Brons2
04-16-2006, 08:51 PM
Well this Saturday, April 15th, I did a 300 kilometer "brevet". For the
uninitiated, what is a Brevet, and why did I do this? You might find
some answers here: http://www.rusa.org or you can also do a Google
search for "Paris-Brest-Paris" and that might also be helpful
A "brevet" (bree-vay, not bruh-vette, it's French) is a qualifying
ride for a "Randonnee". A "Randonnee" is a 1200 kilometer (746 mile),
self supported cycling event. The original Randonnee is the 1200km
Paris-Brest-Paris, staged by the Audax club of Paris. This event is
different from most rides in that you don't have SAG wagons, rest
stops, etc. You have to support yourself, buy your own food, fix your
own mechanical problems...etc. It's not a race in the sense of the
Tour de France or any race really. Your only goal is to finish within
the time allotted. In the case of the 1200km, that time is 90 hours.
As I mentioned, the "brevet" is a qualifying event for a "Randonnee".
There is a series of 4 qualifying events you must complete in order to
do the 1200KM event. That is, brevet distances of 200K (125ish miles),
300K (187ish miles), 400K (250ish miles) and 600K (373 miles).
I have been seduced by the desire to do the Paris-Brest-Paris event in
2007. It is only run once every four years, which adds some urgency to
my situation. So, I have been riding...a lot. There used to be an
organization that did the brevets in Austin, but now that seems to
have dissolved. :-(. So I have been riding with the Houston
Randonneurs out of Brookshire, which is about 2 hours from my house by
car.
So far this spring I have done a 200K on March 4th. I decided to do a
300K "permanent" route that another Houston Randonneurs member was
planning. These are Brevets you can ride any time so long as you send
$5 to the sponsoring organization, in this case Houston Randonneurs.
There are large club rides as well with 20+ people, but on this one it
was just me and Ed from Katy.
Some thoughts on the ride and associated events:
When changing my pedals on Friday afternoon, I wasn't careful and
jammed my knuckle into one of the chain rings. This required a visit
to urgent care and 4 stitches. The process delayed the start of my
drive to Houston. I didn't end up getting to the Executive Inn until
around 9:15 and didn't get to sleep until 10:30 or so, after spending
some time degreasing my chain.
3:30 am alarms come mighty early, but even so I got much more sleep
than I did before the 200K. That was definitely helpful. I had to
tear off the bandage covering my stitches, which certainly was an
eye-opener. I told Ed on the phone that I needed scissors and he
stopped and got some, but I ended up ripping the thing off without too
much additional pain (sorry, Ed!!!!) I was really about 2 seconds
away from telling Ed that I was not going to do the ride due to my
painful finger. I was to find out later that my finger would be the
least of my pains.
The Executive Inn is pretty ghetto. I wouldn't recommend staying
there with my children. There were a lot of what I would term
undesirables floating around. Not sure why they allow this, but I
wasn't about to leave any valuables in the car, that's for sure.
We were off a few minutes late, about 4:30. Better late than never, I guess
.
Did have one dog that put a spring in my step between Brookshire and
Sealy, although he could not give much chase at our then quick pace.
Coming out of Sealy we had quite a fog descend on us in the morning.
It felt nice and cool but it fogged up my glasses so much that it was
difficult to see! Not that it was really a hindrance, I always like
back roads and the ones between Sealy and the route junction of I-10
definitely qualify.
The stop in Columbus was pleasant, but the first 10-12 miles down the
road towards Flatonia are almost all uphill. I put some power to my
pedals on the hills but in retrospect I wish I would have used Ed's
tactic, which was slow and easy. Additionally, US90 between Columbus
and Flatonia is very rough with many expansion joints. The shoulder
is what I would consider "barely paved" in many sections But that
being said, it doesn't have too many cars, which is always nice. Ed
and I were able to ride in the traffic lanes quite a bit.
The store in Flatonia is very nice, replete with an entire selection
of 'old-school' beer girl posters! I saw some back as far as the
mid-80s, with 80s hairstyles to boot! The attendant was friendly, and
a litany of folks with thick country accents came through the doors.
If they would have had some rotgut brisket, I probably would have
bought it.
The headwind from Flatonia to Hallettsville was something else! My
roommate told me back in Austin that there had been wind advisories on
Saturday. I believe it! Ed and I commented that the wind was more
like 20-30 than the Houston forecasted 10-20. Not to mention that, as
soon as we turned into the wind, the rollers became much
more....rolling.
There was a problem for me finding the Shell Station in Hallettsville.
FM957 dead ends at US77, north of the intended destination. The Shell
is only three blocks away, but I didn't see it and ended up taking a
scenic tour of lovely Hallettsville. After ending up at the east end
of town, I saw US90A south of my location and I proceeded to follow it
west until I found the Shell.
