Paris Brest Paris 2019

Paris Brest Paris 2019

At Finish Line

Felicitation by WCCG

Finish timing in PBP

Hi all, I successfully completed the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km biking event in ~84 hours ( cut off time was 90 hours ). The preparation for this event has been in progress since November 2018 and I am glad I was able to successfully execute the plan I had on the event days.
This blog provides details about my preparation for the big PBP event.

Strava Link -> Here

Pre-registration and registration

PBP 2019 had two levels of registrations. First is a pre-registration which is allowed for riders on a certain criteria. Total pre-registrations allowed is ~7000. The criteria was that someone should have completed atleast 200km brevet in the 2017-18 audax calendar season.
   I had already done an SR in 2018, hence was able to pre-register without issues.

The registration happens around June/July time frame. One can register only if they had completed an SR and also got homologation. I had prepared myself to get an SR in Chennai in November/December 2018 itself.

Visa

Getting visa and travel plans was a series of process to be followed based on the respective websites. I am a salaried employee who had done multiple travels to USA and Europe. Hence, had no issues in getting the VISA. Planning to get the VISA and tickets/hotels done early will save a lot of money and last minute anxieties.

Self readiness ( practice )

PBP is going to be a rolling terrain. You won't have any huge hills to climb beyond a height of 250mts. But, you will constantly keep rolling. ( You can expect climbing at-least ~500 climbs😳).

To prepare for this event, I enrolled myself into practicing via brevets.
1. Kodanad 1200km: This was my first 1200km event. More details about this ride and my experience is available in strava.
2. Tamilnadu 1000: strava link
3. Jog falls: this was a perfect rolling terrain, but I couldn't complete it because of lack of preparedness. Strava link1 & link2
4. Bangalore rolling terrain SR ( Anchetti 200, Basavanbetta 300km, Hokeneggal 400 and Coorg 600km).

All the above practice experience gave me information about my area of weakness and identify my strengths too.

Weakness areas:

1. Cramps management: Lots of salt come out of my body which leads to cramps. Solution was only to take up electrolytes. I am now used to taking fastup reload and know the amount of dosage I need depending on the climate.
2. Speed at hills: Being a heavy rider, I knew that I am going to be slow during hill climbs. My solution was to only stop at control points. I had enough stamina to ride a stretch of 70-90kms during any part of the 1200km ride. Such a non stop ride ensures I am not wasting time inbetween.
3. Mind: Being a rider slow at hills, I needed to ride solo, lean riders used to go fast uphills. My solution is to accept my limitation that I can't go faster on hills. This acceptance made me not push myself during climbs. This self realisation also made me tell my friends that hey, you guys should keep going, I will catch up. Slowing down your friends who can climb fast didn't make any sense. Asking them to ride along with you CP to CP is also madness for them.
4. Mind game while using social media: When you are participating in tough rides, you would want to keep your mind off from failures during the event. Example: during the Jog falls cycling event, I got to know that so many people had quit and also that many had fall at the 400km CP. This started playing on my mind when I was riding post that CP in solo mode. Finally ended up quitting myself. My solution was to keep myself away unless absolutely necessary from such news. I kept my communications to my own small group of riders who I know will only encourage me to finish. I did not read all WhatsApp messages in all groups during the ride.
5. Muscle pain: This is something that everyone gets. But I used to get some pain in my legs when I pushed myself harder to keep up with fast riders. This happened to me only in Kodanad 1200 ride. Solution was simple. Don't tag with people who will take you to knock out stage soon 🙂.
6. Knowing to say No: During the brevets, when someone needs help, the natural tendency is to go help them out even if it may affect you later. I did that on few brevets and it costed me later during the ride. Learning was to keep the mind prepared about what is absolutely necessary and what is okay to share. I have shared items that don't affect me like lights, food items. I have also shared items that affect me like ear phones, electrolytes. I am cautious now on these.
7. Food control: This is still my weakness ( and strength ). If the food is good, I eat a lot. Then when I get up post the meal, I feel bloated. I started cycling because I can burn the calories that I eat. Hence, I don't complain about this weakness and can happily live with it. If I really had any control over my diet, I would reduce my weight faster with the activities I do, would have helped me with faster finish times. But, I don't need that right now.

On the strengths, I was good with eating any food and drink tap water, can ride CP to CPs, had good power output till the finish line due to proper intake of food. I am also comfortable riding solo be it in night or day. The whole 1200km PBP event was done solo by me. I had good rain and winter gears ( will talk later about this strength ).

