Russell Seaton Paris-Brest-Paris 2007 Ride Report

Russell Seaton, from Johnston, IA, was one of the riders at PBP 2007. Here is his account of his experience:

1. INTRODUCTION

2. DIABETES

3. FLAT TIRES

4. STARTING GROUP

5. RIDING SPEED

6. RIDING COMPANIONS

7. SLEEP STOPS

8. PHYSICAL BODY PROBLEMS

9. DROWSINESS

10. WEATHER

11. TERRAIN

12. CLOTHING

13. DIET DURING RIDE

14. BIKE AND LIGHTS

15. SUPPORT CREW

16. SUPPORT CREW NAVIGATION

17. SUPPORT CREW RENTAL CAR

18. PBP COST

19. PBP HASSLES

INTRODUCTION

My 2007 Paris-Brest-Paris ride did not go according to plan. From before the ride started until I finished in 70 hours and 54 minutes, it was plagued by almost constant minor problems. In total the minor problems consumed enough time to not allow me to satisfy my randonneur goal of riding a 1200k randonnee as quickly as possible. PBP was chosen to meet this goal. This goal remains unfulfilled.

DIABETES

My constant minor problems can be separated into two categories: blood sugar levels and flat tires. I have Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes. Over my years of being a randonneur I have learned how to handle diabetes during brevets. Ordinarily the only problem it presents is requiring extra time at every control to test my glucose levels and inject an appropriate amount of insulin based on the test results and amount of calories I will consume.

During PBP I had two instances of hyper glycemia, high blood sugars, and two instances of hypo glycemia, low blood sugars. Hyper glycemia causes me to not feel good and thus results in a slower riding speed until I take some insulin to bring the blood sugars down to a more normal level. There is no immediate danger caused by hyper glycemia. The first hyper glycemia incident occurred before Mortagne outbound. The time wasted was compounded because of the slow riding speed and my inability to draft fast groups at the beginning of the ride. The first night is where drafting gains the most time due to the close proximity of a large number of fast riders and the flatter terrain. At Mortagne I tested my blood and was able to treat the hyper glycemia. The second instance of hyper glycemia occurred leaving Brest on Wednesday morning after a sleep break. Wednesday morning leaving Brest was a succession of problems and this was just one of them.

Hypo glycemia is an immediate life threatening danger and must be treated quickly. Fortunately I was able to detect and treat my hypo glycemia before becoming life threatening. The first hypo glycemia occurred right after the hyper glycemia leaving Brest. I took too much insulin to treat the hyper glycemia and my blood sugar ended up too low. When I am in hypo glycemia during rides my speed slows considerably and I cannot ride in a straight line. My mind is unable to think and I am only semi conscious. During this hypo glycemia I finally stopped along the road and after awhile my mind finally told me to eat some granola bars in my jersey pockets. A few minutes later I was OK. My stop also resulted in my chain coming off and this added something extra to think about for my already minimally functioning brain. An ACP official car stopped to help me when I was standing on the side of the road but due to my inability to talk or think and the language barrier, the ACP official left without knowing the real problem I was having. It took me 4.5 hours to ride the 84 kilometers from Brest to Carhaix. The second hypo glycemia occurred a few miles after Dreux on the return. After riding slowly for awhile I finally stopped in a small village and checked my blood sugar. Upon seeing that it was low I ate six packets of gel and was OK. This second hypo glycemia was discovered much quicker than the first and it was easy to treat.

FLAT TIRES

I had seven flats during PBP. My tires were 700x25 Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX. I installed brand new tires the weekend before PBP and rode the 266km Dairyland Dare. The rear tire flatted once on that ride. During the 1235km of PBP the front tire flatted three times. I threw the rear tire out at 950km when it had its fourth flat on PBP. My cycling friends will vouch for my high rate of flats on our rides at home, but PBP was exceptionally high even for me. These Vittoria tires received a good rating for very low rolling resistance in Bicycle Quarterly magazine. I tried to buy some speed with these tires and I paid dearly.

