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Main
Date: 29 Aug 2007 21:37:35
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
are starting to show up, read this
shocking one
http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
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Date: 06 Sep 2007 05:52:08
From:
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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On Aug 29, 11:37 pm, Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com >
wrote:
> the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> are starting to show up, read this
> shocking one
>
> http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
For the woman who's probably over vilified. I read most of the post
yesterday, eventually I switched from skimming to stopping, but there
are some major things that apply to other people:
1. The problem with your bag??? Did you ride the brevets and all
summer without using the setup you used during PBP? I hope there was a
last second breakdown that caused the issue, because otherwise it was
sheer stupidity to not have tested your setup long before. I know my
Carradice to experimenting and finally investing in the more expensive
support to make it work with my Roubaix.
2. Not pulling. It sounds like you're my worst nightmare of a
triathlete who doesn't know anything about cycling. OK - how many
responses will that get? Of course people expect you to share the
load. You were a complete asshole just taking off. I you could do that
you could've pulled your best.
I'm glad I don't remember more of the post but a lot of it sounded
like lack a planned and unbelievable lack of experience.
Lessons learned from my rookie PBP:
PBP was rough, but for me the biggest issue wasn't the weather, it was
the lack of places to sleep when I needed it. Fortunately, I made a
couple of key last-second purchases I hadn't really thought I'd need.
These were Sugoi heavy shoe covers and mid-weight leg warmers. I had a
heavy pair of leg warmers (Kolcharik wool) that I knew would be too
heavy. I suffered the second night because didn't stop to put on the
stuff needed.
So, like many others, I made it to Lodiac needing sleep along with a
few friends. We agreed to take a long sleep break and I never managed
to fall asleep in the bright cafeteria w/all the noise. I couldn't
believe some of the volunteers who (in my state of mind) seemed to be
trying to keep people up. I know that wasn't the case. Like, I one
point they started opening the windows more even though it just let in
the freezing wind besides lots of talking while standing next to
people trying to fall asleep. That wasted a few hours of not biking
and little rest.
Here I'll say my legs weren't feeling bad even though I usually slow
down a lot between 200 and 250 miles. It must have been that this was
the first time I've ever taken Ibuprofen during a ride. I took one
Advil at each control as a preventive.
Got to Brest feeling OK except tired. I did like others and slept on
the grass in the glorious sun for 30-45 min. When I woke up, my left
knee was sore. I upped the advil to 4xper 12 hours, as an experienced
friend (PBP, BMB) said 3-4 is what it takes once you're fighting an
existing pain. I spin all the time in general, and rode the rest of
the ride as "gingerly" as possible to avoid making it worse while
hoping it would get better.
Another thing I hope people read. I saw a friend there who was clearly
out of it. I assumed it was sleep deprivation and left thinking I'd
convinced him to sleep for a few hours. He's a very strong rider so he
could've afforded the time. Later in the ride he DNF'd and in the
hospital was diagnosed with heart and liver issues. I still don't know
what was cause and what effect (haven't talked to him yet), but I
think RUSA should start providing some rider ed about watching out for
other riders. Yeah, we're supposed to be independent, but I agree with
other posts I've seen that rider exhaustion was probably the cause of
a lot of crashes. We need to be proactive about getting people off
their bikes when they clearly can't ride.
Almost forgot to add. I stopped at a cafe after Brest and left my
helmet there. I'd never do downhills without a helmet and really
considered this a crisis at the time b/c it had my headlamp on it.
This headlamp was awesome for riding in general beyond its intended
purpose of making it easy to see the route markers. Highly recommended
for all night riding now unless you have a Schmidt hub.
At a stop before Lodeac I slept a couple hours where they had a nice
corner of pads blocked off. I'd brought my kitchen timer so I could
punch in the time I wanted to sleep (no working phone or watch w/an
alarm). Someone had to wake me up by shaking my shoulder even though
the alarm was right next to my head. I napped at Lodeac like everyone
else, this time no problem putting my head on the cafeteria table and
passing out. Another survival method was I'd bring in my clothes (in
ziploc bags) and use that as a pillow, with one clean shirt on top of
the bags.
After that it was the typical just keep pedaling until you finish, no
major drama and not much more sleep. The only drama was my friend
mentioned before. I British rider pulled him over because of his
erratic riding and asked if anyone knew him. So I pulled over, we
found someone with a phone and called officials to pick him up. This
was at night and I was very worried about being dropped by the big
group we were in. The British guy was willing to wait for the car and
I took off - I realize how lame this sounds and am very grateful to
him.
Finally, I'll only do a 1200 after I have a much faster double
century. Will tour northern France rather than do another PBP unless
they expand the sleeping facilities.
Dave,
Chicago
Great Lakes R's
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Date: 06 Sep 2007 13:19:39
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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In article <1189083128.119455.132340@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com >,
MailToDaveR@gmail.com wrote:
> Finally, I'll only do a 1200 after I have a much faster double
> century. Will tour northern France rather than do another PBP unless
> they expand the sleeping facilities.
The sleeping facilities are what they are and there really isn't much
that can be done- there is only so much room in the buildings that PBP
borrows. The problem is that almost everyone wants to sleep at Loudeac
outbound and returning, breaking it up into three roughly 400 km chunks.
That the American bag drops tend to be there complicates this further,
resulting in a big concentration of Americans at that point. This year
was especially problematic, I suspect, because the weather was not
conducive to napping on the side of the road.
The best answer is to avoid either sleeping at Loudeac (choose Tinteniac
or Carhaix instead) or coinciding with the crowds. There are several
options:
(1) make sure you line up in the first wave or two of the 90 hour start
and ride a bit faster to get there ahead of the crowds. Get there in 20
hours or so and you'll pretty much be able to check right in to a cot.
(2) take the 84 hour start (which always has a higher rate of finishers
than the 90 hour start) and sleep at Carhaix instead of Loudeac.
(3) bring an option such as a space blanket so that you are not
dependent on the controles for places to sleep.
(4) reserve a hotel room along the way and sleep there.
(5) be very pleasant and some local may very well offer to take you
home, put you up for a few hours, and make you a meal. Harder to count
on but many families around the controles do this. I had an offer from
a family in Poullaquen just past Carhaix in 2003, but I was stopped by
knee pain not tiredness so it wouldn't have helped.
Riding faster makes most of the problems associated with PBP either go
away or be much less bothersome. Too many randonneurs get stuck on
avoiding the closing times of controles rather than having positive time
goals. Skirting being DQ'd for 90 hours is just too damned stressful.
