Marin off-roading on mixed bikes

Nate and I explored the upcoming Boyz On The Hoods ride. We went up Old Railroad Grade and along the way asked some mtb'ers where a certain road was and they called our bikes "mixed bikes". I'm fine with that, a do all mixed bike.

After a pbj stop at the summit, we turned back(due to not really being able to follow the cue sheet). The descent was real fun and not that rough. From there we ended up taking the road route to 7 sisters finally reaching Bolinas-Ridge Road. 

The ridge was muddy in the redwoods and bumpy in the dry open air sections. A real beautiful route!

From there a wrong direction sent us towards Pt Reyes Station. So we got lunch and rode back the goto way into the city.

The view from Old Railroad Grade.

Bolinas-Ridge

French lunch

PBP lessons learned

Going into PBP I had only the simple plan of taking the full 90 hours and not stressing.

I wanted to learned some French and did not, I plan on learning more by next summer(as of now, I'm planning on doing the Raid Pyrenees). It would have been very useful, but mainly it would have been very nice to be able to converse with the locals and volunteers. They do so much for the ride, it's the least I could have done. Next time!

My goal was to make it to Brest in 36 hours or less. It took me 43. So I had to work hard for my 90 hours, which was fine. Going into 2019, I plan on being in better shape and faster. Although, I'll still take my time to enjoy the ride.

I think with around 8 hours of sleep I still rode somewhat quick, but a quicker ride to Brest would have meant maybe 10 hours of sleep! How nice that would have been!
On the subject of sleep, one major fail on my part was not bringing ear plugs. I slept at one control and it was a snore fest.

Eric Walstad let me use his hotel in Loudeac, which was a big help. A shower and bed to sleep in at 400k was a great help. I'll figure out a hotel there for next time(or start early and try to make it to Brest). I had a hotel in Brest and only used it for a shower and to eat while laying in bed. My getting there later than expected did not allow for a nap.


I had a 7:30pm start time and once I finished and even now weeks later, I'd go with an earlier start time. I feel like I would have gotten further that first day.

I had done my last SFR 200k with a cue sheet, but no cycling computer. For PBP I knew you didn't really need anything and it was great not having anything but my brevet card and the signs on the road to follow. My advice would be to leave the Garmin at home and enjoy the views! Easiest brevet(direction wise) to ride ever!

During the ride I rode at my own pace and with a few different people at different times. Maybe doing the whole ride with another or a small group would be nice? I actually want to ride it with my bud Preston on a tandem. We'll see.

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.

Paris Brest Paris 2015 Part Deux

We left SFO at 9pm which was close to my bedtime, so I managed to sleep all but just under 2 hours of my flight. Woke up and watched most of 'The 400 Blows'. Very French.

Once arriving at our hotel in Versailles I built my bike to discover my wheels had been knocked out of true. This was Friday night and my bike inspection was the next morning. I was able to get them a little better using an emergency spoke wrench notch in my multi-tool. Although the hop in my wheel was something I wasn't able to fix and my rear wheel would rub my fender. So off came the fenders.

The skies had cleared and it was looking to be perfect weather for the ride.

Got to the velodrome to witness thousands of riders getting their bikes inspected. It was finally hitting me exactly how big this event was. Once in the velodrome gathering my number plates and brevet card, I would run into friends from SF and just take in the fact that there are riders from all over the world here.

   

Time for some sleep and then relax before starting my journey the next evening.

The hours before the event were spent hanging out in a quiet park before heading over to the velodrome to watch the fast riders take off for their 80 hour starts. The atmosphere for the starts was amazing. So much excitement. I couldn't wait to hit the road.

   

While waiting for my 7:30 departure, I eat half of a Sin Dawg for dinner. 

Once we are off and riding through town behind the pace car, I just keep thinking "this is the coolest thing I'll ever do!". It felt like a pro race. People cheering along the route.

Once out of town, it felt more like a brevet. The first stop I made was in a village where riders were filling water bottles and getting food/cokes from a bar. I got a coke and made my way onward to the next stop( an unofficial control) where I would eat some rice and bananas.

The first control was 200K in. Got stamped and moved on.

After this point, I'm real foggy on what went on, so I'll just sum up the ride best I can in Part Trois.

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.

PBP 2015

Headed to France in 4 days for my first 1200k.

haven't posted in a while

Here are some photos from the Davis Bike Club 600K. 

Thanks to Gabe for the photos.