Pre-Registration

Your preregistration to the 17th Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur proceeded successfully.
Your file number is AU-1618. Please keep it safe, for it will be asked at registration.

Registration opens on June 11, 2011.

We remind you that you will lose your reserved place if you have not registered until June 20, 2011.


Pretty simple really.

With a homologation number ( for the 600 St Mary's loop ride completed last April ) and credit card in hand, pre-registration to the big adventure was made on the 17th of April.

30 Euro confrimed a spot in spite of a little language glitch on the ACP web site.  A switch to French threw me a little at first but some logic and patience completed the transaction with only minor sweating.

A few minutes later and payment confirmation bounced into my in-box, followed by the note above.

A quick conversation back and forth between Gav and Craig confirmed that Gav had made the leap first, confirming our start with the 84 our group.  I came in next with clammy palms, while Craig sorted out bags of rowing gear having returned that evening from a Barrington rowing regatta.

After all of the guess work and calculations during 2010, accumulating, tallying and comparing quota miles, it has turned out to be relatively painless to book a spot.  After the Western Australian 1000, run just the week before the close of the 2009-2010 calendar, I had thought that our quota position would see us relegated to the tail end of the Australian list of aspirants.  Luckily, this did not eventuate, as we were sitting in the 90's of 150 riders who had expressed an interest in entering for 2011.

With 20 June out of the way, then I guess we'll have no more excuses...

Thoughts for the Road

Riding up to 600Km in one weekend has shaken our complacency a bit – and created some distinct learning for all three of us. 

None of this is news – perhaps just a confirmation of all the little things that we have been researching and reading about all this time.

Here are some thoughts ;

Chamy cream.   A good thick smear on shorts and on you, and then reapplied during the ride – especially if wet – really does make a huge difference.  If you are only riding 50-100 at a time, it is unlikely that this will make much difference or sense to you.  Over 200 and it is a must.  Use a specific cream – not just Vaseline – something that includes antibacterial agents and preferably non-petroleum based.

Two pairs of knicks can also be pretty comfortable, but choose the pair carefully to avoid too much padding between the inside of thighs and saddle edge.  The wrong combination can be counter-productive.  While thinking about clothing, I have also found two thin pair of socks to be very comfortable too.  That old idea of two surfaces sliding over one another instead of rubbing skin is relevant in so many ways.  Same goes for undershirts.  Always wear one unless it is just too hot.

For shoes we have used a mix of items.  I ride in SIDI MTB shoes with SPD’s.  Gav alternates between Shimano MTB shoes and SPD and Specialized road shoes depending on his chosen mount.  Craig has switched to thermal moulded Shimano road shoes and finds them to be bling on the eye but also very comfortable.  Road shoes like the Shimano items appear more ‘walk’ friendly these days with chunks moulded into the sole to protect nose and heel.  I think the most important aspect of shoe choice is comfort – fit with a little flexibility.

We haven’t used gel filled mitts or anything under bar tape.  Gav uses a very nice leather wrap on his E3, Craig and I use ‘cork’ bar tape.  For PBP I intend to experiment a little with some gel strips under key areas of leather tape to see how this works.

We have been fortunate enough to get wet only twice in over 4000 Km’s – both times the rain was heavy enough to get us really wet, so mud-guards would have been pretty unimportant in the overall scheme of things.  We’ve recently bought some slender plastic items – I’m not sure if I’ll fit them.  I can certainly see the logic when riding in groups – reducing the rearward spray onto following riders would be a good thing.  As far as not getting a wet behind – well, maybe I’ll trial them this winter to see how they go.

Electrolytes are important.  Who’d have thought ?  Seems that all those magazine articles about fluid and electrolyte replacement have been on to something for a couple of decades now.  In extreme cases, specific electrolyte replacement ‘bombs’ such as the items from Shotz can really assist in reducing cramp.  Craig, who is prone to cramps after very long efforts has found that magnesium is very helpful – either as a direct supplement on its own, or in combination with a rehydration formula.

While thinking about hydration, a rehydration pack for very long rides works pretty well.  Two litres of water lasts pretty well as a resource that can clear the mouth of sticky energy drinks or gels.  There is no confusion then between water and go-juice, and at times it is handy to follow a sticky substance with a long, long draught of fresh water.  Water also tends to stay relatively and surprisingly cool in a pack.  There is an added side benefit of also adding to limited pocket space.  A cape, spare tubes and solid food can be stashed into a relatively small pack leaving pockets free for money, ‘phone and immediate food needs.

On the topic of food, I have found gel energy supplements to be both good and evil – though I tend to rely on them a bit.  They are excellent for negating the onset of hunger knock.  After a while it is possible to recognise that first sign, a bit of a sweat, an emptiness and slight dip in output.  Put a gel in immediately, then follow it with solid food and plan a more substantial stop for calorie intake soon and everything will be fine.  I have also found that the non-caffeine gels are best for general use ( competition might be a slightly different case ) and ingesting them at the beginning of a lunch stop also seems to work pretty well.  The logic here is that putting the gel into your system gives the body something to work with immediately, while it goes about the task of breaking down more solid lunch items.  Early on I tended to fall into a bit of a hole straight after a lunch stop.  Timing gel intake in this way has meant a more even output around real food.