Ride at a minimum of a 75 hour pace (average of 16 km/h overall or 10
mph, which translates to a minimum rolling speed of 15 mph or 24 km/h
and keeping non-sleeping controles to 15 minutes or less) and eliminate
that problem.
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Date: 06 Sep 2007 13:04:56
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <1189083128.119455.132340@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com >,
MailToDaveR@gmail.com wrote:
> but I think RUSA should start providing some rider ed about watching
> out for other riders. Yeah, we're supposed to be independent
This seems to be a particularly American viewpoint of randonneuring. At
PBP 2003 it seemed like every American was on their own individual ride
and that there was something wrong with riding cooperatively with
others. The Americans, it seemed, were all loners unless it was a
husband and wife team. I am sure there were exceptions to this, after
all I only met a fraction of the 4000+ riders.
By contrast I saw many French, Danes, Australians, Belgians, English,
etc. riding together in cooperative groups. Each group had its own
unique character- the Australians were raucously funny, the Danes rode
along singing and doing everything as a group, the Belgians were very
quiet and efficient in pacelines, and the French were a rolling party.
My French is tres mauvais but nonetheless I really enjoyed rolling along
with the French groups.
My experience on RUSA brevets is much the same- most everyone is on
their own ride as individuals. Seeing people stick together in
cooperative groups is somewhat rare. We seem to think that cooperation
degrades or devalues the individual achievement or something. There is
no team in I.
There may be some safety in this individualism, though- most American
randonneurs have only the foggiest notion of how a paceline operates and
even less of a idea of how to ride in an echelon formation.
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Date: 07 Sep 2007 19:17:37
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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Tim McNamara wrote:
> In article <1189083128.119455.132340@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>,
> MailToDaveR@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> but I think RUSA should start providing some rider ed about watching
>> out for other riders. Yeah, we're supposed to be independent
>
> This seems to be a particularly American viewpoint of randonneuring. At
> PBP 2003 it seemed like every American was on their own individual ride
> and that there was something wrong with riding cooperatively with
> others. The Americans, it seemed, were all loners unless it was a
> husband and wife team. I am sure there were exceptions to this, after
> all I only met a fraction of the 4000+ riders.
>
> By contrast I saw many French, Danes, Australians, Belgians, English,
> etc. riding together in cooperative groups. Each group had its own
> unique character- the Australians were raucously funny, the Danes rode
> along singing and doing everything as a group, the Belgians were very
> quiet and efficient in pacelines, and the French were a rolling party.
> My French is tres mauvais but nonetheless I really enjoyed rolling along
> with the French groups.
>
> My experience on RUSA brevets is much the same- most everyone is on
> their own ride as individuals. Seeing people stick together in
> cooperative groups is somewhat rare. We seem to think that cooperation
> degrades or devalues the individual achievement or something. There is
> no team in I.
>
> There may be some safety in this individualism, though- most American
> randonneurs have only the foggiest notion of how a paceline operates and
> even less of a idea of how to ride in an echelon formation.
----------------
I understand what you're saying about
pacelines, but for me personally, I
thought brevets were a blessed escape
from them. When you're in races you
spend your whole ride looking at
someone's ass, finally I could at least
see what I was riding through. Safety
is also a major issue. The only crashes
I've been involved in, were in pacelines
where someone screwed up. And finally,
I know I'm probably an oddball on this
one, but chit-chat seems to double the
distance for me. Don't get me wrong,
I've had some good brevets, riding with
people, but if I end up solo, at least I
can take a pee without asking for
permission.
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Date: 04 Sep 2007 10:37:03
From: russellseaton1@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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On Sep 4, 11:59 am, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com > wrote:
> On Sep 3, 8:04 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
>
> <russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> <huge snip>
>
> > As for why you do it. My answer is to prove to myself I can do it.
> > PBP is the main event of long distance riding. So its the one you
> > have to do. Some might say its highly masochistic. But you still
> > have to run the race, ride the ride to prove you got the strength,
> > endurance, speed, whatever to do it. You have to prove it with
> > actions, not words.- Hide quoted text -
>
> No offense, but that makes no sense at all. You do not have to run
> the race, ride the ride to prove you got the strength, etc. To whom
> are you proving you have the strength? Isn't it like a giant century
> with rest stops, etc.? Are there prizes for placing?
Proving it to yourself. You set a goal and then you do the actions to
acheive that goal. Seems simple enough. Many cyclists work up to
riding a century as a monumental goal. Do you stop there and never
ride further? Never challenge yourself to go further? I know people
who only ride centuries more or less. Why not push yourself to see
how far you can ride?
Giant century with rest stops? Not really due to the total miles
involved and the time limits that dictate you keep moving.
>
> I remember lining up for one of those San Jose business park crits in
> the early 80s, and some guy lines up next to me that looks vaguely
> familiar. I ask him who he is (I don't remember his name), and he
> goes on about how he was in Bicycling magazine and won the JMO, etc.,
> etc. (too much info). I was polite and said "hey, that's great." He
> got shelled at about lap ten -- and probably went out after the race
> and rode about a million miles on the way home, alone.
>
> I know I shouldn't be critical because I engage in all sorts of
> compulsive behavior (I still think I am in training for racing, which
> I am not) and certainly understand the desire to do monumental things,
> but I just don't understand why a person would spend so much time on a
> bike to the exclusion of other social activities -- particularly a
> person with a job, family and house.
I consider riding a social activity. And job stress reliever. And
enjoyable activity. I try to maximize enjoyable activities. PBP
itself is not enjoyable for most of the miles. But most of the riding
up to then is very enjoyable. And you put in far more time and miles
riding before and after PBP than on PBP itself. Can't think of too
many other things I would prefer doing. Getting ready for PBP gives
you a goal to focus on. Goals are good to keep you directed.
If I were to structure my life
> to free up enough time to train for PBP (which would be impossible),
Depends on how you use your riding time. You don't have to spend that
much time or mileage getting ready if you spend the training time
wisely. Cutting out the junk miles frees up an immense amount of
time. Junk miles can be OK if you are riding for fun only, or as a
social activity. But just tooling along at 12-15 mph hour after hour
isn't a wise expenditure of time. Speed work. Fast pack riding.
Intervals. Maximize the use of your time and you will be better
prepared for PBP than people who spend 5 times the hours on the bike.
Quality miles, not quantity is the key for being ready to ride long
distances.
