shoe
08-29-2007, 10:45 PM
so i got in late last night and thought i would share some of my experiences of the pbp...three of us went over to ride it together so we end up choosing the 84 time limit just to thin the crowd down abit...
so 2 am we decide to ride out from paris to the start of the pbp 15 miles or so away...we are warmly greeted at our door by some girl yelling at us in the international language of drunk...none of which we understood.but she hands us her bottle of wine and being the gentlemen we are ... we all take a swig and got underway....familiar with the steep hill on the way we end up racing down it at 47 mph in the dark en route to our check in...
go through the check in and before long we are on our way...of course the rain soon starts...my friends made fun of my carbon fenders proclaiming they were useless...well since i created long flares with plastic and electrical tape the night before they were more than useful....we hustled it out with some fast people early on hoping to get out of the rain but that never happened and a flat soon dropped us from that group. so we just meandered on from there.....rain came and went really...but we did see some sun for a bit.....seemed as if the time you would dry out you were in the rain not long after....first day went pretty smooth...we had hoped to make it to brest in one shot(the halfway mark)... well that never happened.. nothing wrong with pipe dreams.... usually we ride really well and efficient together but this just never seemed to happen for too long we were all just on a different page this trip. so we all kind of rode off and on together....finally after riding for 24 hrs and realizing brest wasn't happening we stopped at mile 280 ... plus the miles to the check in we got in just around 300 miles in one shot so we figured that was good enough... so after 1 1/2 hours sleep in a chair in a cafeteria we are off again. misty and never quite dry.
the first stretch was interesting..definitely helping each other through some tired points...at one point my legs were moving but i had no idea if i was going uphill or down...sometimes i would just stop pedaling to see. it all just starts to get a little fuzzy. in the total of our riding we only slept 5 hours. so it all starts to feel kind of surreal. the head winds you just learned to ignore if you stayed moving and were layered enough although you were wet you stayed warm. at points you get so used to the rain and mist you don't even notice it. we were king at taking too long at controls....we do exactly what they tell you not to do...we would go to leave and it seems as if all the people would already have already left ...and then hustle it out to the next check point to only waste more time...
the people were awesome just out along the road cheering you on...kids would fill your water bottles and high five you as you pass...even in the rain there was some truly beautiful countryside....the controls would get nuts...people would be sleeping everywhere..all wrapped up in space blankets seeming as if they were from outer space...all these shiny foil wrapped cocooned bodies strewn everywhere...we didn't really choose the sleep areas with the cots or mattresses...we would eat and grab a quick 1/2 hour to hour sleep here or there...sometimes on the table where we would just finish eating... the lowpoint was sleeping on this cement floor in part of a cafeteria with my water bottle and hat on top of it as a pillow waking up sore and cold and still wet and having to head out into the night... the highlight was napping on the grass one afternoon with the sun out while all my clothes dried out around me...
when the sun was out it was true treat and would instantly lift the mood. but i think the rain and wind just helped add to the grit of the ride...the charm really. it was unfortunate to see the weather take a toll on so many people... your body would get achy and cold but i found just to keep moving taking aspirin and plenty of food to help....
the other days seemed to all come together but sort of slid by...the ride into brest was nice since the sun was out but the thought of climbing back out was a little daunting.. i rode alone a bunch and it was nice to just get in your own space and daydream and just try and find the smoothest most efficient rhythm...
at around 4 am the one morning i see these 2 tailights about to crest a hill down the road a bunch only to realize they never took the turn so i sprinted out to tell them they missed the turn. in french i didn't quite comprehend they thanked me and i wondered how long they might possibly have gone...soon after that almost like a mirage since we had been in rain and wooded roads throughout the night - just before daybreak we roll into this town and here the sounds of really bad 80's music...it was like heaven. a bar had set a tent up outside and we had nice warm cup of coffee and some soup as we warmed ourselves next to the grill...
the miles carried on during one evening stretch we decided to make up some lost time and paced lined it through the night between rest points... this was a high point and we all felt strong... in the series of long climbs we just tackled them each of us feeding of the other to push harder...it was a like a game to see how many red tail lights you could swallow up in the dark on the climbs...the roads were in great condition for the most part so there were some truly amazing night time descents....
finally the last day after energy levels yo yo-ing we all go our separate ways. at the second to last check point there is all these mixed messages about when the time to check in was so i decide it is all out to be safe...so 650 miles into it i decide to ride it out as hard as i can...the last chunk ends up with a long stretch of flats with head winds.... i just put my head down and pushed through as hard as i could imagining that nothing was happening...the three of us all happen to arrive at the same time with an hour of time we just bought by hammering it out...so we figure out our last stretch and just meander our way slowly back to the last checkpoint...delerious and exchanging stories of our different experiences..........
