the 20 minute nap was remarkable and I was able to ride\nabove a 20km\/h after this where before I was struggling to keep a 15km\/h going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The countryside in Brittany is pretty hilly, though the\ngrades are pretty gentle and the climbs tend to be long so it isn’t difficult\nclimbing but I required discipline to keep the intensity in check. I also took\nadvantage of my hefty stature to enjoy fast descents that usually followed\nevery climb. At night one would reach the top of a climb and turn a corner only\nto see a long line of taillights slowly snaking up the next climb a few km\naway! The only real sections of flatter terrain were the ~100km close to the\nstart\/finish, especially the last leg from Dreux to Rambouillet seemed\nespecially flat to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The diversity of riders on this ride cannot be compared to anything I’ve ever seen before… people from all over the world come to this ride and this year was the biggest field they’ve ever had. I had the pleasure of riding with people from many different countries and on all sorts of bikes. I saw fat bikes, tandems, recumbents, velo-mobiles, folding bikes and plenty of very sweet road bikes. There were fixed gear riders and folks on classic rigs from all time periods. Some people were riding the bikes on hybrids and carrying knap-sacks. I know people finished on all kinds of bikes so pretty much anything human-powered with a transmission can used for randonneuring. In 2015 there was one dude that finished PBP on a kickbike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the scenery on the ride was very pretty though it\nwas a bit repetitive at times… every town seemed to have a church on a\nhilltop and some winding roads going to it. There were lots of beautiful roads\nthough and unlike southern Ontario very few of them went in straight lines for\nvery long. Fields of corn and bales of hay were common sights outside of the\ncities. My favourite part of the ride for scenery is between Carhaix and Brest,\nwhere there is climbing up to the Roc’h Trevezel, one of the higher points in Brittany.\nThe climb wasn’t steep in places but it was fairly similar to climbing up\nHockley Valley in Ontario; though it was a bit longer and climbed higher, the\ngrades were never extreme. The views were more expansive than Ontario too; it\nwasn\u2019t very humid so visibility was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My ride started at 18:45 and we got our stamps and were out\nof the gates going like bats out of hell. The excitement and adrenaline of the\nmass starts as well as the strong groups made it difficult not to ride a bit on\nthe hard side during the first 100km as everyone bounced and jostled between\nthe big groups. Things settled down after the sun went down and the first stop at\nMortagne-au-Perche, 117km into the ride. This wasn’t an official control so one\ndidn’t need to stop but I chose to stop and eat something since I was hungry\nand wasn’t going to make the next ~100km on granola bars alone. Cokes, pasta\nand some bread filled me up and there was some fruit salad and other goodies I\nate here. I hadn\u2019t expected to find any food or water before this point but did\nsnag a baguette from some people selling pop and sandwiches in a village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first official control, at Villaines-la-Juhel was busy\nas many people were eating and sleeping. I didn’t know there was a separate\ncafeteria at this control so I ate at the quick-food line and had some baguettes,\na bol de cafe and coca (Slang for coca-cola in France). I was kind of tired so\nI spent a bit more time than I’d have liked at this stop but given the 90h time\nlimit I wasn’t worried about the control times at this point in the ride… next\ntime I might try and build up a bigger cushion for sleeping now that I\u2019ve done\nthis once. This control also had enough rental toilets so there wasn\u2019t a wait\nto use them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next control, at 306km, was Foug\u00e8res and I had a drop\nbag at this stop. I needed to stop and get my change of clothes to carry with\nme to my airbnb in Loudeac. I had rode passed the drop bag stop and thus had to\nbacktrack a few km to find it. I probably wasted an hour screwing around here\nand in hindsight it might have been better to just have one drop in Loudeac but\nI’d heard too many bad reviews about the American company that ran that\nservice. Other countries seem to run their own drop-bag service but that\nrequires a lot effort as well renting a truck and having a driver so I can\u2019t\nsee anyone doing it for the 50 Canadians that might use it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loudeac was at ~450km and I spent a lot longer getting there\nthan I’d hoped but I made it to my airbnb by 9pm, and even had time before that\nto stop and get a vegan pizza at dominos. Across the street from the control\nwas a brasserie that I walked into since I though the sign also said\nrestaurant, but the bartender said they didn’t have food and he was the one\nthat pointed me in the direction of the pizza. Another patron at the bar saw\nthe Canadian flag and bought me a “demi” of 1664 and they chatted\nwith me, asking about the ride and what I thought of France so far… the\nbartender complimented my French and the guy that bought my pint quipped that\nmy French was better than his English and everyone got a good chuckle out of\nthat. I had so many little encounters like this one along the way, speaking\nenough French to converse with people really helped me at controls and being\nable to chat with folks was such a boost to my spirits! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My interactions with the French people in the controls, at\nstores and along the route were definitely the highlights of the ride for me. I\nhad planned to stop and enjoy the roadside offerings whenever I could and I\nended up spending a lot of time chatting with people along the way. My French\nisn’t that great since I’ve been out of school for over 20 years but it started\nto come back and I could have basic conversations about where I was from and\nhow much people’s support meant to me. I have some postcards to send now as\nsome folks wouldn’t take money or donations and only asked for a postcard in\nreturn for the coffee and treats offered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Loudeac I slept, showered and went back to the control\nfor more food for “breakfast” at 3am and ended up running into Dick\nFelton who started at the same time I did. He was cold and had been riding\nthrough the night… pretty sure he needed the breakfast as much if not more\nthan me! We parted ways after that and unfortunately he would later abandon the\nride… I’m sad he abandoned as he was a great encouragement for me to get to\nParis as we did two 600K rides together… but I was also glad, in a way, he\nchose to abandon; in 2015 he fell asleep on the bike and broke some ribs…\nstill finished the ride but was really lucky he didn’t have worse injuries! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ride from Loudeac to Carhaix was probably the lowest\npoint for my morale, the thick fog had appeared and I was soaked from\ncondensation. My jacket was no longer water resistant in way whatsoever.  My average speed was dropping like a rock and\nI was starting to shiver as well… I thought about quitting here but there’s\nnot really any place to go except the next control or the previous one… due\nto the sleep stop, extra time spent eating, and the slow pace leaving Loudeac I\nwas worried about the next control\u2019s closing time and decided the only way to\nget warm was to work harder. I started going much harder (but still relatively\nslow) up the hills and would pedal through the descents instead of just tucking\nand coasting as I had been. An hour or so of this I was starting to feel\nwarmer. I had made up most of the lost time, though I was still a bit late\ncoming into what turned out to be a secret control (it was listed as a food\nstop) so I got some quick food and used the can, and set off for Carhaix trying\nto make up more time. The twilight of dawn had started to appear and I was\ngetting quite close to Carhaix so I would be okay for closing time but I didn’t\nlet up the pace as it was still quite cold. I know Canadians are supposed to be\nused to the cold but I spent most of the summer anticipating a 35-40\u00b0 heatwave\nand did a lot of riding in the heat. The lowest temperature I saw on this\nstretch was around 4C, much chillier than forecast on the French weather\nservice, but they only gave temperatures for the larger towns so of course the\ncountryside would be a bit cooler… the clear skies meant that cold air from\nhigher altitudes just fell right to the ground at night and would only start\nrising again once the sun had been out for a while. As has been my experience\non other overnight rides, the appearance of the sun really drives away the\nsleepiness and I would soon awaken completely and feel generally quite good as\nlong there was some sunshine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I left Carhaix I ended up riding with a group from\nSouthern France, Cyclo Club Mornac Seudre. I had a hard time understanding\ntheir French as their accent was a bit different than the standard Parisien one\nthey taught us in school (Why we didn\u2019t learn in a more Qu\u00e9becois accent is beyond\nme) . They weren’t riding in a very tight group or rotated in a paceline, but\nit was a bit more organized than most of the “blobs” I encountered on\nthe road so I stuck with them until Brest. They had some strong riders and I\ndid some turns at the front too. I think they appreciated that I tried to talk\nto them in French and that I helped out a bit, especially on the descents…\nthere was another big guy in their group that was taller than me so we’d lead\nthe charge on the downhills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming into Brest the ride goes over the older bridge beside\nthe highway bridge, and it’s a cable-stayed bridge so it’s kind of scenic. I\nstopped for some photos here and lost the guys from Mornac Seudre. The streets\nin Brest were busy as it’s a bigger city and a busy industrial port as well.\nThe route doesn\u2019t quite get down to sea level but it was pretty close! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way back out of Brest I’d run into two riders from Ottawa\nand we rode together back up the Roc’h Trevezel, with JungAh leading the\ncharge… she’s a very strong rider and was pulling not only me and Peter but\nsometimes a few others up the hill. I helped out a bit when I could and told\nher to hang on once we reached the top but she couldn’t keep up the 70k\/h I was\nprobably going down the big descents, and Peter was starting to feel sick at\nthis point… when we reached the control in Carhaix we ended up splitting up\nat this point but would continue bumping into each other on the way back to\nParis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ended up bouncing around between groups and solo riding on\nthe way back to Loudeac and my airbnb. This time I didn’t get any pizza but I\nhad a bunch of food with me so I quickly got a stamp and headed off to my\nairbnb. Unfortunately I got a bit lost trying to find it and wasted a bit of\ntime riding around town. I got another 3 hours of low quality sleep but I\nappreciated the warm shower almost as much as the quiet. I returned to the\ncontrol for some warm breakfast before leaving town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next official stop was a food\/support control at 843km\ncalled Qu\u00e9dillac. I didn’t stop here on the way out but since it was another\ncold morning and I was feeling sluggish I decided to stop and get some warm\nfood. I had a tough slog getting there and even made a wrong turn and did 1.5km\nof bonus work. Another rider followed me and I managed to communicate the fact\nwe were off-course to him despite no common language. Another rider blew past\nus going the wrong way and ignored both of us yelling in whatever languages we\nknew… they’d realize eventually after a few km of not seeing any riders…hopefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was very close to the cutoff time getting into Tint\u00e9niac\nbut I didn’t care… my attitude was to keep riding and they could take my\ncontrol card from me if I was heading into hors delais territory. I don’t think\nthey do take people’s card unless you are clearly incapacitated or do something\nso outrageous that you’re DQ’d on the spot. I don’t remember much of the ride\nto Tint\u00e9niac but it was morning on the 21st and warming up nicely. There were\nsometimes palm trees growing in the towns and people’s front yards… I\u2019d seen\nthem on the way out and meant to stop and take pictures but I didn\u2019t want to\nslow my roll.  Also along this stretch\nwas a village set up with massive grills cooking sausage gallettes which did\nkind of smell good and gross at the same time. I did convince them to hook me\nup with a baguette and coffee though, I explained I couldn’t eat greasy foods\non the ride and they understood. I told the guy I’d get enough fat after the\nride and he seemed pleased at that approach to recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foug\u00e8res was the next stop at 923km and I was starting to\nfeel that finishing under 90 hours was a real possibility. I felt strong at\nthis point and was loving the ride. I’d been leapfrogging some of the other\nHuron Chapter riders for the entire ride but they’d started 45 minutes ahead of\nme so it was usually just arriving at a control as they were leaving but we\nhooked up in Foug\u00e8res. They had a registered support vehicle and I sat with\nthem on the roadside for a bit, shared a beer with them and then set off for my\ndropbag. I decided to get some food from the grocery store before leaving town\nas I wanted something a bit different and got lucky and found some vegan cheese\nslices. They were top-notch stuff and made the baguettes at the next control very\ntasty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving Foug\u00e8res there was a nice long climb and the\nafternoon was getting quite warm, probably around 28C. I do like the heat and\nwas feeling great going up this hill. I hooked back up with Brenda from Windsor\nas we rode together toward Villaines-la-Juhel. It was along this stretch that\nher husband told her he was going to abandon as the sleep deprivation and a\nmechanical were just too much to handle. It’s tough to have your partner\nabandon but Brenda is a strong rider and I wasn’t worried that she wouldn’t\nfinish, I’d just hoped to be able to ride with her for a bit longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was along this stretch that I also met up with Bob\nKassel, the guy I rode the granite anvil 1200K with. We did that together since\nit was the pre-ride and we were the only ones. Needless to say we get along\nwell and had a lot of fun trading jokes and barbs as well as catching up and\nchatting. I had done a fair bit of solo riding during this ride so it was\nreally nice to have people to talk to! I think my jaw was a bit sore from\nflapping my mouth for so long! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenda decided to try and get a bit of sleep in\nVillaines-la-Juhel, 1012km into the ride, and I ate in the quick-food section\nbut was still hungry so I wandered outside and ran into Carey from the Huron\nChapter. We decided to get some food together and found our way to the\nrestaurant section. This is the control that has young children volunteering to\ncarry your tray to the table for you so that’s pretty cool. I also had some\nmore beer here… I usually don’t drink but this was a sign in French for\n\u201clocal draught beer\u201d so I had to try it… dunno what kind it was but it was a\nlot better than 1664 or Heineken that they were selling in cans. I ate a ton of\nfood here and they had a full veggie meal that included real ratatouille as\nwell as some other veggies and pasta. I also had another \u201cbi\u00e8re locale\u201d before\nfinishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evening was coming as we set out to Mortagne-au-Perche at\n1097km. We had a good couple hours riding with some other folks and ran into a\nreally nice rider from the San Fran area and we stuck together for a long\nwhile. Unfortunately I lost Brenda and Stacy before making it to\nMortagne-au-Perche, as the climbs and cold were starting to take a bit of a\ntoll on me and my useless jacket. I knew that I would need to sleep if I wanted\nto finish the ride so I found the sleeping area after getting my stamp, some\nfood, and using the can at the control point. For 3 euro I got a mat in a dark\ngym and an old wool blanket. I had a bag of dirty kit from changing in\nVillaines-la-Juhel so that made a fine pillow and I was able to let my other useless\njacket dry out a bunch while I got 90 minutes of amazingly deep sleep. I had\nbrought earplugs with me which was great as there was a giant man snoring\nbeside me that was as loud as a chainsaw. I kept pushing the earplugs in until\nI couldn\u2019t hear him and wasn\u2019t more than a few minutes drifting off.