I
> would use that time to remodel the downstairs bath and to hone my
> tiling skills. Maybe get super good at PEX piping. Prove to myself
> that I can plaster! (I mean real plaster, which is a trick.)
I've postponed some home improvement projects this spring and summer.
None were critical so they can be done when the weather isn't as nice
for riding. This fall some basement painting will be done. And
electrical work. When its cold outside these projects are perfect.
As for proving to yourself you can do these activities, same as long
distance biking. You can talk all you want about how good you are at
construction and remodeling. But until you do the activity its just
talk. You have to do the activity to prove to yourself and others you
can do it. I have enough troubles with sheetrock that I'll leave
plastering for someone else. Kind of like me having enough troubles
with 1200k brevets that I'll let others do RAAM.
-- Jay
> Beattie.
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Date: 04 Sep 2007 09:59:55
From: Jay Beattie
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Sep 3, 8:04 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"
<russellseat...@yahoo.com > wrote:
<huge snip >
> As for why you do it. My answer is to prove to myself I can do it.
> PBP is the main event of long distance riding. So its the one you
> have to do. Some might say its highly masochistic. But you still
> have to run the race, ride the ride to prove you got the strength,
> endurance, speed, whatever to do it. You have to prove it with
> actions, not words.- Hide quoted text -
No offense, but that makes no sense at all. You do not have to run
the race, ride the ride to prove you got the strength, etc. To whom
are you proving you have the strength? Isn't it like a giant century
with rest stops, etc.? Are there prizes for placing?
I remember lining up for one of those San Jose business park crits in
the early 80s, and some guy lines up next to me that looks vaguely
familiar. I ask him who he is (I don't remember his name), and he
goes on about how he was in Bicycling magazine and won the JMO, etc.,
etc. (too much info). I was polite and said "hey, that's great." He
got shelled at about lap ten -- and probably went out after the race
and rode about a million miles on the way home, alone.
I know I shouldn't be critical because I engage in all sorts of
compulsive behavior (I still think I am in training for racing, which
I am not) and certainly understand the desire to do monumental things,
but I just don't understand why a person would spend so much time on a
bike to the exclusion of other social activities -- particularly a
person with a job, family and house. If I were to structure my life
to free up enough time to train for PBP (which would be impossible), I
would use that time to remodel the downstairs bath and to hone my
tiling skills. Maybe get super good at PEX piping. Prove to myself
that I can plaster! (I mean real plaster, which is a trick.) -- Jay
Beattie.
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Date: 05 Sep 2007 10:35:03
From: Peter Cole
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
Jay Beattie wrote:
nd rode about a million miles on the way home, alone.
>
> I know I shouldn't be critical because I engage in all sorts of
> compulsive behavior (I still think I am in training for racing, which
> I am not) and certainly understand the desire to do monumental things,
> but I just don't understand why a person would spend so much time on a
> bike to the exclusion of other social activities -- particularly a
> person with a job, family and house. If I were to structure my life
> to free up enough time to train for PBP (which would be impossible), I
> would use that time to remodel the downstairs bath and to hone my
> tiling skills. Maybe get super good at PEX piping. Prove to myself
> that I can plaster! (I mean real plaster, which is a trick.) -- Jay
> Beattie.
I hear you, I've not done brevet riding in a couple of years because
it's just too time consuming. It may sound twisted, but I liked brevets
because they conditioned me against discomfort. I think you can build a
tolerance for discomfort like anything else. Having a high tolerance for
discomfort turns out to be a very useful thing, I never realized how
soft I was.
Brevets can be ordeals, but they have intensity in both highs and lows.
Sometimes life feels just too flat, pushing yourself just feels good,
even when it's painful.
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Date: 04 Sep 2007 04:23:07
From: Dave Larrington
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
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On 31 Aug, 21:41, Zog The Undeniable <hrothga...@yahoo.com > wrote:
> Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:
> > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris are starting to show up, read this
> > shocking one
>
> >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> Therecumbentrider who went off the road may have been uk.rec.cycling's
> own Dave Larrington. He's fine now with no lasting injuries, although
> he was actually claiming to be the Mayor of Mortagne when they took him
> to hospital (sleep deprivation/caffeine overdose). His bike and other
> bits have also been recovered and taken back to England.
>From reading Clare's account, I don't think it was me - I only got a
single ambulance and that in Mortagne town centre. I /did/ hear that
some poor sod had snuffed it in his sleep at Loud=E9ac on the outward
leg, but have no idea whether this is true.
As to the recovery of bike and bits back to England, 'twas (nearly)
all my own work. Here is what to do if one's travel insewerants is
with Assistance International: on no account do anything which causes
one to require their services. I'm still waiting for the useless
shower of dunces to phone back from last Wednesday :-(
--
Dave Larrington
Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
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Date: 03 Sep 2007 20:04:54
From: russellseaton1@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 30, 1:20 am, Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com >
wrote:
> > There are several ways to mentally approach brevets- mine is to think of
> > them as a really long enjoyable ride. I look at the scenery, talk to
> > people, enjoy each moment as best I can. Crappy weather really cuts
> > into that strategy, though, and my mind set would not have been positive
> > at this PBP and as such I really don't much mind having missed it. I am
> > a hedonistic slacker and I don't feel much need to place myself in
> > adverse circumstances for the sake of overcoming adversity. Rather than
> > getting an ego boost out of overcoming such travails, I think "WTF were
> > you thinking, Timothy, you idiot?"
>
> > The other approach is, to my thinking, much more grim. The focus is not
> > on the process but the goal and in many cases the goal is simply to beat
> > the time cutoffs. There was some of that in this report. There is a
> > tendency in human functioning that you follow what you focus on- if
> > you're focused on the closing times I think that you will tend to cut it
> > close and be really stressed out by it, which decreases your performance
> > and brings you ever closer to the cutoff. The people whose goals are
> > realistic but well in advance of the closing times of each control seem
> > to have a happier ride. People whose goals are just unrealistic (e.g.,
> > finishing in 60 hours when they are really capable of 85 hours) also
> > seemed to suffer a lot. In 2003 I saw way too many people- almost all of
> > them American, whether by coincidence I don't know- who were way to
> > wigged out and had turned just nasty towards others, even others who
> > were trying to help. They were quickly left to stew in their own
> > juices. Speaking even a little bit of French (even if just enough for
> > the politenesses) helped a whole lot, but many Americans didn't seem to
> > have bothered to learn those- even though you can learn enough French to
> > seem polite in about 30 minutes.
