PBP (part 2 of .. who knows)

 Well, and the possibility you may learn something about life from going forward anyhow

After waiting for the 80 hour fast group and the tandems and recumbents to go off on their 90 hour start, we were allowed to begin to head to the track around the soccer stadium in order to wait to start

 2 lines, either side of the track, converging at the top of the soccer field

(i.e the football pitch)

 Couple of riders here waiting

 Stockholm cyclist riding a fixie. Knows the lead singer from The Hellacopters.

 (Same singer from the Backyard Babies. You know?)

I actually look like I belong here

Performance enhancing drug?

(Not the first or last smoker I saw on the ride)

Looks all official and everything

The start of our group. # 5 of 6 groups in the 90 hour pack of ~ 3000 riders

Rolling along. David McCaw from Ottawa, Canada

Near sunset

The first 140k to a food stop at MORTAGNE AU PERCHE went fast through a warm but pleasant evening. The 90 hour start group I’d chosen began at 6M and sent off ~ 500 riders per group every 20 minutes until 8 PM. I was in the next to last group and at least had some daylight for the start. 

We got to the food stop and it was a mob scene.  There was a stand for coffee and sandwiches, but they were out of bread. A long line for the main cafeteria food seemed my only option. A rider passed out while standing in the line (this is nuts). The food was good and some coffee fueled me for the run to the 1^st control at VILLAINES at 221 km. 

Unfortunately, flying down the hill from the food stop, my bike bell pinged loudly. I couldn’t see any problems, so I just kept going. When I got to the rotary I realized my Garmin GPS had come off and had struck my bike bell.  Since it was my most reliable computer, I really had to ride back up the hill and try to find it. After scanning the road with my lights and reaching the top of the hill I’d seen nothing. 

I headed back down and resolved to look one last time. I’d almost reached the bottom of the hill when I hit a bump, realized THAT could have caused it to fall off and slowed. YES! Found it just at the edge of the road and still working.

I got to Villaines in the early AM hours and felt well in spite of the lack of sleep that a night start guaranteed I’d have to deal with. While the sandwich line was an option, they had nothing vegetarian. No bother, the main cafeteria line was great.

There had been an occasional rattle coming from ther rear of my bike. I suspected it was the fender, but everything seemed tight. When I took a close look, though, there was a small crack developing in the fender near the seatstay bridge. This is not good. I considered several quick fixes, but duct tape seemed the most likely and indeed seemed to hold the fender in place across the crack. I was hoping by limiting any shaking across the crack that it would not worsen.

There had been a forecast for rain on Monday and we were having  a few sprinkles , so I wanted to get my jacket. Couldn’t find it. Looked everywhere on my bike twice. Minor chaos. Went back to use the toilette. Came back and looked again for my jacket. Nothing. Well, I had a spare in my drop bag at 400k in Loudeac, so, I guessed that would be better than nothing. Got to get going.

Since it was cloudy, I decided to put my reflective vest back on for safety. And reached into my back jersey pocket, where, I found it. Next to my rain jacket. Which was in the middle pocket. 

Whole mess of pix:

We ran into one of countless small groups with roadside tables of food and drinks.

Later we zoomed through the gorgeous town of LASSAY Les Châteaux

We then got to FOUGÈRES at 300k and I reminded myself we were now a quarter of the way through and halfway to Brest. More lines for food and toilettes but moving forward. Unfortunately, though I was riding well, I wasn’t building up much time in the bank for sleep I’d planned for at Loudeac that night. Nothing to be done, though.  I had to keep moving and try to do what I could.

The stretch to TINTENIAC included a nice section of farm country including the SENS DE BRETAGNE region where it was (I think) that we passed the lavender fields I mentioned earlier.

About 20km before we got to Loudeac, and just before dark, it happened: riders from the 80 hours group who’d started 4 hours before me were already on their way BACK from Brest. They had done ~ 800 km in about 30 hours.

I got to Loudeac in the dark around 10PM and tried without success to eat, change clothes from my drop bag and take care of other needs as quickly as I could. I had 3 hours until the control would close by the time I finished with those needs and decided to sleep instead of heading on. Although my sleep was fragmented and not as restful as hoped, this meant I didn’t end up riding in the worst rain of the event that blew through around midnight.

With a dead camera battery and having forgotten to get fresh ones from my drop bag, there would be no more pix until I got back to Loudeac on the return.  (As it turned out, between rain and fog, there wasn’t a GREAT deal that I would have been dying to photograph anyhow)

During the overnight section to CARHAIX-PLOUGUER, we were to pass an optional food stop at St NICOLAS DU PELEM. When we arrived there, the volunteers directed us to a typical section of fenced off paths around a building which lead us, ….past the stop and on the way to Carhaix. No way I was turning around, so we went on.

Carhaix, again provided the same situation as the other stops: lines for everything. More potential sleep time lost just waiting for things that I usually can get done quickly on domestic brevets. Also, my fender crack had worsened and more duct tape was tried with what, again seemed a success. Thankfully, I did meet a group of the NC riders there. HUGE morale boost to see familiar faces. To my pleasant surprise, they were still on their way outbound to Brest.

I waited a bit so I could at least start off with them, but soon felt a bit ill and couldn’t keep up the pace. As we headed to the coast, drizzle and fog began to build and build and build. Soon, my glasses were in  a constant state of being covered with small water drops. All I could see was the rear light of the rider in front of me.

My rear fender started rattling again, but the prior area of the crack repairs seemed to be holding.  A family was out on the road serving coffee in this miserable weather and I stopped. After doing so, I noted my bike wouldn’t roll backward. The brakes were OK and it was driving me nuts. What the hell is wrong,  Then I saw it; the fender brace had ripped loose and the rear fender was dragging on the tire. No idea for how long that had been happening and now the fender REALLY was toast.

In a muddy field I struggled to get the fender off and still resolved to save the generator light attached to it. My back-up battery light would have to serve me from here on.

After completing the removal of the fender (an act done with “extreme prejudice”), I had some of the coffee and headed on to Brest.

The rain and fog had begun to clear as we got later in the morning, which made this stretch a bit more pleasant.

Me (best attempt at a smile, sorry) and the new bridge to Brest

I, however, was mentally struggling. I was tired and frustrated about these mechanical issues. Nevertheless, I had to admit, the bike itself was working fine, my legs felt good, even if I was in a funk. Also, the forecast had been for the rain to NOT return, so, there actually was no NEED for the fender along the way to the finish.

Ride the ride that you are dealt.

Yes, I’d planned and prepared, but, as those bumper stickers so correctly used to say, “Shit Happens.” This ride was not going anywhere near as well as I’d hoped or tried to make it go. However, it was still working out and I still had plenty of time even if not the reserves I wanted.

I was here to ride PBP. I was NOT here to ride “Keith’s pre-conceived version of how his PBP ride ought to go.”

I needed to make this keep happening as best as I could with what I did have going for me. As I said, my legs felt good. My knees felt good. My feet felt good. Physically, I was doing well and I was keeping fluids and nutrients down even if my time management at controls was terrible owing to the lines and my own needs.