PBP 2023 on tandem: Trusting the plan

Mary and I signed up for the 2023 Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K randonnee with our tried-and-true “four days” approach from 2011 and 2019 in mind. I’m thrilled to report we had a successful completion, despite additional climbing added to this year’s edition, along with unusually high temperatures and other contingencies that make every PBP unique.

The iconic Albert-Louppe pedestrian bridge at Brest

We again chose the 84-hour group’s Monday morning start on August 21. Most PBP riders start Sunday evening and have either 90 or 80 hours to finish. Our goal was to reach the finish in about 82 hours with three sleep stops, and to our mild surprise we set a team best of 80:56, 29 minutes faster than our 2011 finish.

Why the 84-hour group? As a tandem team we like the 84s because that group is the smallest, at less than 1,000. It gives us fewer solo riders to navigate with our big bike, and we find the controls and rest stops less crowded. Piloting a tandem in a mass start event has many stressful moments — one has to pay attention all the time to stay upright and out of trouble.

The 84-hour start also sets up nicely for two sleep breaks at Loudeac, France, the first at kilometer 435 outbound and the second at kilometer 782 on the return. The tandem is too much bike to pilot while nodding off, and planned sleep stops help us stay on schedule.

We booked a hotel room for two nights near the control area in Loudeac and used the Randonneurs USA drop bag service to send fresh clothes there for day 2 and day 3. Our final sleep would come at the Mortagne au Perche control at kilometer 1099, which has a heated gym and is not crowded when the 84s arrive.

Kyle M. stayed at our hotel in Guyancourt. Here we are at 3 a.m. for the ride to Rambouillet

Finally, we again took our travel tandem that we call the Green Apple, a custom steel Co-Motion Cycles Java with S&S couplers, that breaks apart to fit in airline suitcases. I’ll make another post on the bike for anyone considering a coupled tandem bike.

The Green Apple at rest in Fougeres

Here’s the day-by-day rundown of our ride.

For a more complete photoset, see Mary’s Flickr album here and she has posted a fine report, “Belief: Paris-Brest-Paris 2023.”

Day 1 to Loudeac

We lined up in Rambouillet with temperatures in the 60s with a tiny group in the “special bikes” wave — just 20 of us. Two other tandem teams, an American mixed couple and a pair of strong-looking German fellows joined in with the velomobiles and recumbents. Our wave went first and we were quickly dropped as they sped off into the pre-dawn twilight. Shortly thereafter the first big group of solo riders powered past.

Riders stream into the morning light from Rambouillet

The urge to press hard to stay with other riders was strong, but we tried to stay within our limits. My Garmin showed we were already pedaling above our normal pace due to adrenaline. We don’t get to sit in groups much anyway, due to the tandem’s faster downhill speed and slower uphill speed.

The day heated up and we were glad to have our Camelbaks for hydration. After a quick late breakfast at Mortagne au Perche, kilometer 120, we had another meal at Villaines La Juhel, kilometer 203.

Welcome to Villaines! Just 1,020 kilometers to go

Packs of solo riders started forming behind us and I tried not to make any sudden movements and to signal slowdowns. There were other times we had to slow on downhills to avoid overtaking solo riders spread across the road.

Riders take the descent in both lanes

It’s kind of scary to have dozens of bikes drafting but there’s not much we can do about it.

Innumerable volunteers make this ride happen. This gentleman stamps our brevet cards at Fougeres

We tried to minimize time at Fougeres by choosing the fast food option and did the same at Tinteniac, and we arrived in Loudeac at 1:38 a.m. It was the arrival we wanted, though we had to put in extra effort over the endless hills that make up western France.

The Brithotel/Voyageurs hotel is a gem for this event. The staff provides food and drinks overnight and with secure garage parking so we didn’t have to handle the tandem beast into the hotel when we just wanted to get a shower and sleep.

