Woohoo, I'm heading to Paris-Brest-Paris!

[plattyjo]

Just finished my 600k (http://www.plattyjo.com/randonneur-ride-report-slo-pinnacles-traveler-600k/) this weekend. Anyone else qualified yet and/or planning to go? Early reg opens on Sunday for folks who've completed a 1000k/1200k.

[guido]

Congrats! Have a great ride!

[paredown]

Color me impressed! The warm-up/qualifier sounded daunting enough (nice pics BTW), but P-B-P kinda terrifies me...

Have fun--and post some pics.

[rnhood]

That's very decent, and the pictures are equally as decent. Well done and we wish you the best. Wish I could do a 600K.

[Waldo]

Jenny, well done and a very nice write-up. Thanks for sharing it and good luck in France in August.

[572cv]

Well done, and thanks for posting the pictures. The good news for me was seeing guys who appear to be as old as I am on the ride. This is good, because I need all the motivation I can muster as I try to prep to do the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive with a group of similarly ancient riders in about a month. :eek:

[srice]

Good job!!! It's a blast. I just finished my 400K last weekend and will pick up my 600K in a few weeks to qualify for my 4th PBP.

[plattyjo]

Thanks, all!

Good job!!! It's a blast. I just finished my 400K last weekend and will pick up my 600K in a few weeks to qualify for my 4th PBP.

Wow, 4th PBP! See you in Paris!

The good news for me was seeing guys who appear to be as old as I am on the ride.

As a 41-year-old, I'm seemingly one of the young un's in the sport; there's tons of riders far older than me that crush it! Have a lovely ride.

[MattTuck]

That is, in a word, awesome! My skin chaffes merely THINKING about that kind of distance.

[plattyjo]

That is, in a word, awesome! My skin chaffes merely THINKING about that kind of distance.

I've got a pretty good stockpile of chamois cream at home! :)

[EricEstlund]

I'm not going, but I think I'll be living vicariously through a few of my bikes.

Congrats, and have a blast!

[JAGI410]

Nice work! It'll be an amazing experience I'm sure!

[tiretrax]

Congratulations. The L'Eroica tune up must have been the trick. I bow to your prowess.

[R3awak3n]

congrats. Sounds awesome, and hard. Hope you get some great pics at PBP to share!

[weisan]

There's obviously something wrong with these people, they were still smiling at the camera after spending 8,000,000,000 miles on their saddles... :rolleyes:

Jo-pal, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines awaits you! :banana:

http://www.info-stades.fr/uploads/stades/saint-quentin-velodrome-national-40066.jpg

[plattyjo]

Thanks, all -- I'm really looking forward to the wine, cheese and special Paris-Brest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris%E2%80%93Brest) dessert!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/St_Petrocs_Hotel_-_Paris_Brest.jpg/300px-St_Petrocs_Hotel_-_Paris_Brest.jpg

[donevwil]

Plattyjo, congratulations. Your goals and achievements are inspiring (this coming from a 50yo fast-as-you-can-for-no-more-than-80-mile guy). I just can't fathom these distances.

My wife, on the other hand, REALLY wants to get into randonneuring, but I'm absolutely no help. This will be where our cycling interests diverge. Any recommendations or resources, on the web or in the Bay Area, for her ?

[miguel]

I'm not going, but I think I'll be living vicariously through a few of my bikes.

http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/George-Costanza-Point-Wink-On-Seinfeld.gif

i still have to do my 400 and 600 but i completed a series last year. tickets are already purchased so i will probably be in france at the time regardless.

[miguel]

My wife, on the other hand, REALLY wants to get into randonneuring, but I'm absolutely no help. This will be where our cycling interests diverge. Any recommendations or resources, on the web or in the Bay Area, for her ?

start here
www.rusa.org/

then go here
http://www.rusa.org/links.html
and look for your local clubs

[AngryScientist]

i am totally jealous, you have my complete admiration. congratulations to you. have fun!

[FlashUNC]

I can barely muster the gumption to do Three Bears on a Saturday morning. This is stupidly impressive.

[OtayBW]

Oh - it's not so bad. Try riding Boston-Montreal-Paris! :eek:

[plattyjo]

My wife, on the other hand, REALLY wants to get into randonneuring, but I'm absolutely no help. This will be where our cycling interests diverge. Any recommendations or resources, on the web or in the Bay Area, for her ?

