PBP - Paris-Brest-Paris 1230kms of magic cycling ride

A Dream ride called PBP:

The day was 18-Dec-2017, we had just completed Kittur 1000kms ride and Mohan Subramaniam told us that this would help us pre-qualify for PBP. That was first ray of hope towards a dream ride called PBP. We started exploring what PBP is all about, and why do 7500 crazy cyclists meet at Paris for this epic ride.

Preparation:

16-Feb-2019 and it was my favorite twin hills 600k ride. I braved against the fever and took my Btwin single speed MyBike, and at Yercaud failed to overcome the steep climbs with the heavy bike. I had not prepared well but this opened my eyes to first buy the right bike. That was the day I decided it should be right bike for the epic rides. In that night while hitch hiking a Lorry, I thought of owning a road bike which could help in long rides. I immediately discussed it with Biju (Cycling Boutique). Biju knew about my desire for endurance rides and rightly suggested the Cannondale Synapse roadbike. Geared up with new bike, my speed in brevets did drastically increase and it sure is a comfortable endurance bike. It was a welcome move as Bangalore Randonneurs (BR) had arranged the Jog 1000kms in April with an elevation of 10,000m.

This was a perfect practice ride to try everything as if we were riding PBP. So, I fixed the 8 litre saddle pouch and packed tubes, jacket, spare jersey, pant, batteries, one spare tyre. The pouch was quite heavy. Till mid point we struggled due to heavy saddle pouch, headwind and dehydration. But, at mid point, we realized the weight would slow us down and we got rid of the pouch. For many people this pouch works superb, but for me it did not. I switched back to btwin handle bar pouch. This worked really well.

Gates of Heaven, the 1200kms heavenly brevet in 2018 had taught us many lessons, most importantly, not to give up at any cost. It was a terrible time after we had quit at 560kms after climbing Yercaud and Ooty. The break dance in rains atop the hill station had shown us what goosebumps mean. We hate cold weather, and rains add more pain. But, for PBP, we had to prepare hard, overcome the cold war, love the climbs. Yes Weather and Food, these 2 words scared us about France ride. We feared nothing but weather and food. Being eggitarians, we sure knew we are in trouble at France. But, we also knew that we could get varieties of bread, cheese and it would help sustain the hunger.

Bangalore Team at Airport

The day before the big day:

Bike check was scheduled at 2:00pm, and we had planned to cycle 35kms to get acclimatized. And it started to rain. 35kms seemed like 300kms. The roads were not friendly, and the rain caused more havoc. Finally we arrived at Rambouillet. Thats when I realized what it meant to be part of PBP. The entire Rambouillet's sheep castle was filled up with cyclists and caravans. It was a carnival of endurance cyclists. It was drizzling all along, we stood in queue to get the bike inspected and collect the bike numbers and jersey. We took quick photos in Bangalore Randonneurs Jersey. And headed back to hotel, it seemed a long ride back due to continuous drizzle. While returning we visited the same bakery which had been to on the previous day. The bakery first introduced us to baguette, its the french loaf. Its so thick, it takes lot of energy to cut it open, chew and digest.

Strategy:

We just had a very simple strategy. The control points at Loudeac and Brest, these were keys for success. By reaching Loudeac (445kms), we would have done 1/3rd of the ride, 1 night and then refills and new jerseys. And then reach Brest with 3-4 hours of buffer and sleep for 2-hours. Brest at 600kms being U-turn point was psychologically crucial, and then ride the 2nd half with a relaxed pace. We had planned to switch off mobile data so that we can focus on the ride and not on distracting whatsapp messages. We had kept enough ready-to-eats in the drop bag as it was accessible twice, 445kms and 755kms. Plus there were plenty of things for rain protection, additional batteries etc at the drop bag. The goal was to complete 1230kms of PBP in 87-88 hours. Me and Prasad are known to ride slow, but we always have a simple strategy, focus on the next control point, do not worry about the mammoth distance, take one control point at a time and make sure we create buffer for every hour we ride.

