The day PBP started#
There is definetely too much to write, too many things happened between the 20th and 23rd of August, so I’m going to split my story into separate reports (hopefully making it easier to read).
So, let me go back to where I left it on The trip to Rambouillet (part 2) and then tell you what happened on the 20th of August, Sunday, before my PBP departure time.
The plan was to sleep as much as possible, so we didn’t set any early alarms. Even so, I woke up before 7:00. I wasn’t able to sleep anymore (wondering why!). Dani was laying on the bed next to time, still asleep, so I kept myself in bed, trying not to make any noise that may wake him up. I rested a bit more, while reading Six of Crows (by writer Leigh Bardugo) in my Kobo ebook reader.
By 08:40 Manolo sent a message, he was going downstairs to have breakfast. Dani was still sleeping, but I woke up and had a shower, getting myself ready for breakfast.
Breakfast was “ok”, not super-wonderful + the coffee machine got broken before I could have my second coffee… but “ok”. Once we were done with it, we packed up our belongins and left the hotel.
On our way back to Rambouillet, we stopped at a supermarket (Auchan), where we met Luis again (he was staying in a different hotel than us) and we bought bread, cheese, tomatoes and jamon serrano. The plan was to make some bocadillos (if you have been reading my previous Brevet reports, you know already what I am talking about… ;-P) and bring them with us from the start of THE ride.
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The idea was to not stop at Mortagne au perche (not a control on the way out) and ride all the way to Villaines La Juhel, first control around km 200. In order to avoid having to get food at Mortagne, we were going to eat (at least) one of the bocadillos there, or somewhere on our way to the first control.
But… plans… you know…
Shopping done, we drove a few more km until we arrive finally in Rambouillet. At the entrance of the village everything seemed quiet, but soon we started to find a few randonneurs along the way.
We went straight to the parking zone reserved for registered vehicles, we look for a nice spot to park the van (trying to get a bit of shade, as the van was going to be parked there for a few days). Once we found something suitable, we parked and started preparing our bikes.
It was hot already, and getting hotter by the minute. Everybody was sweating and cursing the canicule. A few decided to remove their t-shirts to not get them all sweaty.
While we were getting things ready, we had a very nice surprise. Jose Luis, another fellow galician randonneur, member of the same club as Felipe, Manolo and Ferreiro (C.C. Riazor) appeared.
What a lovely surprise! He wasn’t able to come to Rambouillet this time as a participant, so he decided to come with his wife during their holidays.
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Little side note on my story here. Jose Luis was the first randonneur I met, back in the day when I was doing my first Brevets (circa 2017), that had already done PBP.
I remember quite well doing my first 300 Brevet and riding a few hours with him, listening carefully to his stories about riding PBP on 2015, and thinking to myself - “What an incredible thing to do… riding 1200 km unsupported, under 90 hours!” - and yet, here I was, a few hours before starting myself such a crazy adventure.
We did chat a bit with them, while we checked that the bikes were ready. Then we rode all the way to the village, where we were going to have lunch. We asked Jose Luis and his wife if they would like to join us, and luckily they said yes.
This short ride served us to test the bikes throughly, ensuring there were no last minute mechanical surprises/problems. Riding through the gardens was nice, refreshing. It felt soooo good to be finally on the bike, pedaling a bit. Once we came out of the castle area and on to the village streets, we found the big party.
Again lots of cyclists going on different directions, and this time mixed with parades and events everywhere. In front of Rambouillet’s city council building someone with a megaphone was announcing something (very loudly).
We went to the same square where we had lunch on Saturday, we parked our bikes and sat for a moment at a table on a nice terrace, to have some drinks.
Sitting there, on a shade in this warm day, having fun with some friends, sharing stories and even plans for the future… it was lovely, but something in me was already focused on what was coming in a few hours. It wasn’t really anxiety and I wasn’t really nervous, but I was looking forward to be on the bike, riding on our way to Brest.
After a while, we went to the same restaurant where we had lunch on Saturday. We had another superb lunch, surrounded by randonneurs already dressed up and ready to start (we still were wearing non-cycling clothes).
