Plans starting to take shape#
It seems that finally a basic sketch of a plan is taking shape. I know riding something the distance of PBP means I’ll have to go solo several times, and I know for sure I’ll have to adapt to the unexpected (TM). But, you know, I really like the idea of having a basic plan in advance, specially if it is a plan shared with friends that will be there too.
So, after talking with these and those, today I booked in advance two hotels for a couple of nights during the ride, with enough room for 3 people (a couple of friends will start almost at the same time as me, so the idea is to try to ride together as much as possible). One booking is for the night of the 21th of August, which will be the second night on the road, and the other is for the night of the 22th of August, the following night.
I pre-registered in the 90-hour group R, with departure scheduled for the 20th of August at 20:15. This means starting late in the evening and ride all night long (which I’ve done several times already, and is perfectly fine with me).
The plan is to ride all the way to Brest (~600 km, ~5700 m) without any big stop for sleeping. Saying it out loud, it sounds quite… let’s say “optimist”, but talking with several fellow randonneurs that did PBP before, they told me it is doable in some time between 23 and 27 hours (depending on lots of factors, of course).
I know from previous experiences that I’m able to ride for 27 hours without any sleep at all (even under very bad weather and having had a crash) so I decided to book the hotel for the second night near Brest. There I’d have the first big stop, sleeping in a proper bed for a few hours.
After that break we will resume riding, this time in direction to Paris, with the idea of riding near 300 km (~3700 m of elevation gain) before the next bigger stop in Fougères. There is where I booked the hotel for the third night.
That means we still will have a final stretch/stage/ call-it-whatever-you-want of around 300 km (~2500 m of elevation gain) before arriving back in Rambouillet.
With this plan, we should be riding only one full night (sunday) with stops for sleeping in proper beds on monday and tuesday nights. Don’t get it wrong, we will ride during those 2 nights too, but not all night long (which can make a big difference).
One thing I like about this plan is that we have secured 2 beds (quality resting) for the whole ride. It may be that I’ll need to sleep a bit more than that but there will be always the chance of sleeping in the control points.
Control points in PBP have places reserved for sleeping. Some will have small beds or mattresses, some will have gym mats, but there is always some chance to get a quick nap there.
The longer stretch between controls is 120km, and that is from the start in Rambouillet to the first control in Mortagne-au-Perche (and hopefully I won’t be falling asleep so early in the ride!). After that, control points are less than 100km apart from each other. The tricky part there will be actually deciding that I have to stop and sleep, specially if I’m riding in a group because then, there is always the temptation of keep on riding to not loose the company.
Finally, I’m still thinking about options to bring with me for sleeping anywhere, like inflatable mat/pillow, packable blanket, etc. But, honestly, I don’t really like that option. First, it means carrying extra weight “just in case”; second I got lot of advice from veteran randonneurs about sleeping on the grass/floor/etc (basically never do it during PBP - no good rest and probably getting really cold and ending with cold-related issues); and third, considering controls, hotels and the help of the villagers along the road I really hope sleeping on the side of the road or the floor of a cafe is not needed at all.
So, with the initial plan for sleep stops decided, I guess I should start thinking about food and drinks… shouldn’t I?