Using Google Maps and zooming into Hallettsville will alert you to the
problem. FM957 dead ends at the corner of Texana (US77) and 4th. The
store is at Texana (US77) and 4th (US90A). I suppose if you miss the
jog that FM957 takes to the left, that you would end up on 4th St. and
might see the Shell. I took that left jog
and ended up confused.
All this being said...Ed had no problem finding the Shell. And the
store is one of the better ones on the route. Ed had an Icee! I wish
I would have.
I might also point out that the version of US90 that goes through
Hallettsville, US90A, is not the same road as the one you are on from
Columbus to Flatonia and again from Schulenburg to Columbus on the way
back.
It was very hot in the mid-afternoon. I knew it would be, but it was
more oppressive than I would have thought. Probably around 90F or
maybe even more. I'm not sure that I would be able to do this ride
in June without a midday break, maybe from
2-6pm. Houston Randonneurs currently has this ride scheduled for June.
I bonked about mile 140 due to the heat, between Weimar and Columbus.
I had been a couple hundred yards behind Ed and I tried to get his
attention, but could not. I was feeling tired and nauseous. So I
found a place where a large tree cast a shadow over the road and
stopped. I took off my helmet and camelback and just stood there and
cooled off. My stomach was completely full of fluids, but I just
couldn't soak them up fast enough to fix my dehydration. Guess I
could have used an IV. After about 15 minutes, I walked my bike to
the top of the next hill, and then got back on and rode. Fortunately,
I was to that stretch coming into Columbus that was almost all
downhill. The rough shoulder didn't even bother me that much, as my
front tire had leaked out some air and was providing a cushier ride.
I caught up with Ed in Columbus at the checkpoint. I continued to
fight my body and have troubles, but Ed was very patient with me on
the remainder of our journey. I think we stopped 3 times in about 30
miles, until our last stretch between Sealy and Brookshire. Without
his encouragement, I might have quit in Columbus. He waited for me
when I needed to stop and rest, and once the sun was down (and my flat
back tire was changed by Ed, which provided additional useful rest),
we made good time for the last 13 miles into Brookshire.
His dynohub was also very, very helpful in the dark as his lights are
extremely bright. (I'm now considering acquiring this setup for
myself!) Not to mention, he opened his home to me for an overnight
stay rather than letting me risk a drive back to Austin. Even though
my body feels broken and tired, it is the fellowship of other riders
like Ed that will keep me going with these brevets. Thanks, Ed.
uninitiated, what is a Brevet, and why did I do this? You might find
some answers here: http://www.rusa.org or you can also do a Google
search for "Paris-Brest-Paris" and that might also be helpful
A "brevet" (bree-vay, not bruh-vette, it's French) is a qualifying
ride for a "Randonnee". A "Randonnee" is a 1200 kilometer (746 mile),
self supported cycling event. The original Randonnee is the 1200km
Paris-Brest-Paris, staged by the Audax club of Paris. This event is
different from most rides in that you don't have SAG wagons, rest
stops, etc. You have to support yourself, buy your own food, fix your
own mechanical problems...etc. It's not a race in the sense of the
Tour de France or any race really. Your only goal is to finish within
the time allotted. In the case of the 1200km, that time is 90 hours.
As I mentioned, the "brevet" is a qualifying event for a "Randonnee".
There is a series of 4 qualifying events you must complete in order to
do the 1200KM event. That is, brevet distances of 200K (125ish miles),
300K (187ish miles), 400K (250ish miles) and 600K (373 miles).
I have been seduced by the desire to do the Paris-Brest-Paris event in
2007. It is only run once every four years, which adds some urgency to
my situation. So, I have been riding...a lot. There used to be an
organization that did the brevets in Austin, but now that seems to
have dissolved. :-(. So I have been riding with the Houston
Randonneurs out of Brookshire, which is about 2 hours from my house by
car.
So far this spring I have done a 200K on March 4th. I decided to do a
300K "permanent" route that another Houston Randonneurs member was
planning. These are Brevets you can ride any time so long as you send
$5 to the sponsoring organization, in this case Houston Randonneurs.
There are large club rides as well with 20+ people, but on this one it
was just me and Ed from Katy.
Some thoughts on the ride and associated events:
When changing my pedals on Friday afternoon, I wasn't careful and
jammed my knuckle into one of the chain rings. This required a visit
to urgent care and 4 stitches. The process delayed the start of my
drive to Houston. I didn't end up getting to the Executive Inn until
around 9:15 and didn't get to sleep until 10:30 or so, after spending
some time degreasing my chain.