>
> > PBP is an interesting thing. If you read the memoirs of people who did
> > them 50 years ago, there was greater adventure. There were only a few
> > hundred riders, not 5000. The route was minimally marked and you had to
> > pay close attention to the cue sheet. The checkpoints were a guy
> > sitting at a table in a restaurant rather than full-service pit stops
> > with beds, meals and mechanics. There were no drop bags- riders mailed
> > their supplies to the checkpoints in advance which required careful
> > planning to make sure that your supplies were in the right place at the
> > right time. Over the years the event has gotten bigger, better supplied
> > and vastly more popular. The miles are still as hard to ride, though.
>
> -----------------
> Very good summary, as I've done some
> brevets myself. What people don't know,
> it isn't like most rides or races, where
> you suck some wheel most of the time,
> there is a lot of strategy involved.
> But in the end, it's how well you ride,
> but having the right supplies, clothes,
> lights, that will make you do that.
> Adverse weather seems to turn it into an
> Everest climb survival of the fittist
> type of an event. But in acceptable
> weather, it's for me the most enjoyable
> riding you can do. There is a clock to
> keep you honest, but unlike races, it
> isn't the whole game.
>
> What I've heard is that Colorado-Kansas
> 1200 is similar to what you said pbp use
> to be like. Some think it might be too
> lonely, where you only might end up
> riding with 4 riders of similar ability.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Last Chance 1200k is maybe the easiest 1200k brevet. If you want to
set a personal best time, or qualify for RAAM, do the Last Chance.
Terrain is gently rolling. Not difficult at all. Long gentle
climbs. Pretty good roads without lots and lots of traffic. There
are trucks though. Route is easy to follow. US Hwy 36 for about 3/4
of the ride. Hard to get lost. And rattlesnakes on the shoulder of
the road with your tires inches from them. A unique riding
experience. 35 people so you have the choice of riding with a group
or going alone. Only obstacle is the wind. If the 2006 sidewinds
were headwinds, finishing would be nearly impossible.
PBP has more hills. But its hills aren't too bad. And it has plenty
of flat and gently rolling miles too. Rain and cool weather this year
of course. I had enough clothing so I was never cold. Cool at times
and a bit warm at other times. Shorts, leg warmers, short sleeve
jersey, and long sleeve jersey. Pearl Izumi Zephyr like wind breaker
the first night that was barely adequate. Then Showers Pass heavy
warm rain coat the rest of the way. Still with short and long sleeve
jerseys. Never long fingered gloves or balaclava or hood or shoe
covers. Except for being wet, the temperatures were actually ideal
for long distance riding. Cool is better than warm. 50s at night.
60s-70s in daytime. Plus rain off and on day and night. And
headwinds the first half. But not tailwinds the entire second half.
Tailwinds part of the second half, but not the whole second half. The
winds were not fair.
If you are going to do PBP do a couple things. 1. Ride a 1200k or
1000k the year before here in the US where its easy to get food,
motels, etc. There are lots of US 1200k brevets. 2. Ride lots of
brevets in the preceding years so you know how your body reacts to
different mileage. 300 is different than 400 and is different than
600. 3. GET FAST ON THE BIKE. Speed makes lots of problems
disappear. I've read a few of the writeups on the 2007 PBP. Other
than the weather, they were nothing like what I experienced. I never
saw a crowd or line at any control. After the first 60 miles, I never
would have guessed I was on a ride with 5000 entrants. Lots and lots
of miles were ridden alone without another rider in sight. The 5000
entrants cause lots of hassle before the ride begins due to bike
inspections, registration, hotels, actually starting, etc. But during
the ride they were not an issue if you just rode ahead of the vast
majority of them.
As for why you do it. My answer is to prove to myself I can do it.
PBP is the main event of long distance riding. So its the one you
have to do. Some might say its highly masochistic. But you still
have to run the race, ride the ride to prove you got the strength,
endurance, speed, whatever to do it. You have to prove it with
actions, not words.
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Date: 03 Sep 2007 23:04:22
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <1188875094.508967.63240@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com >,
"russellseaton1@yahoo.com" <russellseaton1@yahoo.com > wrote:
> If you are going to do PBP do a couple things. 1. Ride a 1200k or
> 1000k the year before here in the US where its easy to get food,
> motels, etc. There are lots of US 1200k brevets. 2. Ride lots of
> brevets in the preceding years so you know how your body reacts to
> different mileage. 300 is different than 400 and is different than
> 600. 3. GET FAST ON THE BIKE. Speed makes lots of problems
> disappear.
This is all excellent advice for Us riders. Before spending- by my
calculations for my situation- $5,000 on a bike ride in France, do a
1200K here in the US. It's a lot cheaper, you know the language, you
know the products in the stores, you know how the phone numbers work,
etc. And speed training pays many dividends, including significantly
improving your endurance as well as putting you ahead of the many
overwrought riders pedaling along in fear of not making the time cut.
If you don't want to compete with 2000 riders for 250 sleeping spaces on
a rainy night in Loudeac, ride a bit faster and get there before 'em!
|
| |
Date: 02 Sep 2007 22:15:33
From: datakoll
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Sep 2, 11:23 am, datakoll <datak...@yahoo.com > wrote:
> http://www.distancerider.net/2006.php
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070902/ap_on_re_eu/athletes__hearts;_ylt=Alns3K9a0qKQ49jrldsTpOas0NUE
|
| |
Date: 02 Sep 2007 15:23:44
From: datakoll
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
http://www.distancerider.net/2006.php
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 21:13:28
From: Jay Beattie
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 31, 7:21 pm, Nate Knutson <biken...@riseup.net > wrote:
> On Aug 31, 1:06 pm, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 31, 11:50 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
> > > In article
> > > <1188582403.388812.129...@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
> > > ,
> > > Hank Wirtz <h...@wirtznet.net> wrote:
>
> > > > On Aug 31, 10:25 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > > > > In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > > > > Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> > > > > > are starting to show up, read this
> > > > > > shocking one
>
> > > > > >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> > > > > A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
> > > > > quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
>
> > > > That Michael Press...what a humanitarian. A real empath, him.
>
> > > You must have been empathizing nineteen to the dozen
> > > when you go to this.
>
> > > "Little did I know Mother Nature would pick this day to
> > > present me with my monthly bill, no wonder I was
> > > nauseous! I guess it was a good thing we were rain
> > > soaked."
>
> > A few things:
>
> > 1. Did Clare not have a calendar?
> > 2. If Clare is an uber-duber ultra athlete, what is she doing with a
> > period anyway?