Thank you! We're fortunate that there's a ton of amazing clubs in the Bay Area.

SF Randonneurs (http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/) (My home club; their brevet series is challenging and fun, but they offer populaires which are a great starter distance. Plus they do team events as well, which are my favorite. I love the camaraderie and the randos with this club are fantastic! Here's the Google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/sfrandon).)

Davis (http://www.davisbikeclub.org/annual_events/ultra-distance-brevets-randonneuring/brevet_series) (awesome support with fully catered controls, not as hard as SFR so a good starter full series)

Santa Rosa (http://srcc.memberlodge.com/Brevet) (The RBA loves beer and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet; the 200k at the start of the year is a don't miss)

SLO (http://slorandonneur.org/) (A new club with a fantastic set of rides and a terrific RBA. I really, really loved the two brevets I did with them this year and the 400k is my favorite ever!)

Santa Cruz (http://www.santacruzrandonneurs.org/) (Founded by old skool randos who've been involved with RUSA for many years; their series have no support and cover a lot of the same territory -- but they have a good assortment of permanents and other brevets.)

Also: Nat'l randonneur Google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/randon); /r/randonneuring (http://www.reddit.com/r/randonneuring/).

And feel free to have her email me at spamisevill at gmail dot com. I've blogged all of my rides, and she can read how I fared my first year of randonneuring back in 2013. :)

[plattyjo]

i still have to do my 400 and 600 but i completed a series last year. tickets are already purchased so i will probably be in france at the time regardless.

Sweet -- see you in Paris!

[bcroslin]

Ran into my rando buddy tonight on the ride and he's PBP for the third time and he'll be doing it fixed for the 2nd time. Sounds like fun - very envious.

[plattyjo]

Ran into my rando buddy tonight on the ride and he's PBP for the third time and he'll be doing it fixed for the 2nd time. Sounds like fun - very envious.

Fixed, so impressive!

[efuentes]

A rando subreddit :)

[tumbler]

Wow! Congrats and great writeup/photos of the 600k.

[donevwil]

Thank you! We're fortunate that there's a ton of amazing clubs in the Bay Area.

SF Randonneurs (http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/) (My home club; their brevet series is challenging and fun, but they offer populaires which are a great starter distance. Plus they do team events as well, which are my favorite. I love the camaraderie and the randos with this club are fantastic! Here's the Google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!forum/sfrandon).)

Davis (http://www.davisbikeclub.org/annual_events/ultra-distance-brevets-randonneuring/brevet_series) (awesome support with fully catered controls, not as hard as SFR so a good starter full series)

Santa Rosa (http://srcc.memberlodge.com/Brevet) (The RBA loves beer and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet; the 200k at the start of the year is a don't miss)

SLO (http://slorandonneur.org/) (A new club with a fantastic set of rides and a terrific RBA. I really, really loved the two brevets I did with them this year and the 400k is my favorite ever!)

Santa Cruz (http://www.santacruzrandonneurs.org/) (Founded by old skool randos who've been involved with RUSA for many years; their series have no support and cover a lot of the same territory -- but they have a good assortment of permanents and other brevets.)

Also: Nat'l randonneur Google group (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/randon); /r/randonneuring (http://www.reddit.com/r/randonneuring/).

And feel free to have her email me at spamisevill at gmail dot com. I've blogged all of my rides, and she can read how I fared my first year of randonneuring back in 2013. :)

Thank you very much for this !

[sg8357]

Once you get to Paris with your bike, instead of riding 1200k, go for the
Prix De Michelin 12. You must ride your bike to a total of 12 toques worth
of restaurants. Any combo of 1,2 or 3 star restaurants of your choice.

I will provide an impressive certificate achievement upon presentation of copies of your restaurant bills.


"He lives like a King in France" old German proverb.

[rwsaunders]

Nice work PJ...that's quite an accomplishment.

[unterhausen]

thanks for the nice ride report. I always envy people that can ride and also take pictures, it just takes too long for me. PBP kicked my butt in 2011, but mostly on the sleep front. The ride itself was great. I love big rollers like that, it is just like the roads I grew up with in Virginia. Not sure if I'm going to make it this year

[miguel]

Pre-reg'd

[unterhausen]

Pre-reg'd
+1, by which I mean me too

[plattyjo]

Once you get to Paris with your bike, instead of riding 1200k, go for the
Prix De Michelin 12. You must ride your bike to a total of 12 toques worth
of restaurants. Any combo of 1,2 or 3 star restaurants of your choice.