The very first flat tire was the most costly in terms of reducing the chances of meeting my time goal. It occurred between Mortagne and Villaines outbound. It was drizzling rain and cold as I fixed the flat on the side of the road. This flat caused me to lose contact with the fast group of riders I was drafting. The lengthy stop also allowed my legs to cramp severely. It took several aborted attempts and twenty minutes to finally start riding again after I finished fixing the flat. I had one more flat between Mortagne and Villaines and one flat between Villaines and Fougeres. Three flats during the first night of riding in the rain and cold is an unpleasant start to PBP.

The second day of riding brought three more flats. The final day of riding only had one flat. Five of the flats were caused by small pieces of glass working their way through the thin tread. Two of the flats were caused by small stone chips. The sixth flat tire was the most memorable. The rear tire flatted at 1 AM on Thursday between Fougeres and Villaines on the return. It was raining and cold. I carried a spare Continental Supersonic tire between my seatstays above the brake calipers on PBP. I decided it was time to replace the rear tire after four flats in 950km. So standing half in the grassy ditch and half in the road I replaced the rear tire in the very dark, rainy, cold night.

The five flats from glass could have been caused by riding over five individual pieces of glass during PBP. Or riding through one patch of glass and imbedding all five pieces into my tread at once and taking the rest of PBP for each to cause a flat. The stone chips were random. I resupplied myself with tubes from my support car and purchased two tubes at Villaines outbound. There was almost no trash or debris on the roads of PBP. There were no potholes. An additional discouraging part of all the flat tires was watching people I had passed riding by me while I was stopped fixing the flat.

STARTING GROUP

I started at 8:30 PM Monday in the third and last 80 hour group. My goal was to ride the course as fast as I could so it made sense to start with the 80 hour group. During the ride the weather and my mishaps made me question this decision. The control closing times for the 80 hour group convinced me to ride to Brest before my first sleep stop. And I decided riding from Brest to Villaines before my next sleep stop was necessary to maintain a safe margin with the control closing times. If I was in the 90 hour group I likely would have stopped at Loudeac or Carhaix given my problems and the inclement weather. And the second day’s weather and problems would have made me stop sooner than Villaines if I had been in the 90 hour group. During the ride I regretted not having the option to shorten my riding days.

However, in hindsight the 80 hour control closing times kept me moving and ahead of the large number of people behind me. If I had the option of stopping for sleep earlier, I might have ended up with real time problems by becoming entangled with the large 90 hour group. On PBP it was probably best for me to have my sleeping towns decided by the control closing times so it was not a decision I had to worry about. The only thing I had to worry about was riding to that town. If I were to pick another starting group, I would choose the 90 hour group and get to the Guyancourt stadium hours ahead of time to make sure I was in the first 90 hour group to leave. Riding anywhere but in front of the 3,000 riders in the 90 hour group is not something I want to experience.

RIDING SPEED

During PBP I never seemed to be riding strongly. I always felt I was going slower than I should be. My cycle computer seemed to read 20-25 km/hr most of the time. In hindsight when I calculate the amount of time I used for my diabetes issues, flat tires, time at controls to resupply, time at controls to shower and sleep, and finishing time, I realize I must have been riding at an acceptable pace. With the almost constant minor irritants I dealt with every hour or two it was difficult to ride a solid tempo.

RIDING COMPANIONS

The vast majority of PBP for me was spent riding alone. I did ride with and draft individuals or groups during the first 100 kilometers until my problems started. Going into Tinteniac and Loudeac I rode with groups of about ten to twenty for an hour or so. And from Loudeac to Carhaix I rode with a man from Holland who spoke English. This was the only real conversation I had with a rider during PBP. The second half was ridden alone until a few kilometers outside of St. Quentin. My frequent problems kept me near the end of the 80 hour group for most of the ride. I was constantly passing slower 80 hour riders until my next problem occurred. I rarely found anyone with a similar pace to ride with.

SLEEP STOPS

My two shower and sleep stops were at Brest and Villaines on the return. I arrived in Brest at 12:45 AM Wednesday after 28 hours 15 minutes for 615km. Riding straight through to Brest was about the only part of my original plan I accomplished. I showered in Brest and slept from 2 AM until 7 AM Wednesday when the control worker awakened me. I did not wait for a shower or cot in Brest. The shower was warm. The cots in Brest were canvas with one end elevated to act as a pillow. Bedding was a heavy scratchy wool blanket. There were about 50 other people sleeping, snoring, and walking in the cot area. I was asleep in less than 30 seconds. I don’t recall the last time I slept as soundly. The time stamp, showers, cots, food, bathroom were all in the same building in Brest so it was very convenient. The cot area was walled off from the rest of the activity and was darkened. I left Brest at 7:45 AM Wednesday.