>
> wtf? Are you serious? Not all women keep track, many many women have
> completely or somewhat irregular periods, mental and physical stress
> could easily be a factor, etc. And the second comment is just stupid,
> insensitive and sexist.- Hide quoted text -
Yep, it was totally snide! Because (and I quote):
Well first, let me put in this disclaimer. This report is written by
an athlete, an ultra-endurance one at that, and it is written first
and foremost for my fellow ultra-endurance athletes, and for those
aspiring to be ones. Now a marathon runner or century cyclist is
certainly an endurance athlete, but not within this context, an
Ironman athlete is barely beginning to scratch the surface here with
the horrors of the happenings of the human body. (I am one of each of
these so these athletes should not be insulted, only understand that
whatever you've gone through can not compare to what happens over
nearly four days of continuous movement). Childbirth would be a close
second I'm told.
I mean really, an "ultra endurance athlete" -- one who says that an
"Ironman athlete is barely beginning to scratch the surface here with
the horrors of the happenings of the human body" -- and she's
complaining about getting her period? If we're going for Queen for
Day, I'll get my former racer wife to chime in with real stories of
bicycle woe: stitches, broken bones and concussions -- and riding the
Death Ride with her period, all done without without posting to the
internet, and amazingly, without complaint. And that does not even
cover the non-bicycle related brain surgery -- done while she was
awake. Try getting your skull drilled while awake. I would much rather
hallucinate while riding my bike around Paris.-- Jay Beattie.
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 19:21:22
From: Nate Knutson
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 31, 1:06 pm, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com > wrote:
> On Aug 31, 11:50 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > In article
> > <1188582403.388812.129...@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
> > ,
> > Hank Wirtz <h...@wirtznet.net> wrote:
>
> > > On Aug 31, 10:25 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > > > In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > > > Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> > > > > are starting to show up, read this
> > > > > shocking one
>
> > > > >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> > > > A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
> > > > quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
>
> > > That Michael Press...what a humanitarian. A real empath, him.
>
> > You must have been empathizing nineteen to the dozen
> > when you go to this.
>
> > "Little did I know Mother Nature would pick this day to
> > present me with my monthly bill, no wonder I was
> > nauseous! I guess it was a good thing we were rain
> > soaked."
>
> A few things:
>
> 1. Did Clare not have a calendar?
> 2. If Clare is an uber-duber ultra athlete, what is she doing with a
> period anyway?
wtf? Are you serious? Not all women keep track, many many women have
completely or somewhat irregular periods, mental and physical stress
could easily be a factor, etc. And the second comment is just stupid,
insensitive and sexist.
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 21:41:43
From: Zog The Undeniable
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:
> the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris are starting to show up, read this
> shocking one
>
> http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
The recumbent rider who went off the road may have been uk.rec.cycling's
own Dave Larrington. He's fine now with no lasting injuries, although
he was actually claiming to be the Mayor of Mortagne when they took him
to hospital (sleep deprivation/caffeine overdose). His bike and other
bits have also been recovered and taken back to England.
|
| | |
Date: 29 Aug 2007 23:26:06
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
>
> The recumbent rider who went off the road may have been uk.rec.cycling's
> own Dave Larrington. He's fine now with no lasting injuries, although
> he was actually claiming to be the Mayor of Mortagne when they took him
> to hospital (sleep deprivation/caffeine overdose). His bike and other
> bits have also been recovered and taken back to England.
----------------
Rumors are rampant on those things, it's
inevitably "I think he/she died." I use
to always discount the body counts I
heard, until last year someone actually
did get killed (hit by a car) on a ride
I was on. When you are in near death
yourself, it doesn't take much of an
imagination to think people are all
dying around you.
|
| | | |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 21:50:28
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <13dhiat3vqju65@corp.supernews.com >,
Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyboss@hotmail.com > wrote:
> >
> > The recumbent rider who went off the road may have been
> > uk.rec.cycling's own Dave Larrington. He's fine now with no
> > lasting injuries, although he was actually claiming to be the Mayor
> > of Mortagne when they took him to hospital (sleep
> > deprivation/caffeine overdose). His bike and other bits have also
> > been recovered and taken back to England.
> ---------------- Rumors are rampant on those things, it's inevitably
> "I think he/she died." I use to always discount the body counts I
> heard, until last year someone actually did get killed (hit by a car)
> on a ride I was on. When you are in near death yourself, it doesn't
> take much of an imagination to think people are all dying around you.
LOL! In 2003, with the excellent fair weather, lots of people slept by
the side of the road, in city parks, etc. Most of them had "space"
blankets and it looked like UFOs had been dumping bodies out of the
hatch all over western France. It was really kind of hilarious (after
riding 450 km in 24 hours, one is either easily amused or
semi-comatose). In 2007 I doubt that people were voluntarily sleeping
outside.
|
| | | | |
Date: 30 Aug 2007 07:13:04
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
T
> LOL! In 2003, with the excellent fair weather, lots of people slept by
> the side of the road, in city parks, etc. Most of them had "space"
> blankets and it looked like UFOs had been dumping bodies out of the
> hatch all over western France. It was really kind of hilarious (after
> riding 450 km in 24 hours, one is either easily amused or
> semi-comatose). In 2007 I doubt that people were voluntarily sleeping
> outside.
---------------
I think that may have led to many of the
DNF's, the inability to sleep on the
side of the road. Of the 9 I knew who
went to this pbp, only 4 finished. Two
of them, were hard as nails, did a 400
that I DNF'd in that were in conditions
that I can only describe as a night long
hurricane, with water up to the hubs for
half of the 400 (I got hypothermia).
I'll be interested to see what happened
to them, when I hear from them (they
didn't even make it to Brest). But I'm
guessing there wasn't even enough hotel
rooms for all of those people, so maybe
if you couldn't get a dry place to
sleep, you just quit.
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 13:37:31
From: Smokey
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 29, 11:37 pm, Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com >
wrote:
> the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> are starting to show up, read this
> shocking one
>
> http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
I admire anyone with the courage and endurance to finish P-B-P, but
have to say it doesn't sound much like fun. I believe the term Jobst
uses is "suffer-fest".
Smokey
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 13:06:10
From: Jay Beattie
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 31, 11:50 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net > wrote:
> In article
> <1188582403.388812.129...@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com>
> ,
> Hank Wirtz <h...@wirtznet.net> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 31, 10:25 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > > In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > > Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
>
> > > wrote:
> > > > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> > > > are starting to show up, read this
> > > > shocking one
>
> > > >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> > > A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
> > > quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
>
> > That Michael Press...what a humanitarian. A real empath, him.
