Brooks Paris Brest Paris video

Above is a screenshot of 0:38 second in on the video below. This was taken the day before the start of the ride. We casually rode to Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines from Montmartre section Paris, I usually don't ride 1200kms+ wearing Lacoste. Also pictured are my tandem buddies, Pat and Cecily, who were on their honeymoon.

2011 PBP Brevet card

So the way Paris Brest Paris works, it is similar to an alley cat race, where you check in at different checkpoints(controls) where your brevet card is stamped and the time is recorded. Along with the scheduled controls, there are secret ones as well. So 1200+km of that, in the French countryside. I like that it is only organized every 4 years, it makes it special.

Beautiful french bike used as display on PBP

When I arrived at one of the last controls on Paris-Brest-Paris this year, I was shocked to see this beautiful french bike tied to a barrier as a decoration. Sure, I have seen other bikes placed throughout the route(towns are judged on their display and support of PBP), but this seemed different. This was a 1950s French blue ladies bike with Lefol fenders, dual Luxor le Paen 65 headlight, 650b wheels. I want that bike. For an instant, I thought about how I might get that bike, but that was a sleepless PBP thought. It is similar to our LaPeyle we have, seen below in an artsy Iphone picture.
Here is a video that our bike was used in, of my friend's band, Sun Airway, and directed by my friend Ricardo of Klip Collective.

Pbp performance?

I was looking around on the internet this morning and stumbled upon this posting on Tarckbike.com . I thought it was funny that the time it took for me to finish riding 750+ miles was brought up, when I posted pictures of some bicycles I thought of as ridiculous for riding a comfortable Paris Brest Paris. At no time during the ride did I think I was not going to finish the ride in the allotted time. I took hundreds of pictures and would stop and take corny scenic pictures with my bike. I even stopped and ate frittes at some random village party outside of Loudeac, that ended with Karaoke and I saw a drunken fist fight. This ride was anything but a race for me, and a lot of other riders I knew riding it. And sure, many were riding the exact bikes I thought were ridiculous, but we all had one goal, finish the ride comfortably. I knew I had another week in France and I did not want to be hobbling around or laid up in my apartment. I finished the ride Thursday and by Friday morning I was completely recovered physically, and even went for a very nice bike ride that Sunday in Bordeaux.

So, for people to look at my time and say it was close to the cutoff, they should know that my last day was filled with casual riding, meeting a like minded Italian rider named Fabio, and lots of pictures and video taking. Oh, and a wrong turn. And would I do PBP again? yes, and maybe slower!

Early 1900s bicycle ridden on PBP

Yes, this bike was ridden the whole route of Paris Brest Paris. It is a single speed with an Eadie coaster brake rear hub, plunger front brake and leather saddle, that has seen better days.
Early bicycle tax plates are visible on the headtube. As cool as this bicycle is, I was happy riding my bicycle with some gears, and proper brakes. Well done to the British rider who completed this ride, PBP he rode a Hirondelle retro-direct, and before that a triple seat tandem, and I think a more conventional road bicycle on his first Paris Brest Paris.

A couple Bilenky bicycles on PBP

There were more Bilenkys on Paris Brest Paris, like Christine's orange Bilenky, and think another bike, but I was not the best at photographing, but I tried.

Cherubim seen on PBP

Great looking bicycle, I have never seen one in person before. Cherubim is a Japanese built bicycle. I wish I took more photographs of it.

more information is on their website.

My Hanford during PBP

(photo taken during PBP, I was taking pictures ala Peter Weigle)

My Hanford rode perfectly. The only mechanical issue was a puncture(slow leak) that happened on the way back from Brest to Carhaix. I was able to pump it up to pressure and ride it to the controle to change the tube there. I remember marveling to myself how the bike just became part of me, as it was never an issue. It was a delight to ride and ascended as well as it descended.
One note was how many bikes participating in PBP did not have fenders and how I appreciated the full fenders during the rainfall and after the rainfall.

ridiculous bikes I saw doing PBP

My since of ridiculous is probably different than other people's, but here are some bikes I would not want to ride 750+ miles on, in a row.

tandem made from 2 inexpensive department store mountain bikes.

90%+ of the bikes were off the rack road racing bikes, with skinny tires, no real lights, or mudguards.

