Details, Details, Details

Hi, it's Chris here.  Amy's been bugging me (she's good at that!) to post some more details about what the heck this PBP is, etc., etc.

Perhaps a brief explanation is in order. 

Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) is a 1200km brevet (rhymes with "Chevrolet"), or organized ride, in the sport of randonneuring, or long-distance, self-supported cycling.  Organizers of these rides provide riders with a set course with stops along the way (controls).  A card provided to each rider must be stamped at each control and then submitted as proof of completion of the course.  Riders are not permitted to receive any outside help along the course (except at controls), so no sag vehicles or support crews are allowed.  While not races, each distance has a maximum completion time in order to receive credit for having completed the ride (e.g. 40 hours for the 600km).

For PBP each participant can choose a starting group based on one's expected completion time: 80, 84, or 90 hours (the maximum).  I've decided to go with the 84 hour group, hoping that perhaps the crowds will be less at the controls with the smaller starting group, and also preferring the 5am starting time rather than the early evening starting time of the 90 hour group.

To qualify for PBP one must complete a series of brevets, that is a 200, 300, 400 and 600km brevet in the Spring prior to PBP.  Because these must be done by mid-June, they start early in the year: the 200km brevet was 18 degrees at the start in early-March.  Springtime weather is par for the course as well: the 300km brevet ran from Urbana to Oxford and back.  In Oxford a thunderstorm started and kept exact pace with our lowly group, drenching us for four solid hours.  By the time of the 600km brevet in early June, the weather had turned to the upper 90's, and 17 of the original 36 starters had dropped out by the midway point of the ride.  By the end of the day salt crystals encrusted my helmet straps, eyebrows and goatee.

PBP will be a far cry from the ramble around Ohio with stops at out-of-the-way convenient stores as controls.  Each control in France will offer food and drink of all sorts (being France most even publish their menus ahead of time), and later in the ride there will also be opportunities for showers and sleep.  I've elected to pay for a drop bag, allowing me to have access to a small duffel bag twice along the route - changing clothes is heavenly after that many hours on the bike.  This also allows me to restock clif bars, energy drink mix and batteries - the staples of randonneuring for me.

My race number (or "frame number") is 8248.  For the first time, each rider will have a radio frequency chip, which will track each rider's progress.  If all goes as planned you can go to this link and enter my frame number.  This will only tell you the time I entered the last control, so it will not be up to the minute accurate, but close enough.  Amy will help fill in the blanks for everyone with pictures and blog posts while I am on the bike.  With over 6,000 riders expected to participate, she will probably have some interesting things and pictures (hopefully!) to post. 

Thanks for following along on our PBP adventure...stay tuned...!