>
> You must have been empathizing nineteen to the dozen
> when you go to this.
>
> "Little did I know Mother Nature would pick this day to
> present me with my monthly bill, no wonder I was
> nauseous! I guess it was a good thing we were rain
> soaked."
A few things:
1. Did Clare not have a calendar?
2. If Clare is an uber-duber ultra athlete, what is she doing with a
period anyway?
And, because Jobst is absent, let me say the following:
I love the internet. Everyone gets to be Queen for a Day, except now
instead of stories about surviving dire and unavoidable catastrophes,
people go on about surviving expensive and time consuming, fly-all-the-
way-to-France, self-induced catastrophes. Look, I pounded this nail in
to my head! It really hurt -- worse than child birth! -- Jay Beattie.
|
| | |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 16:00:28
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <1188590770.300799.163960@q5g2000prf.googlegroups.com >,
Jay Beattie <jbeattie@lindsayhart.com > wrote:
> On Aug 31, 11:50 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> >
> > "Little did I know Mother Nature would pick this day to present me
> > with my monthly bill, no wonder I was nauseous! I guess it was a
> > good thing we were rain soaked."
It was indeed more information than I really needed to know.
> A few things:
>
> 1. Did Clare not have a calendar?
Stress can cause an out-of-rhythm menstrual cycle.
> 2. If Clare is an uber-duber ultra athlete, what is she doing with a
> period anyway?
Her body fat probably isn't low enough to stop menstruation. That's
really only seen in anorexics and severely low body fat athletes.
> And, because Jobst is absent, let me say the following:
>
> I love the internet. Everyone gets to be Queen for a Day, except now
> instead of stories about surviving dire and unavoidable catastrophes,
> people go on about surviving expensive and time consuming,
> fly-all-the- way-to-France, self-induced catastrophes. Look, I
> pounded this nail in to my head! It really hurt -- worse than child
> birth!
LOL! But with this one you really do get merit badges (and they are
quite nice).
There are several ways to mentally approach brevets- mine is to think of
them as a really long enjoyable ride. I look at the scenery, talk to
people, enjoy each moment as best I can. Crappy weather really cuts
into that strategy, though, and my mind set would not have been positive
at this PBP and as such I really don't much mind having missed it. I am
a hedonistic slacker and I don't feel much need to place myself in
adverse circumstances for the sake of overcoming adversity. Rather than
getting an ego boost out of overcoming such travails, I think "WTF were
you thinking, Timothy, you idiot?"
The other approach is, to my thinking, much more grim. The focus is not
on the process but the goal and in many cases the goal is simply to beat
the time cutoffs. There was some of that in this report. There is a
tendency in human functioning that you follow what you focus on- if
you're focused on the closing times I think that you will tend to cut it
close and be really stressed out by it, which decreases your performance
and brings you ever closer to the cutoff. The people whose goals are
realistic but well in advance of the closing times of each control seem
to have a happier ride. People whose goals are just unrealistic (e.g.,
finishing in 60 hours when they are really capable of 85 hours) also
seemed to suffer a lot. In 2003 I saw way too many people- almost all of
them American, whether by coincidence I don't know- who were way to
wigged out and had turned just nasty towards others, even others who
were trying to help. They were quickly left to stew in their own
juices. Speaking even a little bit of French (even if just enough for
the politenesses) helped a whole lot, but many Americans didn't seem to
have bothered to learn those- even though you can learn enough French to
seem polite in about 30 minutes.
PBP is an interesting thing. If you read the memoirs of people who did
them 50 years ago, there was greater adventure. There were only a few
hundred riders, not 5000. The route was minimally marked and you had to
pay close attention to the cue sheet. The checkpoints were a guy
sitting at a table in a restaurant rather than full-service pit stops
with beds, meals and mechanics. There were no drop bags- riders mailed
their supplies to the checkpoints in advance which required careful
planning to make sure that your supplies were in the right place at the
right time. Over the years the event has gotten bigger, better supplied
and vastly more popular. The miles are still as hard to ride, though.
|
| | | |
Date: 29 Aug 2007 23:20:31
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
> There are several ways to mentally approach brevets- mine is to think of
> them as a really long enjoyable ride. I look at the scenery, talk to
> people, enjoy each moment as best I can. Crappy weather really cuts
> into that strategy, though, and my mind set would not have been positive
> at this PBP and as such I really don't much mind having missed it. I am
> a hedonistic slacker and I don't feel much need to place myself in
> adverse circumstances for the sake of overcoming adversity. Rather than
> getting an ego boost out of overcoming such travails, I think "WTF were
> you thinking, Timothy, you idiot?"
>
> The other approach is, to my thinking, much more grim. The focus is not
> on the process but the goal and in many cases the goal is simply to beat
> the time cutoffs. There was some of that in this report. There is a
> tendency in human functioning that you follow what you focus on- if
> you're focused on the closing times I think that you will tend to cut it
> close and be really stressed out by it, which decreases your performance
> and brings you ever closer to the cutoff. The people whose goals are
> realistic but well in advance of the closing times of each control seem
> to have a happier ride. People whose goals are just unrealistic (e.g.,
> finishing in 60 hours when they are really capable of 85 hours) also
> seemed to suffer a lot. In 2003 I saw way too many people- almost all of
> them American, whether by coincidence I don't know- who were way to
> wigged out and had turned just nasty towards others, even others who
> were trying to help. They were quickly left to stew in their own
> juices. Speaking even a little bit of French (even if just enough for
> the politenesses) helped a whole lot, but many Americans didn't seem to
> have bothered to learn those- even though you can learn enough French to
> seem polite in about 30 minutes.
>
> PBP is an interesting thing. If you read the memoirs of people who did
> them 50 years ago, there was greater adventure. There were only a few
> hundred riders, not 5000. The route was minimally marked and you had to
> pay close attention to the cue sheet. The checkpoints were a guy
> sitting at a table in a restaurant rather than full-service pit stops
> with beds, meals and mechanics. There were no drop bags- riders mailed
> their supplies to the checkpoints in advance which required careful
> planning to make sure that your supplies were in the right place at the
> right time. Over the years the event has gotten bigger, better supplied
> and vastly more popular. The miles are still as hard to ride, though.
-----------------
Very good summary, as I've done some
brevets myself. What people don't know,
it isn't like most rides or races, where
you suck some wheel most of the time,
there is a lot of strategy involved.