Sure this is a nice Colnago, but the rack is made of metal, sticks, and tape. really, there is branches from a tree. plus no toeclips.fairly aggressive gearing. She finished, but past the cutoff.

Colnago c-40, with seatpost mounted rack. really.

she finished ahead of me on this. . .

of course.

and as cool as this single tube pneumatic is, it didn't look all that comfortable.

various ways of resting during pbp

I tried them all! By wednesday, it was common to see about a rider every couple of miles laying on the side of the road. I would assume to the casual car driving by, it looked as if they had recently crashed. Sleeping alone on the side of the road did have it's advantages, you didn't have to hear the snoring that was ever present at the controls.

Alex Singer Bicycle shop

I did take more pictures, I will post more later, just a taste. they had quite a fleet of bikes on display, I assume for PBP, but it may be a more permanent display?

PBP finished

Fin. It was great. I finished with over 30 minutes to spare. One might say that is close to the cutoff time, but I had a great time and wasn't too worried. I took hundreds of pictures and even poised my bike in nice settings like this one below. The bleu farce paint from Peter Weigle inspired me to stop at numerous blue painted houses and maisons and chateaus. I will write more about the ride in the future, and will post more pictures. Pat and cecily also finished really strong - at 84hours exactly!

Pbp rain

Not as bad as 2007, but raining.


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PBP - tracking riders as they ride

Well, it is not the same as riding Paris-Brest-Paris, but the next best thing- following the progress of a rider, me. I am well determined to complete and every passing day, my goals get a little loftier. On the official PBP Website, you can follow me from checkpoint to checkpoint, wondering what I'm thinking about, guessing how many pan au chocolates I have eaten, and hoping I will update this blog in real time with amazing pictures of 6000 like minded cyclists.

So here is the LINK, and my rider number is 4428
my two friends I am riding with(Pat Gaffney and Cecile Adams)- 6386 & 6385

Chateau du Versailles

Nice bike ride to Versailles and the then to PBP bike inspection and official check-in.


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Cycles Laurent bike shop in Paris

Paris is home to a lot of bicycle shops and Cycles Laurent has been owed by 3 generations of the same family.
they have a lot of cool memorabilia on the walls, but like almost all Parisian bike shops, they sell and service newer bikes.

Shaftdrive with wooden fenders, the handlebars are questionable?
I don't know if I have ever seen a shaftdrive originally set up that way

weird curved seattube frame on the wall almost hidden.

Hanford built up in Paris

It is resting comfortably by the window on the 2nd floor of my Parisian flat, absorbing the French air filled with delicious bakeries and history. The bike is fully loaded, with everything that I am going to bring on PBP, minus the water bottles. I am looking forward to picking up a pair of water bottles tomorrow at a local bike shop.
Patrick is finishing up reassembling his Bilenky tandem. We are going to do the 'shakedown' ride on Saturday.

Off to France, au revoir philadelphia.

I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to Paris, contemplating the journey ahead of me. I look forward to Saturday, and our bike ride to the bicycle inspection and PBP check-in. I am excited to ride through Versailles and past the historical chateau. Of course I am very excited about the start of the ride on Sunday evening. I have told myself I must start out casual, no need to overexert myself early on, just a nice steady pace.
That of course is easier said than done, especially difficult when 6,000 cyclists are around you and you are pumped with adrenaline.

Bike ride from Paris to the start of PBP

So let's face the facts- Paris-Brest-Paris does not start or finish in Paris. It once did, but it would be a logistical nightmare to attempt to do now. So it starts in a suburb of Paris, Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines. I am staying in Paris, I have rented an apartment on Airbnb and really enjoy staying in Paris, who wouldn't? A lot of riders choose to stay close to the start, in Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines, engulfing in PBP culture and fellow riders.
So Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly recently blogged about riding from Paris to the start of the ride, and even has a cue sheet. I am hesitant to ride the route to start PBP, but I am thinking of riding it to the check-in and bicycle inspection the day before, Saturday. I think it will be a good to loosen up some jittery nerves and to give the bicycle a shake down, after being reassembled.

Best part of the route is riding past the Chateau of Versailles.

The route is blogged here, I highly recommend following his blog postings.