Bike readiness & packing

It is absolutely necessary for a rider to know how to fix any issues in bike for this terrain. Key items to know about(advanced level. I won't talk about puncture fixing and all):
1. Chain tools: you should be able to fix a broken chain.
2. Derailleur fixing: if the bike falls and your derailleur position changed, the gears will be out of sync. The last gear shift may make the chain come out permanently damaging the derailleur. Learn to make small dent rectifications to the derailleur.
3. Changing hanger: this is the most vulnerable part of derailleur. Having a compatible spare hanger will save you an event!
4. Changing cleats: Cleats shoes are good for these events. But when you walk with cleats shoes, there are high chances of the cleats plastic getting damaged.

At the PBP event, there will be mechanical support at all control points. So, if there is a chance for you to just continue the ride to the next CP, I suggest you do that rather than trying to fix it yourself. I suggest you not to go to a control point behind you unless it is too close. Only march forward.

Finally, for transiting your bike via plane from India to France, I recommend you go to a bike shop early and get it packed. Good packing materials get over soon as riders rush to get their bikes packed. I went early to Pro bikers, Chennai, and got my bike packed with best material.

Knowing the climate and being ready

At PBP, I knew there will be rain and the temperature will go to less than 10 degrees Celsius. I got the best gears for me and they were totally worth every penny I spent.

1. Rain coat: I got gore tex light weight rain coat which is breathable. It will let enough air to dry your sweat inside, but will never let water inside.
2. Thermal baselayer(full arm): I got an REI Merino 100% wool baselayer which costed my around 3500 RS. This was my life saver. It kept me sweating inside even during 1 degree Celsius!!
3. Thermal waterproof leg warmers: I got a pearl izumi water proof leg warmers which proved very useful in cold climate.
4. Overshoes rain proof: When it rains or when it is cold, you don't want your feet to get wet or soft. I got a good overshoes cover which kept me free from water even touching my shoes.
5. Neck warmers: Got a cheap one from Decathlon which was more than enough.
6. Water proof head/helmet cap: Not absolute necessity, but a good one to have.
7. Water proof saddle bag: I got an Ortleib saddle bag which is water proof. This is a top in line bag. Highly recommend to anyone who has no budget constraints.

Food readiness

I eat literally any food. And when I am outside India, I eat only non-Indian food. This practice had helped me not to worry much about food at all. I can eat bland meat with black coffee with sugar, pasta, rise, mashed potatoes, burgers, etc..

For vegetarians, there are options like salads, I recommend them to get used to food in France rather than carry their food everywhere.

Transit

I took my bike from India first to US as I was on a business trip to Seattle, USA. The plan was to stop over at Paris to do the PBP and be back in India. I booked my flight in Air France which charges additional fee for bike transit. Air France also operates only from Bangalore. So, I took my bike in bus from Chennai in KSRTC.

Now the series of events in Paris:

Bike check

Just the day before the PBP event start, there is a procedure to do bike check to confirm the lights are proper and the bike runs only using mechanical power and not by electrical power. On the day of the bike check, I saw a lot of bikes. Also saw lots of very old people. One gentleman was 77 years old 😳 ( Pictures of bikes at the end of this blog )

The ride

My ride started on 18th August ( my birthday ) at 6:00pm. In the first half of the day on 18th, I ensured I got enough sleep, kept giving gentle pat and soft touch to my legs as they are going to take me all through the ride. The ride started in a rush. My heart rate went as high as 187bpm! This was my first time I was riding with riders world wide ( shouldn't call them foreigners as they are my own kind - the bike riders ). They were riding like anything. My power meter also showed 300+Watts few times ( usual is around 120-160 ). I started to get worried as to why people around me are riding so fast. Once I felt I got warmed up, I started riding at my own pace leaving the crazy riders. This helped me reach the food point (117km) without any intermediate stops. I saw few riders from Chennai who started in the earlier batches, but they had stopped for a break. They offered me to take a break with them, but I politely said thank you and kept going as per my plan of only stopping at control points.

It started to get cold. So, I put on my warm clothes. It became so cold that whenever I started again from the control point in the night, I was initially shivering till I got my heart rate high.

The full 84 hours was just eat cycle and rarely sleep.

The first real control point was the longest distance ~220km which I reached in around 11 hours ( fast pace actually! ). Rest of all other control points were less than 100kms.

The Sun came out every day around 530am. After the Sun came out, warmth had set out and it was time to remove the warmers.

My sleep plans were simple. I will sleep only during the day and never during the nights. This helped me to not take any blankets to sleep in the cold nights.

The France country side was so awesome and picturesque! The roads were a beauty. Think of not worrying about potholes when you are riding down hill. I got my fastest descent (~70kmph) with this road condition.

People respect cyclists in France. Cars keep a distance when they see Cycles around them. Overall, felt very safe riding my bike here in France. There were still crashes that happened. But that was primarily due to riders accidentally falling down during the ride while drafting or they had slept off while riding.

Regarding food, I ensured I had a heavy meal three times a day.

I didn't do any excretion even after heavy intake of food till 20th( i.e, 3rd day). On 20th, finally got the stomach cleared and felt like eating heavily again.

I am very bad at waking up on alarms. My wife helped me out here. Whenever I go sleep, I call her and ask her to call me back continuously after my sleep period till I pick my phone. She helped me immensely on this. She also kept talking enough to ensure that I am really awake and that I won't go sleep again! She also closely followed my progress and kept my relations updated on the same.

The only WhatsApp groups I kept myself in contact with were with my wccg friends with occasional updates to MR(Madras Randonneurs) group. They kept motivating me. The excitement they showed in my progress made me feel more energetic. Hats off to my motivational team!

After a few 100kms, I could see that my heart was not pounding when I was climbing. I was able to sing a song and climb the same pace that I used to panic earlier! I used both the legs while resting during down hills. This ensures I am not giving constant force just to one leg which could cause injury. Also, never went out of saddle as it was never needed.

I reached the U-turn point, Brest, 610km at 8am. Cut off time was 10am. I just had two BIB shorts overall - one that I was wearing and one that I kept inside my saddle bag. I changed my shorts at Brest. I washed the one that I was using and also took bath. I also washed my leg warmers as well as the baselayer. I tied all the wet clothes on the saddle bag and the handle bar. As the day progressed, the clothes dried as well.

During return, from Villaines-La-Juhel onwards, I could see celebration starting at a major scale. I felt like I was welcomed as though I had won a race and every control point from there on. There were mic sets where someone was talking and exciting a huge gathering of crowd, songs being played, many volunteers to guide every rider to various places within the control point. Felt heavenly and already started feeling I completed the event!

During the whole course, there were shepherds in motor cycles and cars who would keep monitoring riders. Whenever someone needs help, the volunteers are just few minutes away.

The vision in the nights were great as it was only the tail lights of fellow riders, seen like waves in the hills through the rolling terrain.

The last night (21st), I started feeling sleepy. On the way, I saw a Japanese rider had crashed, blood on his face. My sleep immediately cleared. I stopped by to talk to him. Comforted him that the wound doesn't look bad. He was a pacer. I kept talking to him so that both of us don't fall asleep. After some point, asked him to go ahead since a small climb came up and I knew he will go faster in the hills. The next Control point was also less than 10kms.

Last 30kms, I talked to a couple from England who were on a tandem bike. We talked about our experiences in brevets, the challenges and beautiful places in India. By that time, we reached the finish point at 624am on 22nd.

Felt very happy to have completed this event, a dream come true! I saw Arun at the finish line, we hugged and congratulated each other!

I learnt two powerful words that I used them everywhere. 'bojour' meaning welcome and 'merci' meaning thanks.

Thanks!!

To France: I am very thankful to France for organising such an awesome event!

To India: Divya Tate had taken immense efforts to get Visa for riders pursuing their passion of attempting PBP. Fellow riders around India showed excitement, shared their learnings which helped a lot.

To Bangalore Randonneurs: without the tough SR preparation that you made me go through, I wouldn't have gotten to know my weak points and how to manage them effectively. Thanks!

To Madras Randonneurs: thanks to Madras Randonneurs to introduce me to so many awesome riders in Chennai. I got so many Cycling friends in brevets because of MR!

Pro Bikers:  Thanks Guna especially for getting me to buy the Lapierre Sensium 500 bike. Those were the days when I didn't even know about brevets, but your instigation to buy a good bike had made me achieve new heights! Probikers are also the doctors for my bike, they take great care of it.

WCCG: what can I say about this group! They made me get into regular cycling habits, got me into the mode of commuting to office, made me get Star award, 25x10, 50x10, JDC, weekly speed practice, core sessions, hill climbs, helped me do my first 100+km ride, got great teachers who advised me on how to take brevets, etc. Huge thanks to my wccg group to bring the best out of me. And, thanks Senthil sir for proof-reading this blog.

Family: I know that I have spent more time to prepare myself for the PBP. My family was supportive of me in this event. Thanks Judy and kids for the time you gave me to spend for myself. Now, time for me to dedicate more time with you all and ensure I strike the right balance between passion and family.

Above all, I thank God for keeping me safe and sound in all these crazy events. One pot hole and a fall can change the whole game. But you have been merciful to me keeping me healthy and safe. Thanks God!

Pictures