My second shower and sleep stop was at Villaines on the return. I arrived in Villaines at 3 AM Thursday and slept from 4 AM until 8 AM Thursday. My Mother woke me in Villaines. It took me 19 hours 15 minutes to ride 390km. The Villaines control had its functions in several buildings. It was not convenient or pleasant to walk in cycling shoes with hurting feet in the rain and cold between the three different buildings. It was about 100 meters of walking on concrete between the time stamp building and shower building. A boy at the control led me from one building to another. He was probably thrilled to be allowed to be awake all night long and have the responsibility of leading cyclists from building to building. I was the only person in the shower in Villaines. But it was cool water. The beds at Villaines consisted of a dense four inch thick foam pad that reached from my head to my knees. There were about twenty of these pads in a darkened room in the sleeping building. About half were full when I arrived. Bedding was a thin wool blanket. It took me about two minutes to fall asleep. Again I slept deeply. Only about three people were still sleeping in my room when I awoke at 8 AM Thursday. I began the 225 km ride from Villaines to St. Quentin at 9 AM Thursday. It took me 10 hours and 24 minutes.

PHYSICAL BODY PROBLEMS

I experienced very few physical body problems during PBP. The morning after PBP I had nothing but stiff and sore legs that made walking up and down stairs hard for a few days. My main problem was my feet hurt, especially my left big toe. My left foot is slightly larger than my right and I failed to cut my toenails short enough before the ride. So the left big toe ended up being pressed against the end of the shoe. This problem only started causing concern after the first 300 plus kilometers each day. The bottoms of my feet were sore but not sore enough to cause any concern. At Villaines on the return I did begin to experience a little tingling in the parts of the body that contact the saddle. I rode the final kilometers into Villaines standing up more than normal. The six hours I spent off the bike at Villaines kept the tingling from recurring during the ride from Villaines to St. Quentin. My feet swelled after my previous 1200k but this did not occur after PBP.

DROWSINESS

My only bout with drowsiness while riding occurred on Wednesday morning between Brest and Carhaix. This was also when I had hyper glycemia followed by hypo glycemia so the drowsiness added extra confusion. The drowsiness was hard to explain because this was the only sunny and warm morning of the ride. And I had just spent seven hours off the bike in Brest with five of those sleeping. After weaving along the edge of the road I finally stopped and took three caffeine pills. After awhile I was not drowsy anymore so either the caffeine pills worked or the drowsiness subsided by itself.

WEATHER

The weather during PBP, and the week following PBP, was similar to early spring in the Midwestern US. It was wet and cool and windy. It rained or drizzled Monday night Tuesday morning, Wednesday night Thursday morning, and Thursday evening going into St. Quentin. It seemed appropriate to be rained on for the final kilometers of the ride. Daytime was generally dry. Temperatures ranged from the low 50s at night to low 70s in the day. Being wet made these temperatures feel a little more unpleasant than they sound. The worst weather for me was between Fougeres and Villaines on Wednesday night Thursday morning. The weather could have been much worse. It did not really affect my ride.

TERRAIN

The PBP course can be described as hilly. But it also had plenty of flat stretches. The first and last 100 or so kilometers were fairly flat. And the approach into and out of Brest was flat. Some of the hilly areas were gentle rollers where you could maintain momentum. There were several multiple kilometer long climbs but the grade was not steep. Several of the longest climbs were just west of Villaines. There were also short steep climbs inside of or leaving a few towns. Towns perched at the top of long climbs were most abundant between Loudeac and Carhaix.

Many of the rider stories published in the RUSA PBP handbooks and stories found on the internet made the course sound much hillier than it turned out to be. The Roc Trevezel climb receives considerable discussion in these stories. I climbed it in a group of about ten people on Tuesday night and did not realize it was the infamous Roc until I was at the top. This group of ten consisted of two smaller groups and me who joined up near the bottom of the hill. Various members of the two groups would set a pace to test the other people. This resulted in the entire group climbing the hill very nicely. I was content to match whatever pace was being sent. The return from Brest to Carhaix was different than the outbound route and was much flatter. There were hills on PBP, but nothing to be concerned about. There were a few short stretches of PBP where we rode on main roads with traffic. The smaller roads we mainly traveled were almost devoid of traffic.

