Brittany, the home of Hinault and the Bobet brothers, hosts many big rides; with a knowledgeable and appreciative public it is a region where the roads crossing the hilly, green and windswept landscape demand powerful riding – the roads rise up then roll down, up, down…For many riders this region hosts only one ride, an historical icon, crossing from Paris to Brest and back; a total of 1,220km. Conceived to demonstrate the practicality of the bicycle, the premier edition was held in 1891 making this the oldest continuous cycling event, attracting riders worldwide. Astonishingly, given the unpaved roads and equipment, Charles Terront won riding without sleep for 71h 22m at an average of 17.6 kph on the way out and 16.8 on the way back. Impressive riding by any standard.

Qualification

PARISBRESTPARIS is now organised and run every four years by Audax Club Parisienne. To reach the start is a privilege that has to be earned, there are no gifts or free passes. Each rider must complete 200, 300, 400 and 600km brevets, a Super Randonneur series, validated by ACP to be ridden between mid-January and late-June – PBP itself takes place in mid-August - a demanding entrance exam.

With busy diaries Paul Latham and I chose our own qualifiers, sharing only the 600km brevet which we rode in mid-May; another bucket ride, the Bryan Chapman Memorial, a Welsh End-to-End from Chepstow to Menai Bridge and back to be completed in 40 hours. My own schedule included two further 600km brevets in early June; the first in the Borders and the other using much of the NC500 route. Training peaked with the successful completion of the ultra-distance 1,700km TransAlba Race in early-July. Another audax uk member, Alan Steele from Ingleton, is joining us for the ride.

Registration

After a tedious two-day drive we arrive at the Bergerie in Rambouillet. The organisation is slick, efficiently checking the bikes, mandatory equipment and issuing trackers, numbers and the eponymous gilet-jaune to the 7,000 riders.

Le Depart

24 hrs later we are back at the Bergerie. Time passes with last minute checks, reconsidering sleep strategies, tools, food, equipment and clothing options, packing and re-packing and surveying other riders and their bikes – trikes; recumbents; velopods; tandems and triples; eliptigos; steel randonneurs and historical racing machines; steel, carbon, titanium, aluminium and wood – every type and nationality is here. By early-afternoon the rain has stopped…

It’s a beautiful warm late-summer afternoon: Of the three time options: 80; 84 and 90hrs – we had chosen the 90 hr start. Departs spanned Sunday afternoon and evening every 15 minutes, the 84hr riders starting early the following morning. With Paul in Group N, myself in Q and Alan in S an hour separates us. We watched the 80hr riders leaving at 4pm.then after 6pm the first of the 90hr groups, group F, the peculiar and interesting machinery. We walk back to the bikes, we need to start. Paul’s first away at 19:15.

The balmy early evening is delightful. Our strategies are similar – ride through the night until sleep becomes an inevitable necessity. Take stock, then continue pedalling to the next control. Remember - it’s not a race!

The Route

Reputedly, it’s flat! Oh, and it’s a long way. 1,220 km -11,000m. Experience, comments from other riders and blogs suggested that success is built on planning. Information and advice is plentiful – the bike, preparation, strategy, nutrition, sleep… Yet, success flows from a mindset – handling breakdown, fatigue, doubt, and pain.

Etape 1 - Rambouillet to Mortagne 118 km ETA 02:00

The tracker logs my start at 19:48; in the lengthening shadows from the unpaved track riders accelerate onto smooth tarmac lined by large crowds. Slipping along in the trees, sheltered from the wind, finding a group moving at my pace we effortlessly pass through waving supporters in the small villages. The roads are open yet what few cars there are respect the riders.

Despite the unpaved section being only 300m I puncture at 30km. A new tube and I’m on my way again – the group now 5km up the road. On my own, but not for long. Whooosh… another train of riders slips by and I move into their wake quickly picking up speed again. They’re Italian, noisy, animated, great fun and fast.

Darkness slowly envelops us, lights come on, gilets donned, the countryside is hidden. The motorcycle outriders shepherd us. Our world is a circle of light and a rear wheel.

Etape 2 – Mortagne to Villaines – 99km/217km – elapsed time 9hrs:33mins – 22.8 kph

Fill bidon, eat, adjust front mech. cable. The darkness beckons, don’t push, wait for another train, and one comes by…The night is warm enough for shorts, the two at the front work hard riding fast. Soon the first control at Villaines arrives – 2hrs ahead of schedule; 2 more hours to sleep. The time is 05:20.

Slumped over a table sleep arrives uncomfortably. It’s time to leave. It’s dark and cold.

Etape 3 – Villaines to Fougeres – 89km/306km – elapsed time 15hrs:37mins – 19.6 kph

The road rises and falls. Fast trains slide past, other riders fall back. The spreading daylight slowly reveals the landscape and warms us. Riders stop in groups to remove warm clothing. Le Ribay lies about 40km west of Villaines. Breakfast is offered at the roadside. The village is lively and well-organised with the bonus of clean toilets, mattresses, duvets and pillows. An opportunity to sleep in comfort. Yet all too quickly the need to press on wakes me. Now I’m much fresher, the day is warm and sunny with a nagging westerly slowing progress. It’s best to grab a wheel. I ring Sandra who tells me that Alan has passed by, he’s at the next control.

Etape 4 – Fougeres to Tinteniac – 54km/360km – elapsed time 18hrs:19mins – 19.6 kph

I reach Tinteniac for a late lunch and bump into Steve Bateman without his pilot, Julian Dyson. Steve tells me that Julian has terminal achilles problems and they’re pulling out.

