Signed up for the trip to Paris with the FECT#
In order to be able to participate in PBP, first I’ve to get to the departure place, Rambouillet (a road trip of almost 1400 km from my place).
And I’ve to get there with everything I will need for PBP like clothes, food, spares, tools, bike bags, helmet… and the bike of course.
A few fellow randonneurs that already participated in PBP 4 years ago (2019), suggested me to look into the organized trip by the FECT (the spanish ciclotourism federation). They do an organized trip from Madrid to Paris for FECT members (which I have been for a couple of years now) with some stops along the way to pick up members from several other places in spain.
Members and luggage go in a bus, while the bikes go in a van or small truck.
I already knew about this option before doing the PBP pre-registration, but I didn’t sign up right away with them. Signing up means paying half the money in advance and it is non-refundable, so I guess even with the pre-registration done… I wasn’t 100% sure this was going to happen.
Today I made up my mind and signed up, as there was a limited number of seats and there was the risk of not having that option anymore.
For me, the two big advantages of going to Paris with the FECT are:
Meeting more people that will do PBP too (and hopefully make some new friends ;-D)
Transportation of the bikes, as we won’t have to disassemble and pack the bikes into boxes or transport bags/cases.
The last point is very important for me, as I’m not comfortable at all with disassembling my bike and putting it back together.
There are some other benefits too. First they handle hotel reservations for before and after PBP. Second, volunteers from the FECT will be in 2 control points (one on our way to Brest, the other on the way back to Paris) with our luggage/bags. This means we can leave things like food, clothes, spares, etc ready to be picked up quickly and keep riding.
It will be a hell of a trip though. First I’ll have to get to Madrid myself (4-hour drive from Lugo), then pack my stuff into the bus, van, etc and head off to France.
One more thing decided, one more step forward.