CLOTHING

I was lucky enough to start the ride with almost the right clothes to stay warm enough throughout the ride. I wore shorts, leg warmers, Smartwool socks, short sleeve jersey, long sleeve jersey, and a jacket almost the entire ride. I used a wind breaker jacket the first night and switched to a Showers Pass Elite rain jacket at Fougeres. The wind breaker was not quite warm enough and allowed the rain water to get to my jerseys and keep my body too cool. The Showers Pass Elite rain jacket was heavier so it provided more warmth and kept the cold rain water off my body and allowed my body to warm up my wet jerseys. For brief periods I would take off the jacket when it was a little too warm and carry it in my Camelbak. Occasionally I would even unzip my jerseys to cool down. For the final day of riding from Villaines to St. Quentin I took off the long sleeve jersey because it was too wet and I wore tights instead of leg warmers because the tights were dry. It was not cold enough to need long finger gloves, a hood, or balaclava.

DIET DURING RIDE

My diet during PBP consisted mainly of energy drink, granola bars, Gatorade, and gel. The only normal solid food I ate was a sausage on a baguette at Mortagne on the return. My energy drink was a homemade mixture of Carboplex, chocolate flavored soy protein, and some Hammer Endurolyte powder. This provided about 750 calories of carbohydrate and protein in a one liter water bottle. I tried to drink two of these bottles between controls and carried extra powder in baggies for stretches when I did not meet my support crew. My two liter Camelbak contained Gatorade mixed from powder I brought from home. It was mixed 50% stronger than the recipe on the container. This provided about 300 calories per liter. My support crew said the food and coffee was good at all of the controls they ate at waiting for me to arrive. Through my years of brevet riding I have learned my stomach cannot handle solid food and extensive exercise so I try to get all of my calories from fluids or softer foods.

There were very limited opportunities for food outside of the controls. Some of the small towns we went through had tents serving food to the partygoers inside the tent. The route went by some restaurants in the towns. These were only open during daylight hours. I saw only a couple convenience stores/gas stations along the bigger roads. I stopped at one and bought a bottle of Coke and Snickers candy bar and put on my rain jacket. This was between Carhaix and Loudeac.

BIKE AND LIGHTS

My bike was a 2005 Litespeed Tuscany titanium frame with an all carbon fork. Gearing was a double crankset with 46-30 chainrings. Cogs were a 12-25 10 speed cassette. Tires were Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX 700x25. I used a Camelbak and a large wedge saddlebag to carry my supplies. Saddle was a Brooks Professional. Handlebars were TTT Morphe with three layers of cork on the tops and two layers of cork on the drops. Pedals were Shimano Ultegra 6620 SPD-SL. I switched from Time Equipe pedals a month before PBP because the Time pedals were not comfortable on very long rides. Shoes were 1998 Carnac Virenque. Helmet light was a Princeton Tec EOS Bike. This was necessary for fixing flat tires and seeing the arrows on the side of the road. Front wheel was a 32 spoke Open Pro rim with a Shimano DH-3N71 generator hub. Lights were two Schmidt E6 headlights attached to Minoura Besso fork mounts positioned near the dropouts on the fork legs. Frame pump was a carbon Blackburn FP-1. I carried two Zefal one liter water bottles and a smaller bottle in cages on my frame. Everything except the tires worked well during PBP and the qualifying brevets. I will not make any changes to the equipment for the 2008 brevets, except the tires. I had flat problems on almost every brevet for the past two years no matter what tires I used.

SUPPORT CREW

My support crew consisted of my 70 year old Mother and my 60 year old Aunt. They met me as planned at Fougeres, Loudeac, and Brest outbound. They met me at Loudeac, Fougeres, and Villaines on the return. We planned to meet more often on the return but missed each other. A cellular telephone is almost a necessity to keep the support crew informed of the rider’s progress and alleviate their worries. The 150 to 300 kilometer intervals between meeting my support worked well. It allowed sufficient time for my support to find the actual control location in a town and for me to spend less time at the controls where I did not meet them. I spent between 15 and 30 minutes at each control stop, excluding my sleep stops. I was quicker at the controls where I did not resupply from my support car.

