Paris-Brest-Paris 2015: Some Notes

I knew this would be my last PBP; that influenced how I mentally approached the event.  Most of the qualifiers I had finished with not too much time in the bank, so it was foreseeable that if push came to shove, time would very probably be too scarce.

The start/finish had a new location (though still within St. Quentin-en-Yvelines), the new national velodrome.

The National Velodrome at St. Quentin-en-Yvelines

This worked out quite well for packet pickup.

Packet pickup inside the velodrome

The new venue also provided the necessary space (including outside) for handling the large number of returning riders.

Directions for returning riders

The mix of countries’ participation this time included a huge increase in riders from Japan, Korea, China, India, Thailand and Taiwan.  These riders often had very colorful jerseys and in spite of their suffering (including from what was, to them, cold temperatures), always looked impeccable.

Drew Buck, the Brit famous for always showing up in some period piece (with matching very old bicycle) was on a Raleigh from the 1930s. This time he was not to finish, however.

There were several people on elliptigos.

There were at least six enclosed bikes (i.e. the ones that look like small cars).

This year the organizers had taken the start to a new level, sending riders out in 15 minute pre-selected waves.  Here I am, about to depart:

Random French groupie offers me advice.

(photo courtesy of Eileen Kirkpatrick)

The weather was ideal for most riders.  Not too much sun, never hot, a bit chilly only on one night (Tuesday), no rain until Thursday morning.

There was a rider with one arm and a rider with one leg plus prosthesis.  On the climb over the big hill, a bit before reaching Brest, the man with one arm was right behind me.  At the crest he did not hesitate: he descended like a bullet!  I do NOT want to think about how hard it is to control a bike using only ONE hand.  Nor do I want to think about how sore that one hand must get.  I used TWO hands and the left one was so sore I would often merely set the side of the hand on the handlebar.

Brest was the first control where I encountered a significant line at the cafeteria.  The next control, Carhaix, was completely out of food.  The next food stop (not technically a control), St. Nicolas, was also completely out of food.

Oh, did I mention that I had purchased a ticket to eat BEFORE the start, and … .ah … they were OUT of food when I arrived, nearly an hour before the end of the serving time window.

There were no lines at the three dormitories I slept in.  I also took maybe 6 to 8 total naps at the side of the road.

On two different occasions I saw fixed gear riders taking their feet out of the pedals and putting them on top of the fork crown for a descent!  One, a woman, greatly impressed me when she put her feet back onto the pedals at a fairly high speed!  I will NOT be trying THIS at home.

Very few riders had fenders.  They would have had no problems until Thursday morning; from then on it rained fairly hard.

Almost everyone wears a helmet now (NOT required!!).

As the ride wears on, it becomes more common to encounter slower riders, who are weaving.  The occasional nice person, when passing, pauses to chat a bit, to help the person wake up some.  The occasional nasty person, when passing, says something snide.  There is SOME comradery in the sport, but it’s not universal.

The turnaround point, Brest, is as welcome a sight as always.

Riders cross a car free bridge into Brest.

I ran out of mental stamina after Carhaix (on the return).  This was disappointing, but an inescapable reality.

Things fall apart for me at around 700 km.

I limped on to Loudeac (the next control) where I joined about 10 other riders catching a SNCF bus to St. Brieuc to begin the return to St. Quentin-en-Yvelines.  With a bit of time to kill at Saint-Brieuc, several of us visited a pub across the street from the train station.

Martin (from London) at pub in Saint-Brieuc

For a day or two after the end of the ride, there were cyclists, generally near hotels, packing up.

Removable handlebars do not have to go inside of

tight bike box. (packing by Andy Speier)

So ends my 20 year affiliation with Paris-Brest-Paris, incl. four completions (the final one on fixed gear) and two DNFs.  It's been a wonderful experience but now I am ready to step aside and let the youngsters take over.

