Hi, everyone!
Thanks for the kind words! I just got home from France last night. I had a fantastic time. Given the amount of misfortune Ed and others experienced, I'm happy to say that I had no issues at all apart from a front wheel puncture on the return just before the control at Tinteniac, due to a particularly hard bump in a roundabout. It was funny, because there was a bit of a party going on at the control with folk music and dance, and then I came in and started repairing the flat with all the locals looking on curiously. Of course, I struggled a bit with getting the wheel back in place, and anything like that is guaranteed to get an applause during an event like the PBP
It was fun to start in the F group with all the recumbents, velomobiles, and tandems, just after the 80 hour racers and ahead of the masses of 90 hour randonneurs. In contrast with the groups in front, the opening pace wasn't that crazy. The terrain was gentle as well. When I got to the first feeding station at 118 km it was getting dark, and the following two stages of night riding were very different, because suddenly I had far fewer riders around me. This continued until dawn at Fougeres at 300 km. Something clicked at that point. I can't explain it, but from that point and until the end of the event, I felt stronger than I have ever felt on a bike before. I guess the loads of training as well as the recent tapering finally decided to pay back big time. This was also where I first met Ed out on the road. Of course, he had reached the control long before me, but needed to rest due to his unexpected issues.
The following day was just a long string of feeling good, and I made it all the way to Brest before needing any sleep, save for an afternoon powernap at Loudeac. I knew I was well ahead of the dreaded "bulge" of riders, and confident I would find a place to sleep in Brest. However, it seemed the "dortoire" at that control was nothing more than a few small offices with beds in them, and none of them were free. There was a room downstairs with mattresses, but that was full as well. In the end I laid down on the cold, hard tile floor at the bottom of the stairwell. Despite the lack of comfort, I slept like a baby for 3 hours. Next, I had a shower and change of clothes before starting the long return to Paris. Unfortunately, I never got to see Brest in daylight.
I had a nice morning cafe stop at Sizun along with many other riders before tackling the climb up Roc'h Trevezel. On the long descent on the other side we dived into a deep, cold mist. For quite a while, I saw nobody else, and was seriously wondering if I had taken a wrong turn. Eventually I got to where the inbound and outbound courses meet up, and from that point I had a rather steady stream of oncoming traffic.
I had worried that I would have to pay for my inspired riding the previous day, but it turned out I was still feeling just as strong. I rode all day until I got to Fougeres again, halfway between Brest and Paris, where I slept on a proper mattress for about 2 hours. During the day I had once again taken a quick powernap at Loudeac.
Getting going again at 3 in the morning, I wasn't feeling fantastic. I was pretty sick of my energy drinks at this point, and my appetite wasn't strong either. Anyway, going through the rest of the night went well, but I was really looking forward to a coffee stop at a volunteer booth at Hardanges. The following dawn was once again beautiful, but I was quite burdened by sleepiness at this stage. When the sun was properly up and the cold of the night was gone, I lied down on the grass for a quick powernap. This worked incredibly well, and I was back to riding strong again after that. Somewhere on the second to last stage, this happened again, and once again a quick powernap sorted it out. From that point on, I could smell Paris, and I rode the final short, flat stage from Dreux as a time trial and set my fastest time of the event there!
I didn't have any discomfort on the bike, except that at some points I could feel beginning ankle pain, but it disappeared on its own. I also had somewhat sore knees. Not painful, though, like I've had a lot in the past.
Many have been complaining about headwind. To be honest, I didn't notice a lot of wind one way or another. Sure, I could feel there was some wind going on, but it didn't affect me much.
When I say I felt strong, I mean that I had no trouble hanging on to groups of riders. In fact, most of the time that just got too slow and boring. When I passed them and tried to put myself ahead of them, it was just like they wouldn't attach to my draft. A gap would just form, and it would just widen until they disappeared behind me. Likewise, if I wanted to jump to a group further up front, I could just glide up to them, without requiring any sort of intense effort.
Even on the climbs (which were absolutely relentless and neverending, by the way), I would tend to start out strong at the bottom, to compensate for my lack of climbing speed. What would often happen, though, is that I would not only keep up with the others, I would actually
pass them even here!!
On that final one and a half stage after my last powernap, I was full of energy, and left everybody I met behind. After leaving one particular group, I saw in my mirrors that the English fellow on a fixie was pushing hard to get up to me. I let him hang on and together we rolled like a high speed train on the flats, passing loads of riders. After a while we slowed down a bit so we could chat. That was very nice. And I'm just so impressed that about the only guy capable of hanging on to a Vendetta was riding fixed gears!
OK, that's all for now. There will be a video soon, I just have loads of raw material to go through first