SUPPORT CREW NAVIGATION

My support crew had difficulties getting from one control town to another and even more difficulty finding the actual control after they found the right town. Roads are not marked as well in France as in the US. Most signs just mention the name of a subsequent town so you have to know what other towns are in the same direction as your town if it is not shown. The actual control location is not the most prominent and easy to find place in a town. My support did have the address but with no street map and no ability to get directions because of the language barrier and nightfall, it was difficult finding the control. They took to following other vehicles with a PBP support car sticker until they followed a car in the wrong direction leaving Brest after its rider abandoned. Then they took to following riders in and out of towns except they drove on adjacent streets. A GPS unit with city street maps of France is essential for a support car.

My support crew probably had an easier time than me during the three days of PBP. But they experienced their own version of hardship and suffering. They had far more mental stress than me. My support slept in the car during the three days of PBP because of the navigation difficulties and time it would take to find hotels. They did stop at McDonalds more than me. There is a McDonalds along the route a few hundred meters beyond the Carhaix control.

SUPPORT CREW RENTAL CAR

The support car was a Renault Megane station wagon rented at Charles de Gaulle airport. It was a little bigger than a Ford Escort station wagon. A Trico Iron Case would fit inside the car laying flat with both back seats folded down. The Trico would fit on its edge behind the driver’s seat with only one of the back seats folded down. This arrangement allowed seating for three people. This car comes with a built in luggage rack so I was also able to put the Trico on top of the car. I used two of the four nylon ratchet straps I brought from home to secure it. When we flew into Paris a friend was on the same flight so we put both bike cases on the luggage rack for the drive from the airport to St. Quentin. The car easily accommodated four people and their luggage with the bikes on top. We used the same configuration to haul my friend back to the airport on the Saturday after PBP. The four nylon ratchet straps were bought from a hardware store in the US for $10. The rental car cost $700 for our 16 day stay in France. It was available with diesel or gasoline engines. Due to mechanical problems we ended up with one of each during our stay in France. Both were manual transmissions. The rental car company offered GPS as an option but I did not know this was needed for my support crew until after PBP was over.

PBP COST

The financial costs and hassles are too great to make it an enjoyable ride. One Euro equaled approximately $1.50 US Dollars at PBP 2007. Airfare was $1,215 from Des Moines, Iowa to Paris, plus another $125 to transport my bike case. Hotels were approximately $100 per night. The rental car and fuel was $1,000 for the 16 days we were in France. The total cost of this 16 day trip for me, my Mom, and my Aunt was approximately $6,000. I’ve never taken a vacation that expensive.

PBP HASSLES

There were hassles involved with this ride due to the large number of riders and the fact it was in a foreign country. The hassles started with completing the brevet series by mid June. In the Midwest you can still have unpleasant weather in mid June. The application process itself required passport sized photos and a letter from my doctor. These are not difficult or costly to obtain but I did have to pay Walgreens $8 for the photos and make a trip to my doctor’s office for the letter. I had to go through the process and cost of renewing my expired passport. I made a special trip to a downtown bank to exchange money before leaving the US. This is the first time I flew to a brevet. Hauling a large bike case and my other luggage through the airports and customs and train stations and into hotels was very inconvenient. Because the rental cars in Europe are not sold in the US I had difficulty figuring out which specific car would work for hauling my bike case. The bike inspection and packet pickup on Sunday was also extra effort and work.

Finally, my friend and I showed up at the stadium at 6:30 PM, expecting to start riding at 8:00 PM. Arriving 1.5 hours before a brevet starts is unheard of in the US. And then we actually did not start riding until 8:30 PM. Standing on an asphalt track for two hours before starting an 80 or 90 hour bike ride is not pleasant. Fortunately once the ride started I had no hassles at all with the course, crowds, or communicating.

I will not ride another Paris-Brest-Paris. I’m glad I did it once, but I won’t do it again. I can recommend every randonneur ride PBP because you cannot know if you will enjoy it until you ride it. PBP is different from all other 1200km randonnees. But for me there are many other 1200km randonnees I want to ride and enjoy.