Day 2 to Brest and back to Loudeac

What a day this turned out to be. We got out again before 7 a.m. with slightly lower temperatures, in the 60s F. The challenge was to cover 169 kilometers to Brest by 7:05 p.m., and then plow through two hilly segments, new this edition, to Carhaix and back to Loudeac for our second night’s sleep.

We found Bob C. at Carhaix

The ride up through Huelgoat to Roc Travezel was slow but pleasant, with a nice group around us, and I fell into a lull with few drivers on the road. I turned right onto the highway to the Roc summit thinking we had a shoulder, just as a driver came up from behind. They gave us a blast on the horn and we swerved right. It was not a close call, but I took it as a fresh reminder to be extra careful at road junctions.

Unlike past editions, we didn’t have the stream of riders coming up as we went down the Roc. At the summit we caught up with Bob Counts, our D.C. friend in the 90-hour group. We first saw him earlier in Carhaix and he was pushing to reclaim time he lost due to drowsiness.

Up and over the Roc Travezel, another iconic moment on Paris-Brest-Paris

Some things don’t change at PBP, and one of them is the hard kilometers to the Brest control through suburban and urban roads. There always seem to be headwinds and the stop-and-go at traffic signals in Landerneau and elsewhere means more work, particulary on tandem. And, it’s always warm if not hot.

The fast velomobile rider from our 84-hour start pulled up next to us in Landerneau and I asked him if something happened. No, he replied, it’s just that he got eight hours sleep! Now that’s the way to ride PBP.

A view of Swiss velomobile rider Martin Baumgartner on the road to Brest

Would PBP be the same if we did not turn around in Brest itself? I don’t know. I enjoy seeing the bay and getting the confirmation that we indeed reached the Atlantic Ocean.

We arrived just before 4 p.m. and in a pleasant turn of events, the control restaurant was not sold out of most food. We spent an hour getting fed and cooling down, knowing we had about 10 extra hours to complete the second half of the ride compared to the first. A French volunteer told us that the singer at the control bandstand had lauded us as a team as we rolled in, which was nice to hear.

From Brest everything felt harder. The bike felt heavy, the road felt sticky, the hills felt steeper. Our legs had lost a lot of their pop. The roads and villages were lovely and the views were terrific — it was more peaceful than the return to the Roc — but we were definitely slower. The ever-present applause from people in the towns and along the roads made for a mental tailwind, and was much appreciated.

We enjoyed a nice evening secret control at Pleyben, with local pastries. Everyone looked relieved to take a rest.

A welcome rest break complete with fresh pastries

Carhaix came near nightfall at 9:30 p.m. Unfortunately, the restaurant was slow and the food was hardly edible. Time was wasted here for sure. Later we passed a fallen rider getting emergency aid, something we did not want to see. Drowsiness set in for Mary and we stopped in a village for a 10-minute sidewalk nap. We did not get to Loudeac until 3:09 a.m.

This was the only evening I put on a jacket, but the temperatures barely dipped into the 50s F.

Day 3 to Mortagne au Perche

Ah, the benefits of sleep, if even less than three hours. We gathered ourselves for the 197-mile push to Mortagne. Nourished by the hotel breakfast, we returned our drop bag to the lightly-populated Loudeac control and pedaled easily out of town around 7:45 a.m., a mere four minutes before the control closed! Our departure was not as early as we’d like, but at least we had another dry, warm day ahead and no problems other than mildly sore contact points.

After awhile we gathered some drafters in a slow-moving train, including an American couple on single bikes from San Diego. There was a roadside coffee stop, then they joined us for second breakfast at the Quédillac services control, kilometer 842. In the parking lot I found myself giving a brief seminar with some French volunteers about our coupled tandem and how it breaks apart for packing into suitcases.

At Tinteniac we had a very nice meetup with an English-speaking volunteer we met in 2019, Chantal M., whose daughter was again with her, but of course four years older and taller. Chantal was very welcoming to us and we had a lovely few minutes taking photos. It’s these moments with the volunteers and townspeople that make PBP special.