Time to discuss one last time the plan, the weather, what is important and what is less important during a 1200 super-brevet like this one.
Our friend Roberto Fernández (whom you should know already, from my report about the BRM 600 - Santiago) came to visit us briefly. He was ready and he was starting earlier than us (going on one of the 80-hours limit groups). It was good to see him, even if it was only for a few minutes.
After lunch we said goodbye to Jose Luis and his wife, picked up our bikes and started the ride back to the van.
The streets were full of people, lots of cyclists and an overall frenziness sensation with everybody rushing to get somewhere in time.
First we walked for a while and when we were about to hop on the bikes and ride the rest of the way, we found our french friend from last night, Guillaume, who was ready for a start earlier than us (in one of the 80-hour limit groups). He was riding a bike from Origine cycles, a french brand from his hometown.
After chatting a bit with Guillaume we wished him good luck and said our goodbyes. Then we rode our bikes through the main start area, where lots of cyclists were trying to find their way and a lot of pedestrians were trying to find a good spot for watching the show.
We crossed the river of randonneurs and kept riding towards the van. We still had a couple of hours before our departure time, but time was flying by and we wanted to be in the bike check area with enough time.
We arrived at the place where the van was parked. First we prepared the bocadillos and then, in a matter of minutes, we got dressed and ready. It was really really hot and we were so sweaty that getting our tight cycling clothes on was quite the task.
Both my traditional picture with the synapse and the group picture had to be taken, of course.
Felipe and Luis were going to start later than us (18:30 and 19:30 respectively) but they got ready with us and we rode back to the starting point together.
I remember perfectly well my feelings during that short ride. Still thinking to myself that it was unbelievable that I was there, about to start PBP. Damn, it felt so, so good.
Approaching the starting area I was able to see waves of cyclists moving together, like the tides of the sea. Moving a bit forward, stop, a bit backwards sometimes, then forward again.
Slowly, we look for a place for us in that sea of randonneurs. We found our letter (H) and we merge into the current behind its flag.
I’m not used to participate in races or similar events with so many people involved, so for me this was a bit overwhelming. I was a bit nervous, looking around me all the time, trying not to hit anyone with the bike and trying not to get hit neither.
We moved slowly, carried on the tide of cyclists and sweating a lot under a scorching sun that was cooking us up for good.
Then we arrived at the bike check, which basically consisted on walking by your bike, lights on and with your reflective vest on sight.
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reflective vest meaning the vest provided by the organization. I didn’t brought my rapha brevet gillet, as someone already told me it won’t be accepted, and being there I saw how several other riders had problems because their vests were not accepted.
But what I found quite strange was that reflective suspenders were not accepted neither. I still don’t understand why. They provide good visibility and in case of warm temperatures they are just perfect, not getting you boiled like a full vest.
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Also, I can’t tell enough times how much I dislike the official vest they gave us. Oversized, way too warm for the temperatures we had during PBP this year and with a cut that wasn’t comfortable (for me) at all (the fabric at its neck rubbing mine all the time). And it was really bulky, when packing it up to put it aside/store it during the day, its volume was more than twice the rapha gillet.
After the bike check, we passed by a few tables where some volunteers were stamping our Brevet booklets for the first time. Then we still had to walk our bikes through the gardens for a while, until we reached the dirt path where the official start point was.
The wait while groups F (special bikes) and G were departing was quite hard. There was no shade to take cover and the sun was hitting us hard. “If it takes any longer to start, I’ll have emptied my bottles before starting to pedal” - I told one guy to my left, a randonneur from Catalunya. We both laughed, but reality was it was too damn hot (the garmin device from Dani was showing 40ºC).
Five minutes later than scheduled, 17:50 the speaker (yeah, there was a speaker giving the start to every group) told us it was our time, everybody started to clap as a countdown was done and then everybody was hopping on their bikes, clipping and pedaling…
Again, I was quite nervous, too many people, too close to me. Luckily I was quick on putting distance with everybody around.
And, just like that, the adventure began… and I was riding PBP.