I met with DaveP (Pyle) at registration and at the control in Fourges. It's always good to see Dave and look forward to his account of PBP. Sorry to have missed meeting you Dave (dauwhe). The Ortlieb bag did well. I'm glad you were able to experience the start and some riding. Hope you are feeling better.
I found the PBP route to be interesting and the rolling terrain exceptional. I prefer rollers and climbs to flat courses any day; loved it.
Weird as it is, prior to PBP, I had knee issues that were beating me up. The doc said it was probably tendonitis in my quads and an overstretched patellar ligament (old injuries irritated and flaring up). I took a Medrol (sp?) dose pack to get the inflammation under control before I left, but it only worked for a few days because I tried to ride again (big "duh"). I stayed off my bike entirely for the next two weeks and when we were tourists for 7 days in Paris (we probably walked 25 miles), I took another Medrol pack. For the two weeks prior to the ride and during the ride, I wore a knee stabilizer I had from previous knee problems. Two days before the start, I rode easy and tested my reassembled bike for 15 miles and rode another easy 15 miles, round-trip, to registration on Sunday. On PBP, maybe it was adrenaline, but I felt wonderful on my bike. I had missed riding and felt like I had falling in love all over again when we were riding. My body held up reasonably well. My right trap was sore afterward, but I'd say it was because I had gotten so cold and was unintentionally tensing it. The noseless saddle I rode for the last 5,000 miles of training, the BiSaddle, did great, too. I haven't rode since being home (actually, my bike is still in the case), so it will be interesting to see how the knees feel when I start riding again. Remember the lessons I said I learned? This was a biggie. I had completed my (physical) homework and knew rest was just as important, but I felt with all the touring (no riding) I had to keep putting in a few miles before leaving the US. My mind was playing with me big time as I had to convince myself I wouldn't lose anything by not riding, but gain from resting and healing. In all these years, I never gave rest the credit it deserved. I learned respect for it now.
Two funny stories (well, at least to me)...
After our wave started, we were heading out in the country and going through a few small villages. Around 17k or so, riding in quite a large mass of cyclists, I hit something in the road and the front of my bike hit with a hard jolt. My handlebars moved and I heard a "tick, tick, tick" noise. Oh crud...I'm barely out of Paris and my bike! I decided to pull over at the edge of the town under a light to figure out what was going on. My handlebars had slipped (I put my bike together and thought it was tightened down), so I loosened the bar, moved it back where I wanted it, and retightened. Brakes and the bag looked okay. I decide to take a "p" beside a small wall and when I go to get back on my bike...I realized looking around...there was NOBODY else on the road. Nothing. Quiet. It was quite comical as all I could think was, "5100 cyclists, the start of a 1200k, I'm 20k out, and riding in France, .... by myself." I slightly freaked inside, but got on my bike and just started riding in the direction we had been going. I came to the next town and the locals pointed me in the direction and within a short distance I was back in the thick of things riding with many, many cyclists. Whew...
This was when I rode over 3.5 hours without hearing a word of English. I was riding with the same 3 men for quite awhile, our pace was great. After many miles together, everybody was stopping in this small town where the locals had water, bread, etc. I stopped with them. The one guy was in his mid 60's and the other two looked more in their early 50's. We tried to communicate with each other, but they didn't understand a word (even United States) and I surely didn't understand them. Heck, I was clueless what language they were speaking (I tried a bit of French, but then again, my French blows). We stood there laughing at each other hand signaling and actually not communicating at all, except with unspoken humor. We got back on our bikes and took off. We rode for a long time, still hearing no English around me. Then the first English I hear, it's a cyclist with a French accent. I asked where he was from and his response was Virginia. I said Florida and the guy says that in 2005, he had done a 300k in Bonifay, Florida. I'm riding with cyclists from all over the world and here I had been at the start and rode some miles with this guy on that particular 300k. He rode up to the 3 men and spoke to them. They had a different dialect and came from a mountain range in France that was as notable as the Alps and Pyrenees. I rode with them until I couldn't hold going to the bathroom any longer. I stopped on the side of the road and then continued on riding with different riders.
My lighting was simple and for the most part, inexpensive. In the beginning when there were so many lights around, I didn't turn all of them on, but the second night when there weren't such large groups, the lights were all on and it was adequate, even though my night vision isn't that terrific. I had a space bar attached so it was above my handlebar (and front bag) with two Cateye 531's and two Cateye 410's were attached low, one on each side of my fork. A Cateye 400 on my helmet. Two Cateye rear red lights attached, one on each side of the back seat stays and a Pyramid tail light on my rear bike bag.
Peter B... first of all, you're an animal! Congrats on your successful ride. A friend of mine from Atlanta who has qualified for RAAM was also on a fixed gear; Kevin Kaiser. You met Kevin and Chris (brother) on the PacTour, TT. Chris was on a recumbent and was hoping to qualify for RAAM on PBP. Kevin rode with me a few miles the second day, but I haven't heard their results.
I think about how things turned out and "it is what it is". Try to learn from the experience and take away the positive and keep it close at heart. I prayed a lot before, during, and after the ride; grateful for the experience and the opportunity. All of us did our best, finishing or not, and that was to me, an important goal to accomplish.
Ritaann