I made a bit of a joke out of salty chips in an earlier post.  I have found that crisps have a strangely ( and welcome ) calming affect on an uncomfortable stomach.  Not sure if anyone else has experienced the belly fire of a day consuming Poweraide – which sources its carbohydrates from Fructose – but some salty crisps seem to calm this internal burning.  Maybe someone will write in to explain why this is – or debunk it as a myth.  That’s fine, all I know is that it seems to work.  Sodium intake on these rides is something to be concerned about.  It is a bit habit forming and certainly not to be recommended outside of specific ride situations.  Perhaps the balance is in a reduced or minimised salt intake during normal dietary intake.

Moving away from food…Always, and I mean always check tyres for glass embedded in the tread before setting off.  Always, always carry at least two spare tubes and a little lightweight barely noticeable and convenient box of stick-on patches.  This saves putting your last five dollar note into the carcass of the tyre when it is cut by some roadside debris.  A decent pump is also an obvious, but often neglected item.  We have carried a full-size metal-bodied frame pump on all of our rides – a device that can put close to 100psi into a new tube.  Much better than slogging along on 35psi all day after an early flat because that is all a mini-pump can manage.  My frame has gusseted lugs that do not allow a pump to be fitted under the top tube.  Carrying two water bottles also negates placing the pump against the seat tube.  This leaves the very old-world method of placing the pump alongside the left rear seat stay.  Maybe not possible on the carbon frame you may own – I guess you then need to look at alternatives like compressed gas.  Interestingly, professionals ( in the 30's ) used to carry a canister of compressed air on their frames just for this purpose – only trouble is that it is a one-shot option.

Most modern bikes can be almost completely disassembled with a 5mm and 6mm Allen key.  Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but if you don’t want to carry a multi tool, carry at least these two sizes banded together with two plastic tyre levers.  You’d be surprised how handy they can be.

Our most recent lesson is also to carry spare spokes on rides that take you far from home.  It is a bit frightening to hear the bang of a broken spoke, watch the wheel go well out of true and know that you only have 17 out of a minimal 18 spokes left to get you to the next town.  Smooooth riding tends to become very important.  It has occurred to us that we will need to try to rationalise our wheel choices for PBP with same rim and hub choices so that we can carry a couple of spare spokes plugged up inside a seat post with a cork bung.

The closest I’m going to come to positioning comment is to say that Craig, Gav and I have used our normal road-racing posture on all rides.  I’m not sure for Craig, but Gav and I have both found that we are a bit set into this posture and tend to suffer a tight and painful lower back when bars are raised or reach reduced.  Neck muscles do get tired but I don’t think that any of us have experienced extreme neck tiredness or pain.  I also tend to feel the longest rides in my triceps, but then I’m also lazy and haven’t done any strengthening exercises for this muscle group.    This is not to say that a more upright position is less or more appropriate, only that we haven’t pushed ourselves much outside our accustomed position.   There is a fair weight of advice amongst the randonneur-focussed info-resources, pushing toward less reach and more upright body position for long-distance cyclists.  I’m not necessarily convinced – but then have yet to really experiment with myself.    This is an interesting one, comfort on the long haul becoming more and more important.  It is also the key area of concern for me in setting up our ancient bikes for PBP – we will need to allow a period of acclimatisation to ensure that we can cope with them for 4 days staright.

Gav has wavered between his Tri-cross and aluminium S-works for our qualifying rides.  One is a dramatic example of how good a ‘road’ frame can be on varied surfaces.  The other is an uncompromising road racing machine – and I know Gave loves them both for various reasons.  He tends to come back to the S-Works for the longest rides…

Riding style ?  We have been lucky to have completed all our rides together – sheltering, encouraging and pushing each other.  For us, this has been the key point - sharing the experience together.  We tend to ride in long turns rather than rolling turns – there is just something a bit more relaxed about this method, giving time to eat and drink properly while waiting for the return to the front.  We all tend to vary the amount of time spent leading according to how we’re going and how the others feel.  It has taken a bit of time, but mostly we are attuned and watchful of causing splits on hills or into the wind.  If anything, we have learned to call for an ease of pace if needed – to make sure that the strongest is sheltering the group when really needed.  I’ve mentioned before, the tortoise and hare thing.  We haven’t set out to ride in this manner, but find that trying to hold 25-30 Km/Hr averages with decent stops at intervals works for us – it has just been a natural development that suits my own bladder capacity and need for constant calorific intake.

Hardest of all is holding back when feeling good.  We have too often driven hard in the early miles to try to gain some time on our schedule, only to lose any gain through a flat tyre.  A turn into the wind has then knocked us about a bit – making us realise that we should have ridden more evenly from the start. 

So you see, no real revelations.

More will follow as we begin to acclimatise to our historic bikes and begin logging some training miles in the cause of the Oncology Childrens Foundation.