Paris-Brest-Paris 2027 - Anyone??

[LarryOz]

The date for the 2027 PBP is Aug 22-26, 2027
Here is their link. https://www.paris-brest-paris.org/en/
I have been talking with Cliff F and he said "he has it on his list"
I do too! (I just have not told the boss yet - but as long as she can go and be a tourist for a week - I don't think she will mind a bit)

Let's make this the year Cruzibike really shows up big for this event!
If we are really on the ball and have enough people - we could probably rent a nice large house for our home base before and after.

In my limited experience with international events: the worst part is just getting there and back. The rest is just fun riding your Cruzbike.
The longer the event - the more FUN you have!

Let's do it - who else is interested?

 

[Andreas]

Yep, if nothing unusual gets in the way, I’ll be there again. And this time I even plan to take the Vendetta.

 

[Tophat Fiddle]

Wow! I'd love to, and I'll be in Europe after Dec 2026 for a while (several months at least). I COULD take the bike.... Hmm.

 

[Damien]

I’ll be there if I live that long I rode it in 2023 and it was great. Recumbents ride in the first special group at the start of the event as an extra attraction — and spots in the regular walking start groups are the most crowded, so we get that privilege for free. This event is incredible — in 2023 there were 7,500 participants. An unforgettable experience in many ways.

The queue for the PBP start

 

[cruzKurt]

I would be curious if it would be possible to stick together for that long, or would you think everyone would just scatter?

 

[Damien]

Overall, to ride such a long distance together you really need to be a well-coordinated and disciplined group. There is also an extra difficulty here — it’s a mass event, the biggest of its kind in the world. It’s very easy to lose someone in the never-ending peloton or even in the toilet queue at a control point.

For my first PBP in 2023, I treated it as an adventure and planned to ride with whoever I met on the road. From time to time I came across someone from my Audax Poland group, but I didn’t try to stick closely to club mates, because everyone has a different pace of eating, sleeping, and riding.

PBP is an adventure. You just have to let it carry you away.

 

[Greg S]

Although it *might* be possible for a couple of people to stay together, one of the absolute most important things I tell anyone who is considering doing a Grand Randonnee, be it PBP or some other, is “ride your own ride”. If a riding partner is going slower than you want to go, all you’re doing by staying together is guaranteeing that one of you (you) is going to get less sleep. If they’re going faster than you want to go, you’re on the express train to a DNF.

Also, my general rule of thumb is: add 5 minutes at EVERY control for each person in the group.

 

[RojoRacing]

It sounds like a cool adventure, but I'm not sure I have the patience for such an event these days. If you guys do make it out there, I hope it's a fun adventure.

Sticking together requires two things of critical importance, and no matter how much you claim you can do them, you'll probably still slip up.

1. The faster rider must monitor the slower rider and ride at their pace. I've gotten very good at this over the years through experience.
2. The slower rider must monitor their own pace and communicate with the faster rider.
I've done plenty of century and double century rides/races where I and 1-2 others planned to ride together. I've typically always been the fastest of the bunch, and as much as I've regulated the pace, the others will typically mask their fatigue until it's too late. One of the best things you can do as the faster rider is to simply ask the others how they are feeling and how the pace is. Many don't remember to speak up on their own, but the question wakes them up to consider the gravity of the task at hand.

Even if you do everything perfectly, every individual experiences highs and lows and rarely at the same time, so you'll always be going at the pace of whoever is currently in a low.

 

[Damien]

You need to remember that this is a brevet and not a race, and as long as you don't exceed the 90-hour time limit, everything is fine. Actually, even if you exceed it, it's also okay – you just won't be a finisher – and the finish line tends to close down quite quickly after the limit .

Also, the sheer scale of this event means that a lot of time is lost at the control points, not only standing in queues for everything but also covering the distance on foot – between getting your stamp (standing in a queue – a quick one), eating – you have to walk to the canteen and stand in a queue, the toilet (queue), and then the fun of finding a spot in the bike parking, and finally the game of 'where is my bike'. Due to fatigue, you can genuinely lose it in that crowd.