----------------------------------------------------

Kings Valley 600k

I got an early start driving down to Newberg, OR.  I left my house in Seattle at 12:45 in the afternoon.  This was a full two hours before I had left, a few weeks earlier (also on a Friday), to go down for an OR brevet.  This earlier departure paid off.  Traffic was only horrendous through Fife.  Later, when I crossed the Columbia on I-205, it was stop-n-go for about nine miles, but by then it was the heart of rush hour.

Ron H had contacted me a few days earlier.  He'd found a room at the Notel (not far from the start/overnight/finish of the 600k).  After I'd been there for a few hours, I figured Ron (who as it turned out wasn't able to leave Seattle until after work) had had a change of heart/plans.  Another reason I drove alone was because I had a sore knee and it was an unknown parameter going into this ride.  I figured if I DNFed VERY early (as Ron H would suggest!), it wouldn't be necessary to wait around until 3:00 a.m. Monday (which was when Ron planned to drive back).

Eventually I hit the sack.  About 1:00 a.m. I found myself awake, so decided to check e-mail.  While sitting at the computer, who should arrive but Mr. Brevet himself (Ron).  He hadn't been able to leave work until 7:00 p.m. (though that had meant he dodged a LOT of traffic).

We woke to sun (as forecast).  We got to the start early enough to do some schmoozing.  Mike Bingle was there (doing the 200k, which shared some of the 600k course).  He mentioned having done the OR spring 200k (his 22nd consecutive, going all of the way back to the early Marvin Rambo RBA days).

The veteran Del Scharffenberg was also there (also doing the 200k).  Why were all of these heavy hitters doing the 200k?  What did THEY know?

And then we were off.  It was flat, or gently rolling, for a while.  Then eventually we were working our way into the Coast Range.  At one point a cue said 3 miles to the summit.  Once there, the route descended.  But NO, we hadn't actually crossed the Coast Range yet, so we had to go back up.  Near the actual summit, the heat was oven-like.  This was due to exposure to the sun and shelter from the wind.  Sigh.  Sweat poured into my eyes (and burned!).

On the way down there was a control.  This would be the last time I'd see other riders until the next day.

Nearing the coast, the wind picked up, mercifully giving a break from the heat.  We hit US 101 at Lincoln City and headed north.  But then, for reasons NOT known to me, we ended up having to climb once again, back up into some big hills.  In terms of distance, this was totally unnecessary.  So, the climbing was definitely gratuitous.  We went all of the way up to the elevation we would later cross the coast mountains at on our return!  This is the sort of thing I dislike about randonneuring.

I was back down to the coast for sunset (and an info control).  Then I followed the Little Washtucna Road to climb back over the coast range.

Eventually I was out of the mountains and came to the Casino at Grande Ronde.  There is a minimart/gas station there, so I had a snack and continued. 

My pedaling went fairly smoothly during the night.  To my surprise, I NEVER became drowsy!  

I made it back to the room, in Newberg, at about 4:30.  It was fairly light out.  I believed the control closed at 5:20.  Imagine my delight when I looked at the cue sheet and it said 6:20!!!!  So I got about an hour of sleep.  I had some breakfast and then I told Ron (who was almost, but not quite, ready) that I needed to hit the road and that he would catch me shortly.

When he caught me, later, en route to St. Paul and Salem, he said a brief word ... and then passed me like I was standing still.

I had a nightmare of a time getting out of Salem.  I did about six extra miles (I think) and lots of unnecessary climbing.  Then I was back on route, following the Willamette River.  Looking at the cue sheet, NOW, I see a horrendous error!!!!!  Sigh.  Another thing to dislike about randonneuring.  And I think the Garmin could have been more helpful but was NOT.

I somehow managed to arrive at the first control, Independence, just before cut-off.  I finally saw a few other riders, leaving.

From there the course took us to a very short ferry crossing of the Willamette River.  The temperature was already scorching so another rider (who would leapfrog me this day) and I both were pleased they sold ice cream bars on the vessel.  This was one of the few things I could get myself to eat in this heat.

From the far side I set out, for what would be a mostly flat stretch, to the nadir of our loop, Waterloo.  I thanked God that my last name was NOT Bonaparte.  The other rider, whom I had not seen since leaving the ferry, somehow arrived at the control AFTER me.

Waterloo was a fairly nondescript place.  It did have a nice park.  Not much retail was apparent.  The store which was the control did have ice cream sandwiches and cold Gatorade.  No public restrooms.  That always sort of offends me.  But the young woman behind the counter was quite pleasant and even said something about enjoying all of us cyclists stopping in.

Now we headed north from Waterloo, into the headwinds.  They seemed to roar at times, probably something that only happens on very hot days (like today!).

And now it was time for my second nightmare of the day.  Nearing Scio (the last control before the finish), there was a 7.9 mile section on Richardson Gap Road.  To give myself psychological assurance that eventually I would actually arrive at my turn, I zoomed out, on the Garmin, until I could see the next road.  And then I pedalled, and pedalled, but the little dot that represented ME did not seem to move.  For a while I thought it was because I had zoomed out so far.  Eventually I realized the device had frozen.  I rebooted and the course would not come up!

Eventually the road I was on started to bend in the correct direction (which didn't feel particularly good because it had become incredibly steep).  I walked the bike.  At least there was shade.  Eventually I came  upon Ridge Drive.  Yeah, you don't get to a road with a name like that without a lot of climbing.  Or, in my case, a lot of unnecessary climbing.  I headed the correct direction.  Then I saw a young woman getting out of a car and I asked her for directions to Scio.  I was indeed headed in the correct direction.  And, I had indeed done some unnecessary climbing.

After Scio the cue sheet said Stayton would be the last place to get provisions.  You guessed it: time for another ice cream sandwich and a large bottle of cold Gatorade.

And now it was the final push.  Looking at the clock, hors delai looked possible.  Finishing on time also looked possible.  Eventually the route crossed I-5.  The sun had finally dipped below the horizon.  I changed to clear lenses.  It was too hot to put the official SIR reflective vest on.

The route touched Champoeg State Park, then got on SR-219 to cross the Willamette River.  After crossing what seemed like a never ending series of bridges, there was a sign that said "Welcome to Newberg" but WHERE were the bright lights!?  The course worked its way back to the start via a few backstreets.  And then I scrambled to find a place that was open so I could get a receipt.  I found a Circle K: 22:43!  Heck, I should have still been out on the course.

I sat on the curb, nursing my bottle of cold water (purchased to get the receipt) and reflected on the ride.  During the ride, perhaps even before, I decided this would be long enough for me, that I didn't want to go to PBP and torture myself over an even longer distance.

Now it is two days later, and even though my body still feels bruised and battered, I'm again wrestling with doing the final qualifier (I still need a 400k).  Such a stress free existence we lead!

The Quad (aka Northwest Tandem Rally 2014)

The Northwest Tandem Rally has been held nearly annually since 1986 (the exception being 2013, reason for cancellation unknown).  It it almost always in Oregon or Washington (with the exception of once in Boise and twice in Victoria).  Tandem enthusiasts gather to ride their long bikes, eat communally, and swap stories.  And tackle a few brewskis.

The 2014 rally took place in Pendleton, OR, a community whose main export is probably HEAT.  When it is NOT hot there, you can buy wool goods to keep warm.

One fun aspect of tandem rallies is seeing the longer still bikes (triplets and quads).  We spotted a quad early (in fact, the night before the first day of riding, when we were at a pub).  The team was one member short, though I didn't rule out that person simply couldn't make the evening meal at the pub.

The next day, after riding, we again spotted the quad.  We spoke a bit with the captain and I helped him install his new rear wheel (OK, so I just held the bike steady).  Somewhere the idea of riding with them started to form.

Quad awaiting new rear wheel

The mass start, morning of Day 2

After the big climb of day one, and before the barbecue that evening, the stoker informed me that her union said she got one of the next two days off.  My thought was to convert the 8-Ball tandem to a single (it's big feature) and ride solo on that day.  I also mentioned my fantasy of riding on the quad.  At the barbecue my stoker noticed the quad captain and suggested I talk with him.  To my surprise, he was fine with the idea!

We met the next morning for the mass start.  I had the rear stoker position.  In the middle were the captain's two daughter, both small enough to require Kid Back Crank converters.

We moved along fairly well, able to keep up with a good portion of the participants.  The two girls were a constant source of entertainment, chattering and sharing general observations of the world rolling by.

There were three routes to choose from on this day, all staying together for about the first ten miles.  Being somewhat of a rarity (though there were three other quads at the event), lots of other participants talked to us during the ride.

Shade of silos proves popular!

It was forecast to be a hot day (heck, it was warm at the 8:00 a.m. start).  We were happy to find shade at the first food stop.

Pendleton is in the Palouse, an area denoted by rolling hills.  I had wondered just how we would approach the downhills.  As it turned out, in an effort to help us get up the next uphill, we always HAMMERED on the downhills.  I'd do my best to tuck (to the degree possible with cow horns).  With my nose on the stem, I'd mostly just see the fog line whizzing by!

The crew take a break to examine the wheat crop

This area of the Palouse is particularly beautiful.  In addition to its signature undulations, there are golden fields of wheat.  We climbed as we went north from Pendleton, leaving the Umatilla River valley.  From up here the views were great!

The other thing that struck me about riding the quad was that the shifts generally occurred under a somewhat serious load!  Of course, with a couple of seriously heavy hitters in the middle two positions, shifting would be even MORE impressive.  I did NOT think to see what rear derailleur was being used.  The hubs were Hadley.

Eventually we got our reward for having climbed so much.  As we approached Pendleton (curiously hard to locate, until were were quite close, due to the aforementioned undulating nature of the landscape), there was one particularly long downhill.  We passed a fair number of shorter bikes!

Back at Pendleton I said good-bye to the quad team.  I'll be looking for them at the 2015 Northwest Tandem Rally in Bellingham, WA!

Speedplay Frogs

Speedplay Frogs constitute chapter three in my lifetime cleat history.

I cut my teeth on slotted cleats.  That's dating me, for sure.

And them came Looks.  They attracted my attention because they offered float, something occasionally lacking with slotted cleats.  They required less precision with the placement of the cleat, so were more forgiving.

After many years of using Looks, the temptation to try something more walkable caused me to take a look at Speedplay Frogs.  I chose them ... simply because there was a pair lying around the house.

After using them on my commuter for several days, here are my thoughts:

I notice the smaller platform.  Perhaps this isn't completely a factor of the size of the platform but also the flexibility of the sole of the shoe.  I SUSPECT this causes a slight loss in power transfer to the pedals, though maybe it's not a huge issue.

A brief note on the shoe: it is quite comfortable.  Easy on/easy off, with a toggle to draw the lace through.  Just don't forget to put the lace through itself, so it doesn't flop into the chainrings.

Pearl Izumi X-Alp Drift II MTB Shoe

Riding this setup, compared to Looks, feels a tad like now being barefoot.  Just a tad.  I have yet to do a long ride, so will learn more ... soon.

Now the big question: what is getting in and out like?  The clicking in motion is fairly similar to Looks: place foot on top of pedal, slide forward until something catches.

In contrast, the click is quite small.  With a Look pedal, there is a snap that can be felt through ones entire skeleton.  With the Frogs, the connection is so subtle that I find myself wondering if I'm actually in.  A slight pull back will confirm, however, so no need to be uncertain.

The double sided feature is necessary because, unlike Looks, which always have their connection surface facing back, these can be in any orientation.  Stepping down on them, however, causes one or the other of the two connection surfaces to be in the same plane as the sole of the shoe.

The configuration of the sole helps guide the shoe onto the cleat

The release is just like with a Look: rotate your heel to the outside ... and viola!  This too is quite subtle, compared to a Look: there is no spring to work against, in order to release.  So, in a sense, you can just "float" out.  The inward float is limited by a ridge on top of the pedal.  The cleat installation instructions suggest aligning the cleat so the inward float stops just before ones ankle hits the crank arm.  This works out quite well.

The next question: how are they in traffic?  This is another way of asking how are they to get in/out of quickly.  As mentioning, getting out is so easy that I find myself worrying I might come out during riding.  This has NEVER happened however, so confidence builds over time.  Getting in quickly involves NOT looking (IMHO), but instead placing the foot on the pedal, moving foot back (if necessary, to have the cleat behind the pedal), then sliding the foot forward.  The design of the sole of the shoe assists with the alignment, prior to the engagement, making the process surprisingly smooth.  Sometimes it feels as if there is a magnet pulling the two surfaces together!

The mating surface of the Speedplay Frog pedal.
Note ridge (upper right corner of pedal (in photo)).
This limits inward float.  Also note grease port on
outside edge of pedal.

The float is nearly frictionless, which is a slight contrast to Looks (even without factoring in the spring that limits the float).

In summary, so far so good.  Next step is to put them on the front of the tandem (which was the main reason for this investigation).  In the world of tandeming, MTB shoes are generally recommending.  The reason is to have a more secure footing WHEN putting the captain's foot down.  That being said, after nearly 20 years of captaining tandems using Looks, I can say that it's not that big of a deal: just use the BRAKES to stop the bike!  :-)

Close up of the cleat.

So now the big question: how are these beasts for walking (which is supposed to be their forte, compared to Looks, eg.)?  The shoe is a compromise.  The sole is NOT as flexible as a regular walking shoe.  If it were, it would be TOO flexible for pedaling.  So, for walking, one is still not quite using ones normal gate.  I find I don't walk nearly as fast as I would in a regular walking shoe.  But then again, normally I'm not trying to get particularly far.

Frankenwatch

I've had my Garmin Forerunner 405CX for three or four years.  It has been a workhorse (it has had to be).  There have been some repairs along the way.

About a year and a half ago the battery died.  I found a youtube video showing how to do the replacement oneself, but in the end I opted to mail it to a guy who advertised on ebay.  There was an option to go for a battery with a bit longer life than the original.  I went for that and have been happy: the watch truly does have a longer run time now.  Whoever did the repairs was a bit brutal however: both halves of the wrist band came back cracked.  If I were to send the watch out again, I'd first remove the wrist band.  Some time later (more on this below), when I opened the watch, I discovered that the threads for one of the screw holes had been stripped.  There's probably no way to protect oneself from this.

A few months ago, as the rainy season in Seattle set in, the watch became fogged up.  So I took it apart and blasted it with a hair dryer.  When I put it back together (if not before), it had lost the functionality on the right and left sides (Training and GPS).  Working with this loss has been a challenge:

1. I must now go into Simple Training Mode via touching the bezel on the bottom and going in via the extensive menus, it can't be done via touching the bezel on the right side.  Then it is necessary to set the duration (distance, time, or whatever) to match the run.  In the case of a marathon, eg., however, I put in 27.0 so as to be able to watch whole miles accumulate.  There is a horrible down side to this situation: if ever the watch decides to move from this mode (while none-the-less still running in the background), it is impossible to get back in without killing the run.  So, all you can do is run along and if you happen to glance at the watch at the end of a "lap," you'll catch the lap summary.
2. It is now impossible to enter GPS Mode, via touching the bezel on the left side, to turn off the GPS.  So, even if you're training INDOORS, the GPS is on.  At least I now have the longer run battery.  None-the-less, you can't actually go into the GPS mode to use any GPS-specific functionality (i.e. can't set waypoints, etc.).
3. It is also now impossible to turn on the back light.  Fortunately I almost never run at night.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm more of a morning runner.

During a recent 10 mile run in the rain, the watch fogged up again.  So I took it apart again to zap it with a hair dryer.  The O-ring seal was broken in one spot.  If I take it apart again, I'll hunt for a replacement.  If you know where I can get a replacement O-ring, please let me know.

The other problem that has always been present, in rain, is the watch's tendency to start cycling through its displays (or, in the case of Simple Training mode, to completely leave the mode).  I finally discovered the way to prevent this is to lock the bezel.  Works like a charm.

So there you have it, Frankenwatch takes a licking ... and still kinda sorta keeps limping along.

DNFing on the BRR (Big Ring Randonée)

The day started out a bit iffy: I turned on the Garmin … and the course was NOT there.  Turns out I had merely downloaded it to my computer, but not to the Garmin device itself.  Sigh.  Oh well, the cue sheet looked pretty impressive … so HOW could anything go wrong?

My other issue was lack of training.  I’d actually been riding frequently, of late, but had kind of omitted the distance thing.  My longest ride this year was the previous Saturday: 38 whopping miles.

Somewhat to my relief, things were going OK.  It was a fairly flat course and there is a LOT to be said for that.  My cruising speed, which has started to suck in recent years, had not improved, but it hadn’t got much worse, either.  I was staying ahead of Rando pace.

All of this changed at mile 52 when I arrived at a T and encountered these cues:

0.4	52.0	Continue straight onto Sweet Rd
1.7	53.7	Continue onto Hughes Ave
0.2	53.9	Turn left onto Bell Rd
0.4	54.3	Continue onto US-99/WA-548 S/Blaine Rd

“Continue” – an interesting choice of words.  Left FELT correct; right made more geographical sense.

I opted for left.  I crossed I-5 without seeing any signs for Hughes.  Immediately after I-5 was the correct turn.  I don’t recall noticing it, however, nor any sign for Bell Rd.  I continued on, shortly arriving at US-99/WA-548 S/Blaine Rd.  Sadly, it WAS signed: Peace Portal Dr.  Sigh-o-rama.

All of this convinced me that I had turned the WRONG way at the T.  So, I biked all of the way back (uphill) and continued in the other direction (very STEEP uphill).  Then the road turned left (unsigned) and continued UP.  I wondered about doing THIS in the big ring.

Eventually the road Teed at H Street, which was a big descent into the heart of Blaine.  This did NOT do my morale much good, especially because it had now started to rain.  I continued west until I hit the water.  I knew I need to be south, so I turned that direction.  I stopped at a store and asked directions.  They told me to continue south.

I came across Hughes, I came across Bell.  I arrived at the control: 10 extra miles (and not FLAT ones, either, sigh). 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/466640890 

I was ~25 minutes in the hole.  I had a quick snack and continued.

By the next control, to my disappointment, I had only gained TWO minutes.  My legs were feeling tired, and my cruising speed was not what it needed to be to overcome the deficit.

A bit before Ferndale it was time to turn lights on and put on rain gear.

At the Loomis Trail Road info control it was time to advance to the last page of my cue sheet.  But wait: somehow that page was gone!  I phoned Dan Turner, explaining I was going to be the big Hors but could he please dictate the cues for me and I would write them down.  Dan graciously complied, then suggested he come and get me.

I pondered his offered … especially thinking about having to drive home, get a little bit of sleep, and get myself to Mercer Island for the half marathon.  I accepted!

I biked on and Dan and I encountered each other in Lynden.  I had put in 122 miles and felt OK.

I got home at 00:20.

The next morning I made it to Mercer Island OK, having taken two buses (getting to the start of this run, by ANY mode, truly sucks, so busing isn't too bad).  

My legs were tired, at the gun, but they were moving.  It wasn’t until ~ mile 10.5 that they seemed to have turned into lead weights.  But, I finished.  And, it was a gorgeous day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/466522201

And a pretty good weekend!