The Big Day at Rambouillet:

Start point, Rambouillet

Day-1 6:00am (18-Aug)

Woke up and was curious to know if it had stopped raining, damn, it had increased. Dark clouds and drizzle meant its going to be really challenging ride. It was nervous faces all around. At 1:00pm, it stopped raining and it was delight to welcome the sun. We ate rotti and MTR ready to eat rice and headed to train station. Plan was to reach the start point by train to save some energy for the big ride.

Day-1 5:45pm (18-Aug)

We were living our dream to participate in PBP. It was a mixed feeling. Happy to be at start line, but nervous what to expect of such a long ride in a foreign country. We were given meal ahead of the ride, it was quite heavy and were satisfied. We got the brevet card stamped, signed and waited for the clock to turn 5:45pm. There were several Indians in our batch as well. Prasad, Raj, Amar and me were in this batch. Every batch would start at a period of 15-mins. The start was very exciting as we got so much support from the people and we picked up pace right away. It was 28kmph avg for the first 2 hours even when we had headwind. The strategy was simple, we wanted to complete 200kms with minimal break and gain at least 4-hours buffer, which was tuff. We had a couple of energy bars and dry dates which I needed to keep going.  But, we still had to stop at 55kms where we first found a village where they were selling food, cool drinks. I quickly got a veg baguette (cheese) and filled up water and in a minute we were back on the saddle. Till here Prasad, Amar, Raj and me were riding together and reached the feed control Montagne at 118kms. This was not a compulsory control, but we were damn hungry. We 4 decided to take 25 mins break and decided to meet at the cycle parking. Raj found out the water taps and we all filled water. Me, Raj, Prasad and Amar ate from the packed food (rice) that we all had got at a hotel in Rambouillet outside the train station. We 4 delayed our exit by another 15 mins, but were not satisfied by the delay. Me and Prasad maintained a steady speed but could not locate Raj and Amar and thought they must be quite nearby and would catch up soon. This was first night, so we were fully awake and hence wanted to take advantage and were riding fast. This momentum helped us reach 1st control point Villaines at 217kms. It was 4:00am, and the crowd was simply superb, it was such festival environment, we were welcomed with applause. We searched to park our bikes and headed straight to get brevet card stamped. All it took was 5 mins, as there were many volunteers. When we entered Villaines, we had 4 hours buffer this was as per the plan. There will be sufficient toilets at Control points, so it was easy to get freshened up fast. We took about 30 mins to eat dinner, filled up water and by then Amar and Raj had arrived. And we started together. Me and Prasad now aimed at maintaining or increasing the 3-hours buffer that we had to at least 5-6 hours, but the impending climbs meant we lost a lot of buffer time.

Day-2 5:00am (19-Aug)

The day broke at 7:00am, and we started seeing a few rays of sunlight. This is the most encouraging time for us, as we had crossed the first night. The next target was Fougeres at 305kms mark. With the fresh energy we chugged along the scenic villages. It never felt like villages, there were sophisticated houses, huge gardens and well decorated windows and cycles hung on balconies. Very few people on the road, but whoever saw us would for sure clap and say bravo, allez (encouraging come on). And all that we knew was Bonjour (Hello/Good Morning) and merci (Thank you). 

I was feeling very hungry at 8:00am, and I signaled to Prasad. He was fine for me to stop anywhere we found hot water. At a village, I found an elderly person clapping to us. I requested him hot water, he told me something in french, which I could not understand and he understood whats happening and he knew we were hungry. He took my hand and took me straight to his kitchen and said something in french again, and all his family stood up and smiled at me. I wanted hot water which I could not explain, somehow they got me cold water. I then took the elderly person into the bath room and showed him cold-hot water taps. He got it quickly and exclaimed, eau chaude (pronounced as 'aww shodh'). Finally we got hot water and said merci, merci and saluted them for their gesture. Me and Prasad ate our breakfast in front of his house. 

And we both left happily to reach Tinteniac CP-3 by 9:00am. We did not spend more than 10 mins as we got our brevet cards signed and soon were back on saddle aiming to reach Loudeac by 7:00pm. But, the buffer time of 3-hours was reducing drastically and we just had about 1.5 hours. Loudeac city is slightly bigger and the control was also well spread out. Good part was we had our drop bag here. So it meant, new clothes, refill ready-to-eats. From here on, we had lot of climbs to cover, so we hardly spent 45-mins at Loudeac control to change clothes and refill. But, we felt we should have started early.