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ride from Mortagne-au-Perche to the last control of\nDreux wasn’t too bad, the hills were starting to flatten out a little bit and\nwe’d descend more than we’d climb along this stretch. The sunrise was welcome\nduring this time and I once again felt alive basking in its warmth. Most riders\nwere half zombie by this point and it was dangerous to follow too closely…\nmany people couldn’t hold a line and people would just stop in the middle of\nthe road too. Big blobs of riders would coalesce behind anyone doing a decent\npace so I ended up with a few followers but no one wanted to work together so I\njust did my best to stay away from others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Cr\u00e9cy-Couve, on the way to Dreux, I got surrounded by a\n“blob” as we entered town and there was street furniture along the\nedge of the road. I tried to signal those behind to move over to the centre but\none guy whipped around the first flower box and then rode straight into the\nnext one. He looked like he landed right on his head and I was worried for him\nbut he insisted he was fine and got back up and rode on. He ended up passing me\na few km later as I stopped to get out of the giant blob after that crash. It\nwasn’t much farther along this stretch that I came upon a couple ambulances,\nthe gendarmerie, paramedics, and\nsome other people were attending to a rider lying in the ditch. I have to say I\nbecame a bit emotional seeing this, realizing it could have easily been me. I\ndon’t know if a car hit him or what happened, since there was a car parked\naskew on the road. I didn’t stop to gawk or take photos (that\u2019s a trashy thing\nto do), and didn’t want to pester the emergency workers with questions so I\nrode on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The control in Dreux was mostly empty and also running low\non food! I waited for some baguettes to be baked and got some cokes and coffee.\nI was only 30 minutes or so at this control but I did run into Guy from Ottawa\nhere and he was worried about finishing but I tried to be encouraging and told\nhim he was a strong rider and shouldn’t have any problems… plus it was mostly\nflat Dreux. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a big climb leaving Dreux but after that the ride felt\npancake flat after all the hills I\u2019d climbed by this point. I had until 12:45\nto finish in under 90h and I left the control around 9:45 so I had three hours\nto cover 43km or so. The last leg had been changed a few days before the start\ndue to unexpected construction so many people didn’t have a GPS track but the\narrows along this stretch and the long line of riders made it easy to find the\nway. Dave Thompson had shared a gps track with turn-by-turns of this new\nsection so I was prepared for this and didn\u2019t have to worry about getting lost.\nI was feeling so good at this point since I knew I’d make it to the end under\nthe time limit. I used this positive energy and set a decent pace for the last\nleg, averaging close to 25km\/h, which was pretty quick for having ~1170km in\nthe legs… I passed many people and heard one guy say to his buddy that nobody\nshould have form that good after riding that far! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting into Rambouillet we came a slightly different way than we left so it was all new scenery except the last 3km. Most of the route went through some forests, including the “Domaine de la Butte Ronde” like a child I snickered, even though I know butte just means hill, not bum. I was taking the laughs any way I could get them! The last bit of the course before the finish line included a section of cobblestones and being on a bike made for Paris-Roubaix I hit them at speed and shuddered like a jackhammer across them. After that it was into the national sheep farm and through a mess of people, camper vans, and whatnot to get to the official timing matts and the tent where I could get my stamp, surrender my control card and pick up my medal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first draft of this report was written while still\nbasking in the glow of making it to the end and feeling so strong at the last\nbit was really encouraging. I made a lot of good choices during the ride and\nfelt like I’d trained properly and planned a good ride. The drop bags and the\nairbnb were good choices, though I could tweak that aspect of the ride and make\nit more efficient in the future. I would like to try and do an 84h start so\nthat I can get more daytime riding as well as a good night’s sleep before-hand\nbut there’s a lot less company on the roads so who knows!  It was an amazing experience and I don’t think\nthere’s anything that compares for an amateur cyclist! I didn\u2019t take as many\npictures on this ride as I usually do since I was worried about time but I\nthink I captured enough to give the reader an idea of how it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nUrban Paris<\/a>