Paris Brest Paris Part Trois

The standout moments from my first PBP.

-Rolling into villages late at night when everything is silent. The brick homes and small streets were amazing to ride through.

-People cheering on the side of the road, out of their homes and cars. Highfives from kids on the streets and the water/coffee tables set up all over. The kindness of the French kept a smile on my face the whole time.

-Riding amongst thousands of riders. All the hi-viz vest's and dyno lights! Conversations with people from all over. 

-The words of encouragement on banners and all the bike art in towns. France loves cycling.

-The smiles people would give when they saw the SF jersey. I keep hearing "San Francisco" everywhere I went.

-Giving out our club pins to kids. 

-Eric Walstad letting my use his hotel in Loudeac. A shower and bed 400k in was a blessing.

-Seeing the racers go by me before I was 400K in. 

-Max, Jan and the other sub-80 hour riders eating at Loudeac while I was, only they were on the inbound route.

-Amy making me hummus baguette sandwiches in Brest.

-Making it to Brest and turning around to head back.

-Rolling into villages around 5am and the smell of fresh bread. And then eating that fresh bread.

-Getting 7 or so hours of sleep!

I'm sure there were many other highlights, I just can't get over how great the ride was and just keep thinking about 2019!

 

 

 

   

My favorite part of finishing the ride was seeing Amy's smile when she saw that I had made it. Without her support I would have not been able to complete this ride or previous ones.