 

[IyhelM]

Count me out - the pace to finish within the time limit is beyond what I’m ready to endure.
But I will happily come and greet you at the finish line!

 

[ccf]

Thanks for starting this thread Larry.

A friend of mine did the qualifying rides for PBP 2019 but wasn’t able to register because the event is oversubscribed. So I’m going to do a grand randonee this year to get priority registration. Current thinking is Endless Flat hosted by Northern Virginia Randonneurs in October.

As for riding together, I’ve heard it isn’t a good idea for the reasons posted. If some of us are together for some of the ride, that’s great, but if not it’s OK. We can synch up at the end and trade stories.

 

[Greg S]

For those with a high threshold of boredom, here’s my ride report from PBP 2019 (albeit on a DF)

 

[Marquisdesod]

I like the idea, though I think a cruzbike peloton would be logistically tough. J’y penserai, et si j’arrive a regagner la forme je le ferais volontier et vous servirais d’interprete.

 

[LarryOz]

J’y penserai, et si j’arrive a regagner la forme je le ferais volontier et vous servirais d’interprete.

showoff!

 

[Doccus]

For those with a high threshold of boredom, here’s my ride report from PBP 2019 (albeit on a DF)

I really enjoyed the ride blog! Great “people stories” . Thanks for sharing.

 

[Beano]

IME you'll want to do a minimum of a 400km BRM as a pre qualifying ride to be certain of getting a place. I done it in 2015, missed 2019, qualified for 2023 but missed it due to a family commitment, will look at 2027 for sure.

My ride report from doing it on a v20 back in 2015

PBP 2015

Here it is, a little late granted but hope you enjoy. PBP is a 1230km Audax (Randonee) ride held every four years which runs from a suburb South West of Paris called St Quentin, out to Brest (a port town in Brittany) and back. It is organised by the parent Audax organisation in the world being...

forum.cruzbike.com

@Tor Hovland has done PBP as well.

 

[Y.P. 'Max']

Larry, thanks for starting this thread. I'm interested in riding PBP 27, and I'm starting my prep (late IMO) now for the brevets in 26 to hopefully get a slot. I'll post what I'm looking at for training up on Zwift and perhaps Biketerra as well as a Google page showing my analysis on stage timings and other stuff (it will be off, I’m sure, but I have to start somewhere!)

 

[Y.P. 'Max']

Here is my first pass looking at the the PBP. I used my planned weight (about 200lbs) and bike weight.

 

[Damien]

Here is my first pass looking at the the PBP. I used my planned weight (about 200lbs) and bike weight.

My plan is just to enjoy the ride and get the most out of it. In 2023, I still had three hours left before the cutoff, and if it weren't for that dark rain cloud behind me, I would’ve just sat in a cafe with a coffee and a croissant. Cycling is a hobby, not a job—it doesn't all have to be perfectly calculated in a spreadsheet!

 

[Greg S]

My plan is just to enjoy the ride and get the most out of it. In 2023, I still had three hours left before the cutoff, and if it weren't for that dark rain cloud behind me, I would’ve just sat in a cafe with a coffee and a croissant. Cycling is a hobby, not a job—it doesn't all have to be perfectly calculated in a spreadsheet!

There are a lot of different approaches and in my experience, none of them are “right”. It’s whatever works for you. I’ve done long brevets “free style“ where I didn’t pay much attention to the clock and stopped whenever and for however long felt right and I’ve done spreadsheets and detailed plans. In general, for longer brevets I prefer to have a detailed plan and for me, it has the effect of removing rather than adding pressure.

For example, in PBP 2019 I rode from the start to Loudeac, arriving at Loudeac at about 17:00. The ”plan” didn’t have me leaving until 02:00 so I had almost 9 hours stopped. Got 2 good meals, great sleep and started day 2 feeling great. Were it not for the plan, I’d have likely made a quicker turn and left at midnight, or earlier.

I also find having a detailed plan useful for figuring out where I need to have drop bags. This was very useful at LEL since you only get two small bags.

And of course if you’re going for a fast time and/or have someone supporting you at controls it’s helpful for them to know when you plan to be there.