Etape 5 – Tinteniac to Loudeac – 85km/445km – elapsed time 23hrs:40mins – 18.8 kph

The mechanics are kept busy at the controls, truing wheels and repairing drivetrains. Niall Wallace, an Audax Ecosse rider and a member of our 2019 Easter Fleche team comes across to talk. He’s pretty tired; his Di2 is playing up and he hasn’t slept. As he collapses over the table I wish him well and rejoin the now thinning riders.

Etape 6 – Loudeac to Carhaix – 76km/521km – elapsed time 28hrs:30mins – 18.3 kph

Arriving just after midnight I eat and then spread myself out under the table. The schedule is for 4 hrs sleep; on the hard floor I probably manage 2 hrs.

Robert Bialek comes over to say hello, he complains that he’s had two punctures – we are tired. We need sleep. Everyone is very cold, some shivering uncontrollably. Riders returning from Brest come in, I need to move on…

Etape 7 – Carhaix to Brest – 89km/610km – elapsed time 37:15mins – 16.4 kph

To dress and go out to the bike is a reluctant choice. A heavy dew coats the frame and saddle. I ride down through the town, the chill from the air hurts; I work and warm up on the climb away from the river and I catch a group. Alan is talking and then Paul responds – we’re together. We climb over the Roc and stop in the early light at Sizun for coffee and croissants. There is no heat in the sun now, that will come later. Pressing on we’re soon descending the old road to the long bridge crossing into Brest – a photo stop – we move on. Paul leads us through early traffic into the control where he last arrived 4 years ago.

Etape 8 – Brest to Carhaix – 83km/693km – elapsed time 42hrs:34mins – 16.3 kph

Brevet stamped, we don’t stop preferring instead to have a second breakfast at a recommended boulangerie on the way out of town. The fresh pizza is delicious. Refreshed we ride into the day – the warm sun on our faces as we head east towards the finish. We reach Carhaix early in the afternoon. Paul and Alan start talking that we have to finish on Thursday, I don’t think too much about this, its probably Tuesday, I’m comfortable and know there is plenty of time. Ooh; my arse is sore, my neck aches. After 40hrs we’re all starting to suffer. I have no spare clothing and apply more anti-chafe. My neck starts to ache becoming an issue. The distance multiplies small niggles which become major. At a junction it’s suggested that I take off my helmet. This eases the discomfort and I carry it for the remainder of the ride.

Etape 9 – Carhaix to Loudeac – 86km/779km – 48hrs:31mins – 16.1 kph

At the roadside tables have been laid out with coffee, water, juice, crepes, biscuits and sweets, sometimes fruit.

You stop and fill your bidon, take a hot or cold drink, maybe some food, tossing a euro into a container says thanks. Everyone is friendly and really supportive. It’s best not to stay too long…

Etape 10 – Loudeac to Tinteniac – 87km/866km

Etape 11 – Tinteniac to Fougeres – 54km/920km – 60hrs:12mins – 15.3 kph

Etape 12 – Fougeres to Villaines – 89km/1009km – 69:22mins – 14.5 kph

Morning turns to afternoon Alan and I stop in the shade under a tree. We eat some and drink some. Paul continues past… we need sleep and a proper meal. Paul is still ahead of us.

I know that the village where we can sleep comfortably is around here – Le Ribay. Riding up a rise the tents appear on the right and the main road with the marshalled crossing is ahead. I call to Alan to stop. We eat chicken and chips then sleep comfortably for a couple of hours. Paul has waited at Villaines, but he moves on before we arrive.

Etape 13 – Villaines to Mortagne – 84km/1093km – 74:32mins – 14.7 kph

The evening comes, the cranks turn, the tyres roll over the road, the landscape changes becoming flatter and more rolling. As the sun dips we stop in a town square for a meal, enjoying the food and a beer. Fed, we bounce the control and ride on into the night.

Etape 14 – Mortagne to Dreux – 77km/1170km – 79hrs:42mins – 14.7 kph

Arrows point the way but are easy to miss. We pass one, turn round and start a climb through trees. Over the hill a café appears by the roadside. The music, bright lights and strong coffee are irresistable. Later, Alan sees a shelter and tries to stop and sleep, it’s occupied and he rejoins me; shortly after we separate. Below this ridge, over on the left, the lights of Dreux beckon. It’s 3:30 in the morning. Alan arrives a few minutes after I do. He is stopping to sleep. Another friend, Tim, is here and I ask him if he wants to tag along with me to the finish. He’s sleeping here too. After 45 minutes I move outside to remount the bike. It’s not as cold tonight. Paul is here – sleeping somewhere…

Etape 15 – Dreux to Rambouillet – 44km/1214km – 82:32mins – 14.7 kph

Alone now, I ride on into the night, red lights some way ahead. The roads are quiet and kind, the kilometres slipping effortlessly by. I reach a group of four American riders 5km from the arrivee and we thrash manically through the woods towards the dawn. Crossing the cobbles it’s over, it’s finished. I can eat and drink and sleep. Paul arrives, I wave, but then he disappears – later he tells me he went for a shower. I return to the van and sleep. When I wake some time later Alan is here with Paul. We have all finished, all in under 84 hrs.

Steve Scott

Postscript: Dave Deakins, a second claim Kent Valley Road Club member, also completed the 2019 Paris-Brest-Paris. An incredible achievement for all three riders and a fantastic reflection on Kent Valley Road Club. Well done all!

Image credits lequipeprovence.com; SCASB; Michael Quinn; Bixente Hacala; Alan Steele; Paul Latham.