3:30 am alarms come mighty early, but even so I got much more sleep
than I did before the 200K. That was definitely helpful. I had to
tear off the bandage covering my stitches, which certainly was an
eye-opener. I told Ed on the phone that I needed scissors and he
stopped and got some, but I ended up ripping the thing off without too
much additional pain (sorry, Ed!!!!) I was really about 2 seconds
away from telling Ed that I was not going to do the ride due to my
painful finger. I was to find out later that my finger would be the
least of my pains.
The Executive Inn is pretty ghetto. I wouldn't recommend staying
there with my children. There were a lot of what I would term
undesirables floating around. Not sure why they allow this, but I
wasn't about to leave any valuables in the car, that's for sure.
We were off a few minutes late, about 4:30. Better late than never, I guess
.
Did have one dog that put a spring in my step between Brookshire and
Sealy, although he could not give much chase at our then quick pace.
Coming out of Sealy we had quite a fog descend on us in the morning.
It felt nice and cool but it fogged up my glasses so much that it was
difficult to see! Not that it was really a hindrance, I always like
back roads and the ones between Sealy and the route junction of I-10
definitely qualify.
The stop in Columbus was pleasant, but the first 10-12 miles down the
road towards Flatonia are almost all uphill. I put some power to my
pedals on the hills but in retrospect I wish I would have used Ed's
tactic, which was slow and easy. Additionally, US90 between Columbus
and Flatonia is very rough with many expansion joints. The shoulder
is what I would consider "barely paved" in many sections But that
being said, it doesn't have too many cars, which is always nice. Ed
and I were able to ride in the traffic lanes quite a bit.
The store in Flatonia is very nice, replete with an entire selection
of 'old-school' beer girl posters! I saw some back as far as the
mid-80s, with 80s hairstyles to boot! The attendant was friendly, and
a litany of folks with thick country accents came through the doors.
If they would have had some rotgut brisket, I probably would have
bought it.
The headwind from Flatonia to Hallettsville was something else! My
roommate told me back in Austin that there had been wind advisories on
Saturday. I believe it! Ed and I commented that the wind was more
like 20-30 than the Houston forecasted 10-20. Not to mention that, as
soon as we turned into the wind, the rollers became much
more....rolling.
There was a problem for me finding the Shell Station in Hallettsville.
FM957 dead ends at US77, north of the intended destination. The Shell
is only three blocks away, but I didn't see it and ended up taking a
scenic tour of lovely Hallettsville. After ending up at the east end
of town, I saw US90A south of my location and I proceeded to follow it
west until I found the Shell.
Using Google Maps and zooming into Hallettsville will alert you to the
problem. FM957 dead ends at the corner of Texana (US77) and 4th. The
store is at Texana (US77) and 4th (US90A). I suppose if you miss the
jog that FM957 takes to the left, that you would end up on 4th St. and
might see the Shell. I took that left jog
and ended up confused.
All this being said...Ed had no problem finding the Shell. And the
store is one of the better ones on the route. Ed had an Icee! I wish
I would have.
I might also point out that the version of US90 that goes through
Hallettsville, US90A, is not the same road as the one you are on from
Columbus to Flatonia and again from Schulenburg to Columbus on the way
back.
It was very hot in the mid-afternoon. I knew it would be, but it was
more oppressive than I would have thought. Probably around 90F or
maybe even more. I'm not sure that I would be able to do this ride
in June without a midday break, maybe from
2-6pm. Houston Randonneurs currently has this ride scheduled for June.
I bonked about mile 140 due to the heat, between Weimar and Columbus.
I had been a couple hundred yards behind Ed and I tried to get his
attention, but could not. I was feeling tired and nauseous. So I
found a place where a large tree cast a shadow over the road and
stopped. I took off my helmet and camelback and just stood there and
cooled off. My stomach was completely full of fluids, but I just
couldn't soak them up fast enough to fix my dehydration. Guess I
could have used an IV. After about 15 minutes, I walked my bike to
the top of the next hill, and then got back on and rode. Fortunately,
I was to that stretch coming into Columbus that was almost all
downhill. The rough shoulder didn't even bother me that much, as my
front tire had leaked out some air and was providing a cushier ride.
I caught up with Ed in Columbus at the checkpoint. I continued to
fight my body and have troubles, but Ed was very patient with me on
the remainder of our journey. I think we stopped 3 times in about 30
miles, until our last stretch between Sealy and Brookshire. Without
his encouragement, I might have quit in Columbus. He waited for me
when I needed to stop and rest, and once the sun was down (and my flat
back tire was changed by Ed, which provided additional useful rest),
we made good time for the last 13 miles into Brookshire.
His dynohub was also very, very helpful in the dark as his lights are
extremely bright. (I'm now considering acquiring this setup for
myself!) Not to mention, he opened his home to me for an overnight
stay rather than letting me risk a drive back to Austin. Even though
my body feels broken and tired, it is the fellowship of other riders
like Ed that will keep me going with these brevets. Thanks, Ed.