keithmo bikes: T-365 Days to PBP 2019

All good stories start as bad ideas

It's time to resurrect this long-neglected blog.

The 20th Paris-Brest-Paris grande randonnée starts a year from tomorrow: Sunday 2019/08/18 through Thursday 2019/08/22. I plan to be there, again, and I plan to finish, again. Unlike my experience in 2015 I plan to have fun, get more sleep, and not require surgery afterwards.

For the next year or so this blog will chronicle my training, qualification, and preparation for this epic ride.

Background

Paris-Brest-Paris is a 1230 kilometer (~764 mile) bike ride from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on the outskirts of Paris to Brest on the Britany coast and back. There is a 90 hour time limit, and once the clock starts it runs continuously. All riding, resting, eating, and sleeping must be completed within 90 hours.

PBP is goverened by Audax Club Parisien (ACP).

Randonneurs USA (RUSA) is our national randonneuring organization.

I participate in rides organized by several local clubs, primarily the Seattle International Randonneurs (SIR). I also ride with:

Desert River Randonneurs (DRR, based in Richland, WA)
Willamette Randonneurs (WR, based in Eugene, OR)
Oregon Randonneurs (ORR, based in Portland, OR

Qualification

To qualify for PBP all riders must complete a "Super Randonneur Series" in the PBP year.

To complete a Super Randonneur Series riders must complete ACP-approved brevets in distances of 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K (not necessarily in that order). Longer rides may substitute for shorter rides, so in theory one could qualify by riding, say, four 600K brevets, but that would be a whole 'nother level of stupid.

These four qualifying rides must be completed in 2019 but before the registration cutoff of 2019/07/03.

It's going to be a busy Spring randonneuring season.

Most clubs (including SIR) up their game on PBP years. SIR will organize at least two (possibly three) complete SR series before the PBP registration cutoff. There will be many opportunities to qualify.

Pre-Registration Dance

Pre-registration is available to riders who complete at least one brevet in 2018. While not technically necessary, pre-registration gives more flexibility in choosing a desired start time slot.

Pre-registration order is determined by the longest brevet completed in 2018. If your longest brevet is 1200K or 1000K, you can pre-register on 2019/01/14. If your longest brevet is 600K, you can pre-register on 2019/01/28, etc.

My longest brevet so far in 2018 was the awesome WR night-start 400K a few weeks ago. If nothing else changes, then I can pre-register on 2019/02/11. I plan to ride the SIR Summer 600K in a couple of weeks, which would move my pre-registration date up to 2019/01/28 (and complete my fourth SR series). I also plan to ride the SIR Crater Lake 1000K in mid September.