Special Bikes at PBP:

 

Cold night on top of the hills

At Carhaix, we drank soup at night about 11:30pm. As usual I packed a baguette and Prasad was sleeping while in sitting posture. I woke him up and we both stepped out of control, it was cold, severe cold (about 5 degree). I was wearing half gloves as my regular gloves were wet even before the ride started. Now, I started searching in Prasad's back pocket if I can find anything warm to keep my fingers in shape if not the freezing cold cud make them numb. I found merino wool socks, I wore the socks to my hands and it felt warm, so used the same idea for next 2 nights. Even then it was terrible cold, but this was the moment of truth. Either we step back and settle down for 2 hours, or we brave the cold. We thought a moment, this was our time we had been waiting for so long and had prepared hard, we just got onto the bike and started cycling hard. Even it meant bad shivering, after about 10 kms, we felt very drowsy and no place to sleep, we sat on grass and slept for 10 mins, sleeping flat could have made our bodies chilled, and hence the sitting posture. 

Day-3 10:30am (20-Aug) - Brest (Psychologically key mid point)

With barely about 10kms left to reach Brest, we had a sigh of relief that we now are almost at mid point, and me and Prasad were plotting again as to what to do when we reach Brest. We just had a buffer of 1.5hours. The route to reach control point at Brest was round about, we saw the coastal side of France, we took photos at the famous hanging bridge at Brest.

And then it took another 30 mins as it was steep climbs all around Brest. We reached Brest and huge applause invited us again. We headed straight to get brevet card stamping and took 10-mins break to eat using our ready-to-eats. We immediately headed out and on the way met Arvind and suggested him to come out of control as soon as he can. We stopped at a bakery and bought a couple of baguettes and Prasad needed coke and sweet bread. Brest was uneasy as the roads were never flat. 

Day-4 5:45pm (21-Aug) - Prasad's knee pain and our fight for buffer

Prasad developed knee pain at Brest itself. But, we did not have time to relax, it was touch and go as we just had 1-hour buffer. I started pedaling hard intentionally to push Prasad. He soon caught up, but would slow down a bit at climbs as his knees started hurting very bad. At one moment, me and Mahesh caught up and were enjoying the French hospitality and ate, drank, relaxed at multiple stops created by families wanting to help complete strangers who had come all around the globe to participate in this century old cycling event. At one village, Prasad asked if he could get a pain killer ointment or a spray. It took me sometime to explain to the pharmacist, and meanwhile bought some chewing gums to help at night. We had to skip bath on four days to save some time, but the weather was good and we did not sweat much, so changing clothes was sufficient.

 

Monish had joined us at Loudeac and three of us were riding together. After Tinteniac control at night, Monish and Prasad slept for about 20 mins, I somehow skipped the sleep and walked around. I should have actually slept here. This lack of sleep caused trouble later in the night.

Day-5 4:00am (22-Aug) - The Terrible night

We left Montagnes control point at 2:30am, it was still a lot of climbs. It was about 4:00am, and we were hardly 120kms away, and I was very drowsy and could not control but my eyes shut for a few seconds, I cycled with closed eyes and a big shout from Prasad woke me up, I was drifting to the left of the road. Luckily I had not fallen off, Prasad insisted we take a power nap for 10 mins, but I was not ready as body will become very cold and it could be hard for us to get back to cycling. After another 10 mins, Prasad went ahead a bit, and I still being drowsy, entered a lonely street assuming thats the road to Paris, but then I heard cycles in another street, so I quickly returned back. I was desperate to drink coffee. Prasad was waiting for me, and i explained that I had gone in wrong route. The fatigue level was so high that I barely could keep my eyes open and I asked Prasad if he could call up his cousin in the next village and arrange coffee. Prasad was patient enough to listen to all the crap. Hmmm, he said, just keep going man, I don't have any relatives in France. I kept blabbering something in the next 2-hour period. And at one point, even forgot Prasad's name as I was confused between Praveen, Promod and Prasad, all sounded same for the tired mind and around 6:00am, me and Prasad spotted a cycle fallen on road side. We both waited and looked around to see if someone needed help, but no one showed up, we had to keep going and we hoped everything is fine with the rider. The medical support at PBP is really nice, one call to the emergency helpline, ambulance could reach in less than 5 mins. Plus the marshals on bike would continuously be riding all long to provide any help. About 30 mins later, slowly the day started breaking, and it was new life into the tired souls. In the past 2 hours, we just rode 8kms. But still we somehow had managed the buffer of an hour.