But in the end, it's how well you ride,
but having the right supplies, clothes,
lights, that will make you do that.
Adverse weather seems to turn it into an
Everest climb survival of the fittist
type of an event. But in acceptable
weather, it's for me the most enjoyable
riding you can do. There is a clock to
keep you honest, but unlike races, it
isn't the whole game.
What I've heard is that Colorado-Kansas
1200 is similar to what you said pbp use
to be like. Some think it might be too
lonely, where you only might end up
riding with 4 riders of similar ability.
|
| | | | |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 21:46:48
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <13dhi0e4obbo055@corp.supernews.com >,
Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyboss@hotmail.com > wrote:
> > PBP is an interesting thing. If you read the memoirs of people who
> > did them 50 years ago, there was greater adventure. There were
> > only a few hundred riders, not 5000. The route was minimally
> > marked and you had to pay close attention to the cue sheet. The
> > checkpoints were a guy sitting at a table in a restaurant rather
> > than full-service pit stops with beds, meals and mechanics. There
> > were no drop bags- riders mailed their supplies to the checkpoints
> > in advance which required careful planning to make sure that your
> > supplies were in the right place at the right time. Over the years
> > the event has gotten bigger, better supplied and vastly more
> > popular. The miles are still as hard to ride, though.
> -----------------
>
> Very good summary, as I've done some brevets myself. What people
> don't know, it isn't like most rides or races, where you suck some
> wheel most of the time, there is a lot of strategy involved.
There is indeed much strategy involved, which to me is one of the more
interesting aspects of this odd little branch of cycle sport. That
doesn't stop my ultra-minimalist friend Doug from showing up on brevets
up to 600K with one spare tube, a mini-pump, a tire lever and some cash-
and finishing it and having a great time.
> But in the end, it's how well you ride, but having the right
> supplies, clothes, lights, that will make you do that. Adverse
> weather seems to turn it into an Everest climb survival of the
> fittist type of an event.
I don't know that having the right supplies, clothes, lights etc. will
make you ride well, but the *wrong* stuff can sure make it a misery. I
see a lot of "wrong" stuff on these rides- stuff that'd work for road
races not brevets. But then my friend Doug does these rides with the
stuff you'd do a road race with and enjoys the heck out of it. So YMMV
is certainly true in randonneuring.
The first (US) American back to Paris this year was Jan Heine, publisher
of Bicycle Quarterly, on a 1973 Alex Singer with 700 x 30 tires, a 6
speed freewheel, "compact" crank gearing, generator lights and a
handlebar bag. He rode the 1200 km in 50 hours. Criminy.
> But in acceptable weather, it's for me the most enjoyable riding you
> can do. There is a clock to keep you honest, but unlike races, it
> isn't the whole game.
Yup, that's it exactly. In a race, my success diminishes your success
or vice versa. In randonneuring, my success does not diminish your
success in any way.
> What I've heard is that Colorado-Kansas 1200 is similar to what you
> said pbp use to be like. Some think it might be too lonely, where
> you only might end up riding with 4 riders of similar ability.
I've not done any of the North American 1200Ks. BMB is reputed to be
quite brutal terrain-wise but is probably most like PBP in the 70s. The
Rocky Mountain 1200K in Canada is supposed to be very scenic but plagued
with heavy truck and RV traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway. The
Cascade 1200K in WA is supposed to be very well organized but also very
hard. I think you're referring to the Last Chance 1200K:
http://www.rmccrides.com/lastchance.htm
which from the photos has many miles of riding through just about
nothing but sagebrush, except for the wind. Lots of wind.
Something that I would suggest for Americans is to do a 1200K on this
continent before going to France to do the granddaddy of them all. My
estimate was that PBP would have cost me $5000 (air fare, hotel room,
unpaid time off work, etc.). That's a lot of money to find out if you
can ride 1200 km in 90 hours. It's a whole lot cheaper to make that
experiment here. If it works out well, then go to France armed with the
knowledge you learned from the experience.
The local RBA, Martin Fahje, has now completed 5 PBPs and a RM1200 and
he says that each one is actually easier than the last. You gain the
knowledge of how to ride this type of thing. PBP was my first 1200K and
IMHO that was a mistake- one that is shared by many PBP first-timers. I
should have done one of the North American ones in a prior year.
|
| | | | | |
Date: 30 Aug 2007 08:00:47
From: Crescentius Vespasianus
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
> The first (US) American back to Paris this year was Jan Heine, publisher
> of Bicycle Quarterly, on a 1973 Alex Singer with 700 x 30 tires, a 6
> speed freewheel, "compact" crank gearing, generator lights and a
> handlebar bag. He rode the 1200 km in 50 hours. Criminy.
>
----------
That is unbelievable. That was one of
my best changes, was using a wider tire.
I could only go to a 28, with bikes I
have, but I see a lot of people still
using 23's. You need all the shock
absorbing you can get, and at night they
give you more confidence.
On your doing a previous 1200, before
pbp, maybe people think they only have
one 1200 in them. And as you know when
you do those pbp's, there's a lot hype
that goes on about that. RUSA, sent a
book filled with ride reports from your
2003 pbp, that really tell you what
you're getting into. It was enough to
keep me away. One report related that
the day after, everyone swells up, even
to the point where you can't recognize
people because of their bloated facial
features, couldn't fit into shoes etc.
Did that happen to you?
|
| | | | | | |
Date: 01 Sep 2007 10:10:11
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <13digfucdejhm1a@corp.supernews.com >,
Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyboss@hotmail.com > wrote:
> > The first (US) American back to Paris this year was Jan Heine,
> > publisher of Bicycle Quarterly, on a 1973 Alex Singer with 700 x 30
> > tires, a 6 speed freewheel, "compact" crank gearing, generator
> > lights and a handlebar bag. He rode the 1200 km in 50 hours.
> > Criminy.
> >
> ---------- That is unbelievable. That was one of my best changes,
> was using a wider tire. I could only go to a 28, with bikes I have,
> but I see a lot of people still using 23's. You need all the shock
> absorbing you can get, and at night they give you more confidence.
>
> On your doing a previous 1200, before pbp, maybe people think they
> only have one 1200 in them. And as you know when you do those pbp's,
> there's a lot hype that goes on about that. RUSA, sent a book filled
> with ride reports from your 2003 pbp, that really tell you what
> you're getting into. It was enough to keep me away. One report
> related that the day after, everyone swells up, even to the point
> where you can't recognize people because of their bloated facial
> features, couldn't fit into shoes etc. Did that happen to you?