I will provide an impressive certificate achievement upon presentation of copies of your restaurant bills.


"He lives like a King in France" old German proverb.

Oooh, I like this idea!

[plattyjo]

Nice work PJ...that's quite an accomplishment.

Thanks!

thanks for the nice ride report. I always envy people that can ride and also take pictures, it just takes too long for me. PBP kicked my butt in 2011, but mostly on the sleep front. The ride itself was great. I love big rollers like that, it is just like the roads I grew up with in Virginia. Not sure if I'm going to make it this year

Hope to see you there!

Pre-reg'd

And you, too! I'm registered for the 5:30PM / 90hr. start.

[Saint Vitus]

I did Paris to Brest to Paris once...


In November.


In the back of a Peugeot van :p

Bonne chance!

[fiamme red]

Congratulations to plattyjo and all other PBP finishers! :hello:

Bjorn Lenhard finished first, alone in 42h 26m, which I think is a new record for the randonneur era.

[bikingshearer]

Pffft. I could do that much distance - in a year.

Way to go, all. I hope the experience was everything you wanted it to be. :banana:

[bikingshearer]

"He lives like a King in France" old German proverb.

20th and 21st Century German proverbs are somewhat less, shall we say, kind to the French, kings or otherwise.

[unterhausen]

42 hours is an amazing time.

[guido]

42 hours is pretty damn stunning. That's better than 17 mph average just riding time, not including controls.

[tiretrax]

Congratulations. I've been a long time admirer of those that can do this kind of event.

[FlashUNC]

Huge kudos to anyone who's got the gumption to even qualify for this thing, much less line up, much less finish.

[R2D2]

I don't post much anymore. But Chapeau to Plattyjo. She got to ride with my bro Mike and the rest of the NC Crew. And Chapeau to Mark Thomas who is in Charly Miller club. It is a hard ride.

[plattyjo]

Thanks, all! It was such a crazy ride and so much fun riding with the NC Party Posse! I'll be sure to share my blog posts soon.

[guido]

Nice Job Plattyjo! We look forward to the post.

[R3awak3n]

Really amazing. Congratualions!

[etu]

Awesome!
Congratulations.
Looking forward to reading about it on your blog.

[drewellison]

I copied the results from the (2011 - Oops) PBP page and created a pivot table.

PBP results page:
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/index2.php?lang=en&cat=randonnee&page=resultats

Pivot table:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ne57ffcb8opy55/PBP%202015%20Results.xlsx?dl=0

Let me know if you have any issues with getting the pivot table from my dropbox. I'm not a big dropbox user so I hope I did it correctly.

Drew

[fiamme red]

I copied the results from the PBP page and created a pivot table.

PBP results page:
http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/index2.php?lang=en&cat=randonnee&page=resultats

Pivot table:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ne57ffcb8opy55/PBP%202015%20Results.xlsx?dl=0

Let me know if you have any issues with getting the pivot table from my dropbox. I'm not a big dropbox user so I hope I did it correctly.

DrewI think those are the 2011 results.

[drewellison]

I think those are the 2011 results.

D'oh!
Never mind.
Drew

[miguel]

74:35

I saw u plattyjo but I didn't introduce. We had the same start time, I was in an orange Rapha jerz on a teal winter disc rando.

How did you do?
Where are all the photos? Like, I had my photo taken 100 times and they only sent ~10.

[rwsaunders]

Here's a nice story about the event in general for you PBPers...

http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/pbp-2011-four-journeys?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER-32-210815-Mens-NA&utm_content=NEWSLETTER-32-210815-Mens-NA+CID_7c14a907097ef7cae26872cea24f3b60&utm_source=campaignmonitor&utm_term=READ%20THE%20FEATURE

[JAllen]

74:35

I saw u plattyjo but I didn't introduce. We had the same start time, I was in an orange Rapha jerz on a teal winter disc rando.

How did you do?
Where are all the photos? Like, I had my photo taken 100 times and they only sent ~10.

Glad you and others finished safe and sound. How was it out there? I've been texting David a bit and he ended up having a rough time with a chest cold on the last day.