Day-5: Target in sight and we had 2-hours buffer
At Dreux control point which was mere 45kms away, we saw the big queue for food, and decided against waiting in the queue and headed out to buy something on the way. From here, it was home run, so we took it a bit easy and rode at a slow pace until Prasad reminded that we are not done yet. Yes we are not done until the ride is over, we just picked up a bit of pace.

Ride Completed:
At 10:35am, we arrived at Rambouillet, the final control point. Me and Prasad made sure to cross the mat at the same second to mark respect for each other. We then waited for our buddies to complete the ride. Mohan Sir, Monish, Arvind, Raj all completed and then we took some pics at the venue. And spent 5 hours just discussing what each one of us faced. This has been an epic ride and a great learning. With all the learnings we were at PBP start line, but at the end of the ride we felt we are very far from being perfect finishers, we need to learn and improvise better and make it more joyful long rides. So much to learn from everyone who attended, each of us had our own story, and it meant a learning for us to be better riders tomorrow. The next seed of dream on London-Edinburgh-London (LEL 1500kms) is already sown into our heads by Mohan Sir.

 

 

Learnings from the ride:

1. Never underestimate any ride at any moment, things can turn around pretty fast
2. Food - while we did a good job, still we can improve upon to be faster. MTR ready-to-eats (small packs), poha, gojju plus adapt fast to whatever veg food that is available
3. Pack less, pack wisely not to make it too heavy, use the drop bag to carry food and jerseys
4. Do not spend more than 10 mins at Controls if we are not eating. If we are to eat, then make sure to exit fast (30-40mins)
5. Cold - Full pants did not do the job properly, need a leg warmer on top. The small head cap from Decathlon which covers ears as well, was quite helpful. One suggestion from Greg Smith (USA) is to use multiple layers of warm clothes than a thick jacket. I recommend having full pants+leg warmer, a base layer, jersey and waterproof jacket. And then a monkey cap which covers ears and then gloves which can withstand the cold/rain. 
6. Waterproof jacket like Showers pass is a must, it helps in rain and in cold
7. DHB base layers were very helpful in keeping us warm and also in sunlight we did not sweat much
8. Sleep - we barely slept for 2.5 hours during the entire 89-hour ride, thats bad. We need to ride a bit more faster, save time and catch a sleep for at least 1-2 hours full length. This must be repeated at least 4-5 times to make it a more enjoyable ride.
9. Decathlon Shoes were sufficient with warm socks, but we did not have a clear plan what if it rains
10. We need to reach the foreign country at least 3-4 days ahead and try one night ride to get a feel of what it takes and get acclimatized to the cold conditions
11. Know where they repair cycles ahead of the plan so that minor tweaks can be done. My wheels were bent and Decathlon team fixed it in just 10 mins
12. For navigation, we did not have to worry as PBP organizers had put up reflective boards at every possible junction which could confuse. If there is no board, then assumption is to go straight.
13. For recording the activity, I used Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music, with 10hrs of battery life, it easily. For Power, we had 1 power bank 10,000mah, and one in drop bag. It was sufficient.
14. For lights, we used the Mako NightRider 250Lumens(front) and rear mako lights. With medium brightness, it easily ran for 2 nights and then carried one pair of AA cells.

Sincere Thanks:

Sincere thanks to Mohan Sir and all my friends at Bangalore Randonneurs for helping us prepare well with all the tips. To Shashi, our Army superman, we remembered many a times, we missed his company. And thanks to Sushma, Ananya and my parents and sisters for supporting at every moment of my endurance journey. And hoping to get their support and motivation for all future rides as well.