Paris Brest Paris 2023

[bluenotebob]

Brittany saved up its hottest four days in August for the 21st to 24th (the weather breaks tonight). Temps here have been maxing around 28/31C ... but there has been a breeze which helps a little.

I saw a few riders at la Trinité-Porhoët on Tuesday afternoon - already heading back to Paris with over 600km cycled in less than 48 hours. Hugely impressive.

In terms of CC'ers doing the PBP, I'm sure @matticus started - I don't know about @DCLane

 

[DCLane]

@bluenotebob - I qualified but ultimately couldn't do the ride as I need to be in Dublin tomorrow. It would have been tight, and probably unsafe for me to drive there.

In reality I've done it as a Vedette and want to ride it as a Randonneur, so 2027 it'll have to be.

 

[Cathryn]

Definitely not as hot!

 

[matticus]

Brittany saved up its hottest four days in August for the 21st to 24th (the weather breaks tonight). Temps here have been maxing around 28/31C ... but there has been a breeze which helps a little.

I saw a few riders at la Trinité-Porhoët on Tuesday afternoon - already heading back to Paris with over 600km cycled in less than 48 hours. Hugely impressive.

In terms of CC'ers doing the PBP, I'm sure @matticus started - I don't know about @DCLane

Yup - and finished. Sans casque! [I did wear one for the first 20km, then threw it onto the grass verge - and of course forgot about it in the excitement of the final run-in.]

Quite a bit hillier (to the West) than previous editions. It was the warmest one I've done, but;
- cooler near the coast/Brest, which helped with the climbiest section.
- endless garden water stations (including a verrrry nice one on my birthday) in the afternoons
- the joy of not even thinking about what to wear on the night sections (i think arm-warmers were deployed on two nights at worst). That's VERY different to most multi-night rides :-)

Some amazing memories. The sheer scale of it, and the roadside support made me cry at times.

Spoiler: Some boring numbers

 

[Ajax Bay]

Chapeau MC; courage personified. Slight schoolboy error going 12 minutes too fast on the run in from Dreux (or eating breakfast too fast there).

 

[Dogtrousers]

Yup - and finished. Sans casque! [I did wear one for the first 20km, then threw it onto the grass verge - and of course forgot about it in the excitement of the final run-in.]

Well done - mind bogglingly bonkers achievement, especially given the weather conditions.

(I hope they have volunteers litter picking the route )

 

[Cathryn]

Astonishing achievement. Congratulations!

 

[ianrauk]

Congrats. Great stuff.

 

[matticus]

Slight schoolboy error going 12 minutes too fast on the run in from Dreux

[Reader: this is a PBP in-joke which someone else can explain ... ]

(I hope they have volunteers litter picking the route )

Jeez, tough crowd!

 

[nagden]

We came across an Irish lady who was en route to the PBP she had cycled from Cherbourg and was in a small town near us in Normandy. She had fallen off her bike earlier had bent her derailleur hanger and lost a jockey wheel. She was looking for taxi to take her to a bike shop. Unfortunately a taxi in rural Normandy is rare and all the shops would have been shut until 1400. We offered our services put her bike in the car took her home for lunch. We then set off for a LBS our third shop was excellent fitted new parts and adjusted her gears. She then set off for Paris for her 0500 start. Pleased to say she finished in 80 hours.

 

[gavroche]

Has any of you put your achievement on Youtube for us all to see ?

 

[gavroche]

@bluenotebob - I qualified but ultimately couldn't do the ride as I need to be in Dublin tomorrow. It would have been tight, and probably unsafe for me to drive there.

In reality I've done it as a Vedette and want to ride it as a Randonneur, so 2027 it'll have to be.

And you will be 4 years older too.

 

[DCLane]

And you will be 4 years older too.

And 12 years older than when I rode it in 2015

 

[matticus]

And 12 years older than when I rode it in 2015

If it's any help, I survived a 12-year gap! I think I'm a little slower (same bike!); age is finally winning, but my experience/wisdom/pacing just seems to keep growing on these long events - from admittedly a very shambolic base when I did my first P-B.