Four years later, we meet again with Chantal and her daughter at Tinteniac

The afternoon ride to Fougeres was hot and slow, and after some friction developed among riders behind us, Mary and I pulled over at a pizza shop where other riders were parked. An indulgent hour ensued over vegetarian pizza, espresso and a tall bottle of sparking water as the heat abated.

Next came the always obligatory and always appreciated crepes by Msr. Paul Rogue at his roadside garage at la Tannière, where they ask you to send a postcard from home. While I wandered around Mary was approached by the latest older French fellow who figured a woman alone at a tandem was fair game for a long conversation about his family and the town.

Once we got free of that entanglement, the rollicking party that is Villaines La Juhel appeared in the fading evening light. We ate dinner, enjoyed the music and waved to the townspeople gathered around.

Back in Villaines, this time for the evening party

The loving vibes helped as we headed out for what I consider the hardest PBP segment, the four-hour ascending drag to Mortagne au Perche. This is where we typically see exhausted 90-hour riders barely holding their line and sleeping roadside. For me, intense drowsiness and tunnel vision sets in. Riders were weaving and bobbing down the road. I gave them a wide berth, and none would jump on our wheel, presumably due to fatigue.

Mary and I stopped at a school in Alençon to nap but some noisy local kids made it their mission to be noticed, and we ended up taking a second stop at an informal aid station at Villeneuve-en-Perseigne, at the Musée du vélo “La Belle Echappée” (The Beautiful Escape).

I was too tired to appreciate the vintage bikes and slumped down on the floor for a 10-minute nap, which bacame 15 minutes until Mary got me up and back on the bike, having waved off another French fellow wanting her time.

Mortagne appeared in the night as it always does, we controled and went straight to the dorm check-in, where the volunteers lifted our spirits in making sure I understood we were paying for “froide” showers — cold water. Ha, yes, parfait! Sleep awaits!

Day 4 to Rambouillet

I always struggle to get going on this day. My quads don’t seem to work anymore, my hands and rear end are sore, and my engine seems stuck in a low gear. We ate breakfast at the control and caught up with acquaintances before easing out into the final 120K/75 miles at 7:23 a.m. Gradually my legs started pedaling circles again.

Mary and Oksana at Mortagne au Perche

Cloudy skies and the threat of rain added some incentive to keep moving, despite the aches and pains. I like the rural roads on the way to Dreux as the route transitions to the more populated places surrounding the Paris region .

By Senoches, kilometer 1,140, I retreated to a restroom at a roadside aid station for some additional treatment for my sore backside. The incentive now was to get to the finish before the pain returned.

Riders were spread out by this point. Before Dreux we saw another rider getting attention from emergency services — we’d find out later he went down at the back of a big group. We were glad to get out of town leaving Dreux as the route put us on some busy streets.

After Dreux light rain set in and I put on my jacket. It’s said that there is rain somewhere on every PBP, and for me that’s been true across six editions starting in 1999. I stowed my Garmin computer because I had dropped it and cracked the screen just before start, making it overly sensitive to moisture. Mary called out the upcoming turns from her own Garmin, and of course I looked for the arrow signs.

We liked the more direct approach to the finish at Rambouillet, as there was less suburban meandering than four years ago. With a solid if not fast push Mary and I finished in good shape before 2 p.m., happy to be done! We broke 81 hours, a new low time for us.

Looking ahead

Will we return in four years? One can never say never when it comes to PBP. It’s an event that is easy to underestimate in terms of difficulty and at the same time a unique atmosphere and unrivaled support from the French that gives riders that extra boost.

Merci a tous to the volunteers and riders who made this another rewarding edition. Au revoir!

My sixth finisher’s medal. I’d soon nod off like that fellow behind me

Mary’s third PBP medal. She always finishes strongly