[miguel]

David started and finished right after me. He was cooked. We played leap frog for 3 days and finally met up at the last contrôle. He went ahead and I caught up to him ~30 km from the finish, then boom, 3 flats right in a row. I stayed for the first 2 but took off on the 3rd. We had a beer at the finish then he and his gf and me and my wife went separate ways. We had planned to get together but it's hard to do much after an effort like that. They're traveling to holland now.

[plattyjo]

74:35

I saw u plattyjo but I didn't introduce. We had the same start time, I was in an orange Rapha jerz on a teal winter disc rando.

How did you do?
Where are all the photos? Like, I had my photo taken 100 times and they only sent ~10.

I rode it "Adrian Hands (http://www.adrianhandssociety.com/)" style with the founder & friends from North Carolina, so my finish time was 89:37. :)

And I guess it varied how many photos they were able to take; I was sent the choice of ordering 20 different ones. Congrats on finishing PBP!

[bambam]

Plattyjo, It was nice to see you out there.
I saw your group in Fougeres, Tinteniac and on the bridge in Brest.
I was good to see you having such a good time. After all that is what it is about.
BamBam (guy on the blue and white Kirk with the big ole front rack bag, and Adrian Hands Member from 2007)

[plattyjo]

Very cool! I was scanning my photos to see if you were in any of them but I haven't spotted you yet. It was a blast and I'm almost done writing my magnum opus. Hope you had a fantastic time as well!

[oddsaabs]

Great work with the write-ups. Makes for a most enjoyable read. I hope my boss doesn't figure out I just spent an hour and a half reading about your adventure.

http://www.plattyjo.com/paris-brest-paris-2015-the-highs-the-lows-and-the-highs/

[pdmtong]

was that you in the rapha blog photo gallery this morning?

there cant be too many women riding a silver bike with silver UT campagnolo with a wound-up looking fork

chapeau to you! that would be a dream ride for me.

[guido]

Great report Plattyjo! What a wonderful experience.

[azrider]

That made me tired just reading it. Wow. Quite a feat. Congrats on your accomplishment. Not sure I could ever compete in something of that nature.

[plattyjo]

Thanks, all! And thanks for posting a link to the blog. And yup, that's me in the Rapha post; Brian's a friend of mine and is was a nice surprise to bump into him there!

[tiretrax]

Great work with the write-ups. Makes for a most enjoyable read. I hope my boss doesn't figure out I just spent an hour and a half reading about your adventure.

http://www.plattyjo.com/paris-brest-paris-2015-the-highs-the-lows-and-the-highs/

You mean every day. Well, for me, at least. Keeps me sane!

[fiamme red]

I enjoyed this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmiYB_I5iBE. Go to 5:31 to watch the first finisher (Bjorn Lenhard, 42h 26m). He makes it look so easy, riding solo ahead of the peloton.

[fiamme red]

I enjoyed this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmiYB_I5iBE. Go to 5:31 to watch the first finisher (Bjorn Lenhard, 42h 26m). He makes it look so easy, riding solo ahead of the peloton.Here's his report translated into English: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=92653.msg1912980#msg1912980. Not only did he finish first, he did the ride unsupported!

I kept going, leaving Brest on another road. After a few minutes I was back on the same road I took on my way to Brest. Now I experienced oncoming traffic. I met about approx. 6000 cyclists during the day. Practically I've seen everybody, the second and the last late at night. There were a lot of different kind of bikes: 20" folding bikes, 26" MTB, randonneurs, road bikes, tandems, recumbent bikes, cigarrs (recumbent bikes with three wheels and fully covered) and some bikes, which were more like a stepper on two wheels. Everything from new to old, including the clothes. Almost everyone said Hi, waved or put their thumbs up. That was a good motivation. Of course I said hello too, as often as I could. But to be honest, at some point it was pretty annoying, if you imagine there were 6000 people to say Hi to. I was happy about cycling in the dark again, so I didn't need to say Hello to everyone.

[guido]

Plattyjo has a piece in PrettyDamnedFast

Nice work!

http://www.prettydamnedfast.com/blog/2015/8/28/paris-brest-paris

[paredown]

Thanks for sharing the links--both pieces are great reads.

Congrats on finishing plattyjo!

[plattyjo]

Thank you! :beer: