Paris Brest Paris 2015 Part Un

A year and a half ago I had no idea what PBP was. I had never heard of it or even randonneuring.  I was about to move to the bay area and was already sold on riding touring bikes with big tires over my super light skinny tired road bike. More or less I was getting into what I saw via the Rivendell site and "The Great Escape" blog.

Somehow I saw a photo of the San Francisco Randonneurs. I looked into the group and decided to ride the upcoming Populaire. The longest ride I had done in sometime was out to Walnut Creek a few days after moving here. So I set out to pre-ride the Lucas Valley route the week before the event. I gave up in Fairfax having been beaten by the ride. I quickly learned I needed to ride as many hills as possible and take in more food and water. The rookie rando indeed.

I read up on the SFR google group learning as much as I could for the ride. It went well and then I did some 200K's. As I got more into these rides, I started learning about PBP. Watching videos and reading articles on the Bicycle Quarterly blog.

Aside from rider accounts and the footage I watched, Jan Heine's words really were an inspiration to go to France and ride. Through his site and magazine, I learned about the classic French bikes and the randonneur I wanted to be... the cyclotouriste.

My goal was to ride PBP in the full 90 hours, taking in everything the event and the route have to offer. My front bag and saddle bag full of my clothes and food. A ramble of epic porportions.


Along the way, I learned a whole lot from doing as many rides as I could. Everyone I've met through the Northern California rando scene has been nothing but amazing. They are very willing to pass on lessons and share whatever they can. It has changed cycling for me in the best of ways.