No (bearing in mind that I only rode about 500-520 km due to knee
problems, so who knows what would have been the case at 1000 km). That
is usually the result of over-hydration, people having been taught to
believe that it's "hydrate or die." The people who push that concept
generally also have something to sell you- Gatorade, CamelBaks, etc. I
suspect that much of the difficulty people have on these rides comes
from eating and drinking too much rather than not enough. I've done it,
too, and have learned that I can eat and drink less and feel better as a
result. There is also pretty abundant evidence of the perils of
hydration-induced electrolyte imbalance causing impairment in
performance and even acute health risks.
My friend Tim set an alarm on his watch to prompt him to drink every 10
minutes. When he finished he couldn't get his feet comfortably back
into shoes for two days. He said he felt like was was walking on water
balloons. My feet have not swollen more than a trace on long brevets
thus far, which I attribute (rightly or wrongly) to drinking a bit less.
One useful tip I have picked up is to reduce cramps on long distance
rides by eating Tums or some other calcium source. It seems to work.
On long brevets (400 km and longer) I find that my stomach starts to get
a bit upset, so it's a double bonus.
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Date: 31 Aug 2007 10:46:43
From: Hank Wirtz
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 31, 10:25 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net > wrote:
> In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
>
> wrote:
> > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> > are starting to show up, read this
> > shocking one
>
> >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
> quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
>
> --
> Michael Press
That Michael Press...what a humanitarian. A real empath, him.
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Date: 31 Aug 2007 11:50:21
From: Michael Press
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article
<1188582403.388812.129150@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com >
,
Hank Wirtz <hank@wirtznet.net > wrote:
> On Aug 31, 10:25 am, Michael Press <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> > In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> > Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com>
> >
> > wrote:
> > > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> > > are starting to show up, read this
> > > shocking one
> >
> > >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
> >
> > A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
> > quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
>
> That Michael Press...what a humanitarian. A real empath, him.
You must have been empathizing nineteen to the dozen
when you go to this.
"Little did I know Mother Nature would pick this day to
present me with my monthly bill, no wonder I was
nauseous! I guess it was a good thing we were rain
soaked."
--
Michael Press
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 10:25:49
From: Michael Press
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <13dg9l9s67opv1b@corp.supernews.com >,
Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyboss@hotmail.com >
wrote:
> the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris
> are starting to show up, read this
> shocking one
>
> http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
A total whine-fest. I'm no iron-man, and
quit when she got nauseous and could not eat.
--
Michael Press
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 10:10:27
From: Jay Beattie
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
On Aug 31, 9:49 am, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net > wrote:
> In article <13dg9l9s67op...@corp.supernews.com>,
> Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris are starting to show up, read
> > this shocking one
>
> >http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
>
> My goodness. Well, the condition were horrible and it was her first
> PBP, so that explains a lot. There were 5000+ starters and 1800+
> abandons, something like three times the normal rate. The organizers
> estimated that this was the worst weather for PBP in 50 years.
>
> In 2003 we enjoyed ideal weather- sunny skies with high temps in the mid
> to upper 70s and nights in the upper 50s to lower 60s (Fahrenheit, of
> course- I can't think in Centigrade). Thankfully the deadly heat wave
> that had killed thousands in France had ended literally the night before
> PBP started. The ride ended up being very low stress- relatively
> speaking- as a result (too bad I didn't finish due to knee problems).
>
> PBP always has stories that are- in retrospect- amusing. Hallucinations
> are de rigeur. In 2003 a recumbent rider was so sleep deprived that he
> got lost in one of the checkpoint parking lots and kept circling the lot
> until some of the officials caught him and made him get some sleep. My
> friend Tim hallucinated alligators in the ditches along the road.
> Clare's story about Todd breaking into some French farmer's barn,
> locking his bike inside the barn and then walking away into town is
> right up there.
>
> The best story I have heard is the guy who fell asleep on the side of
> the road, was picked up by an ambulance and driven back to Paris where
> he finally woke up, and then had a friend drive him back to his bike so
> that he could finish the ride.
Do they do drug testing? If not, I could imagine any number of ways
to avoid falling asleep, or severe muscle pain, or exhaustion.-- Jay
Beattie.
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| | |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 15:30:38
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <1188580227.612364.167940@r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com >,
Jay Beattie <jbeattie@lindsayhart.com > wrote:
> Do they do drug testing? If not, I could imagine any number of ways
> to avoid falling asleep, or severe muscle pain, or exhaustion.-- Jay
> Beattie.
Not to my knowledge, since it is no longer a race per se (although there
is always a cadre of people racing, human nature being what it is).
There are rumors of doping (e.g. EPO) and of course the temptation to
use stimulants whether legal or illegal is going to be there in this
type of event. In the old days there were many OTC stimulants that you
could buy in France, now it's just caffeine pills.
|
| |
Date: 31 Aug 2007 11:49:42
From: Tim McNamara
Subject: Re: the madness of Paris-Brest-Paris........
|
In article <13dg9l9s67opv1b@corp.supernews.com >,
Crescentius Vespasianus <jazzyboss@hotmail.com > wrote:
> the ride reports of Paris-Brest-Paris are starting to show up, read
> this shocking one
>
> http://zecher.org/clare/PBP2007RideReport.html
My goodness. Well, the condition were horrible and it was her first
PBP, so that explains a lot. There were 5000+ starters and 1800+
abandons, something like three times the normal rate. The organizers
estimated that this was the worst weather for PBP in 50 years.
In 2003 we enjoyed ideal weather- sunny skies with high temps in the mid
to upper 70s and nights in the upper 50s to lower 60s (Fahrenheit, of
course- I can't think in Centigrade). Thankfully the deadly heat wave
that had killed thousands in France had ended literally the night before
PBP started. The ride ended up being very low stress- relatively
speaking- as a result (too bad I didn't finish due to knee problems).
PBP always has stories that are- in retrospect- amusing. Hallucinations
are de rigeur. In 2003 a recumbent rider was so sleep deprived that he
got lost in one of the checkpoint parking lots and kept circling the lot
until some of the officials caught him and made him get some sleep. My
friend Tim hallucinated alligators in the ditches along the road.
Clare's story about Todd breaking into some French farmer's barn,
locking his bike inside the barn and then walking away into town is
right up there.
The best story I have heard is the guy who fell asleep on the side of
the road, was picked up by an ambulance and driven back to Paris where
he finally woke up, and then had a friend drive him back to his bike so
that he could finish the ride.
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