so we manage to do it in 83 1/2 hours...my friend did it on his fixed gear kirk , i rode it single speed on my kirk , and my other friend rode it geared on his serotta fierte..and it was in that order of whose legs hurt more. gears and freewheels make it easier but they definitely aren't necessary... i hope everyone had a good time that did it and luckily the hard parts are the first to slip out of the memory. glad to here you guys and gals weren't let off too easy with the deerfield either......dave
so 2 am we decide to ride out from paris to the start of the pbp 15 miles or so away...we are warmly greeted at our door by some girl yelling at us in the international language of drunk...none of which we understood.but she hands us her bottle of wine and being the gentlemen we are ... we all take a swig and got underway....familiar with the steep hill on the way we end up racing down it at 47 mph in the dark en route to our check in...
go through the check in and before long we are on our way...of course the rain soon starts...my friends made fun of my carbon fenders proclaiming they were useless...well since i created long flares with plastic and electrical tape the night before they were more than useful....we hustled it out with some fast people early on hoping to get out of the rain but that never happened and a flat soon dropped us from that group. so we just meandered on from there.....rain came and went really...but we did see some sun for a bit.....seemed as if the time you would dry out you were in the rain not long after....first day went pretty smooth...we had hoped to make it to brest in one shot(the halfway mark)... well that never happened.. nothing wrong with pipe dreams.... usually we ride really well and efficient together but this just never seemed to happen for too long we were all just on a different page this trip. so we all kind of rode off and on together....finally after riding for 24 hrs and realizing brest wasn't happening we stopped at mile 280 ... plus the miles to the check in we got in just around 300 miles in one shot so we figured that was good enough... so after 1 1/2 hours sleep in a chair in a cafeteria we are off again. misty and never quite dry.
the first stretch was interesting..definitely helping each other through some tired points...at one point my legs were moving but i had no idea if i was going uphill or down...sometimes i would just stop pedaling to see. it all just starts to get a little fuzzy. in the total of our riding we only slept 5 hours. so it all starts to feel kind of surreal. the head winds you just learned to ignore if you stayed moving and were layered enough although you were wet you stayed warm. at points you get so used to the rain and mist you don't even notice it. we were king at taking too long at controls....we do exactly what they tell you not to do...we would go to leave and it seems as if all the people would already have already left ...and then hustle it out to the next check point to only waste more time...
the people were awesome just out along the road cheering you on...kids would fill your water bottles and high five you as you pass...even in the rain there was some truly beautiful countryside....the controls would get nuts...people would be sleeping everywhere..all wrapped up in space blankets seeming as if they were from outer space...all these shiny foil wrapped cocooned bodies strewn everywhere...we didn't really choose the sleep areas with the cots or mattresses...we would eat and grab a quick 1/2 hour to hour sleep here or there...sometimes on the table where we would just finish eating... the lowpoint was sleeping on this cement floor in part of a cafeteria with my water bottle and hat on top of it as a pillow waking up sore and cold and still wet and having to head out into the night... the highlight was napping on the grass one afternoon with the sun out while all my clothes dried out around me...
when the sun was out it was true treat and would instantly lift the mood. but i think the rain and wind just helped add to the grit of the ride...the charm really. it was unfortunate to see the weather take a toll on so many people... your body would get achy and cold but i found just to keep moving taking aspirin and plenty of food to help....
the other days seemed to all come together but sort of slid by...the ride into brest was nice since the sun was out but the thought of climbing back out was a little daunting.. i rode alone a bunch and it was nice to just get in your own space and daydream and just try and find the smoothest most efficient rhythm...
at around 4 am the one morning i see these 2 tailights about to crest a hill down the road a bunch only to realize they never took the turn so i sprinted out to tell them they missed the turn. in french i didn't quite comprehend they thanked me and i wondered how long they might possibly have gone...soon after that almost like a mirage since we had been in rain and wooded roads throughout the night - just before daybreak we roll into this town and here the sounds of really bad 80's music...it was like heaven. a bar had set a tent up outside and we had nice warm cup of coffee and some soup as we warmed ourselves next to the grill...
the miles carried on during one evening stretch we decided to make up some lost time and paced lined it through the night between rest points... this was a high point and we all felt strong... in the series of long climbs we just tackled them each of us feeding of the other to push harder...it was a like a game to see how many red tail lights you could swallow up in the dark on the climbs...the roads were in great condition for the most part so there were some truly amazing night time descents....
finally the last day after energy levels yo yo-ing we all go our separate ways. at the second to last check point there is all these mixed messages about when the time to check in was so i decide it is all out to be safe...so 650 miles into it i decide to ride it out as hard as i can...the last chunk ends up with a long stretch of flats with head winds.... i just put my head down and pushed through as hard as i could imagining that nothing was happening...the three of us all happen to arrive at the same time with an hour of time we just bought by hammering it out...so we figure out our last stretch and just meander our way slowly back to the last checkpoint...delerious and exchanging stories of our different experiences..........
so we manage to do it in 83 1/2 hours...my friend did it on his fixed gear kirk , i rode it single speed on my kirk , and my other friend rode it geared on his serotta fierte..and it was in that order of whose legs hurt more. gears and freewheels make it easier but they definitely aren't necessary... i hope everyone had a good time that did it and luckily the hard parts are the first to slip out of the memory. glad to here you guys and gals weren't let off too easy with the deerfield either......dave