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The e-mail message said - Subject: [JWCC] PARIS BREST PARIS - 18TH TO 22ND AUGUST 2003
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 09:44:01 +0100
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Thread-Topic: PARIS BREST PARIS - 18TH TO 22ND AUGUST 2003
Thread-Index: AcNb9uI3Wl/+M1kkSsKoMBEL0nlG+w==
From: "Crombie, Campbell" <ironman@johnstone-wheelers.co.uk>
"It is now the moment of truth... "I leave on Friday 15th to Paris for the Paris-Brest-Paris.
This year it's 1225km (760 miles real money).
I hope to do it in less than 80 hours,
which is from the start time on Monday 22.00 to 06.00 on the Friday.
See you all when I get back.
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Campbell Crombie
Known to all Wheelers as "IRONMAN"I have had my eye on the PBP for a couple of years and riding the Mersey roads 24-hour TT made me think I could actually do it.
 After all the qualifying rides of 2 x 200km, 300km, 400km and 2 x 600km of which I had to do only one of each distance between certain dates, I also stuck in a 24-hour with 3 weeks to go as my final big effort - all this bringing my mileage for the year at present to 6535.
(10,450 kilometres. 100 km equals 62.5 miles.)
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 Q: When were you first attracted by the prospect of the PBP? Did the idea sneak up on you, or did you take to it immediately you heard of it?
A: On reading about it in 1991 in "Cycling Plus", I thought that it would be nice to do.
Q: Any idea of your average speed, including sleep times and excluding sleep times?
A: 56 hours riding - 13.6 mph.
Q: Did people go at their own individual pace or did, say, teams or groups of friends keep together?
A: It was a complete mixture; we could be on our own at times, and other times could be in a group of 20 people of all nationalities.
Q: Many women on the PBP?
A: There were some but they were in the minority.
Q: Mentally, how did you approach the actual cycling? - Did you take every hour one at a time, or mentally work in periods of six hours, or eight hours?
A: I just took it a stage at a time and before I knew it, I was in Brest.
Q: What was the feeling at the Start Control?
A: There was a real atmosphere, plus a lot of thinking "How will I do?" - and "Am I really here?"
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 Q: What was the atmosphere at the Final Control like?
A: I arrived at 3.39am on the Friday, so the Final Control had about only 50 people seeing in the finishers, but it was quite quiet, really, with not a lot of riders coming in. This was unlike later on the Friday - then there was a real buzz about the place as the riders came in in droves.
Q:
Did the organisers supply any things like maps, sheets of general guidance?
A: You got a Route Sheet but, really, they have to assume that you now what your doing. And you got all instructions about registering for the event, before-event meal, start, bike check - in my view, it ran like clock-work.
Q: How much on-road supervision was there?
A: There were out-riders for assistance, but if you were not obeying the rules of the road they would also penalise you, too (like no lights at night).
Q: What did you take with you in that front bag?
A: Food - cereal bars, jelly babies, energy powder for water bottles.
Clothing - leg and arm warmers, a rain jacket, fluorescent vest and an under-helmet hat.
Other stuff - pen, pencil, spare front LED light, head torch LED, map and route sheet, 2 AA batteries for rear led, pain-killers, bum cream, mobile phone.
Q: What did you wished you had carried in your front bag?
A: Can't think of anything, really; perhaps Savlon cream, toilet paper and tooth brush. |
 Q: What did you wish you had left out of your front bag?
A: The only things I did not use were pain killers and phone, but it was still Ok to have carried them, I think.
Q: Did you puncture?
A: No.
Q: If people did puncture, did others pause to help them?
A: It was generally agreed that a rider doing PBP knew enough about punctures to be allowed to get on with it.
Q: Did the foreign food and/or water cause you any tummy problems?
A: No I was not up or down with it, but it did upset some.
Q: Can you remember quite what you ate, or was it all just "fuel"?
A: At each control it would be soup and bread, rice or pasta with pork, omelettes or bolinas, creamed rice and raisins and fruit cake, coffee and cocoa. It was a 3-course meal at every stop.
Q: Lighting. You use a hub? - Was there much mileage where you needed lights?
A: Yes, I use a Schmidt. When you were riding at night, it was on country roads so there were no street lights, apart from at the controls and small villages, so from 9 o'clock at night to 6.30 am you definitely needed lights that you could see by. |
 Q: Contents of the seat bag?
A: 2 inner tubes, 1 folding tyre, allen multi-tool, 3 tyre levers, puncture repair kit, 2 brake cables, 2 gear cables, spare bulbs for front light and 12 cable ties, and 4" length of old tyre with the bead cut off. Pump on frame and 2 x 750ml water bottles. I did see people with one spoke taped to each rear stay.
Q: What were the Controls situated? - in buildings or marquees?
A: They were either schools or small colleges, the riders using their canteens for eating and their sports halls for sleeping.
Q: Did all parts of Mrs Crombie's favourite husband work well? - or did bits start aching one by one, or all at once?
A: The only ailments were sore feet on the Thursday - but I always get that when they get very hot. I knew my bum was there but it never got sore. Lasting ailments? - slight tingling on small fingers of both hands and middle toe on left foot. If you did not use sunscreen, sunburn would have been a real problem.
Q: How about the weather? - and temperatures?
A: On the Tuesday and Wednesday the daytime temperature was 25 degrees C, and 10 at night. On the Thursday, it was 33 degrees C and at night, 7. Friday was 30 degrees C.
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 Q: Saddest story you heard of any participant?
A: There were many, but one of our bus party fell asleep riding and crashed, breaking his collar bone - and he was only 45 miles from the finish. The hospital would not let him ride his bike one-handed to the finish as it was too dangerous to him and others.
Q: Most heart-warming story you heard of any participant?
A: One chap was hit by motor scooter, breaking his wheels. The police held him up while questioning with the youth, but when that was over, got him to a bike shop to get new wheels and he was then on his way.
Q: When you reached the finish, how long did you sleep?
A: Went to bed at 5 o'clock on Friday morning and was up for breakfast at 9.30, then went up to the Final Control to cheer in the last lot of finishers. |
Q: What does your wife and family think of your continual desire to get away from them for long periods of time?!
A: The longest time away has been the PBP - 10 days from start to finish. The weekends they are used to, what with my winter mountaineering and they have never known any different. (I have been mountaineering since I was 16; I climbed Mont Blanc in France when I was only 20 - that was 21 years ago - so it was time for another challenge.) |
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Q:
Costs - ignoring more personal stuff, like sleeping arrangements (some can use B&Bs, campervans, tents, etc), can you put a figure on what the basic entry and travel would cost an entrant?
A: PBP entry was £60 pounds; shirt was £20 (but only riders could buy on the entry form); £10 for pre-event meal (I would recommend it as it's a good feed!); doctor's medical certificate £10; insurance £25 (these two items have to be sent with the entry). Then the en-route meals were about 10 Euros each - and I had 15 of them! (Well... you have to replace a lot of energy on the PBP!)
I went with Baxter's Tours - £449 + £41 insurance - this would do for entry form but I did not book till very late. If going again I would go with Baxter's as you meet all the Scots entry on the bus and the banter's good. |
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Q: Did anyone comment on the Johnstone Wheelers jersey?
A: You mean, apart from saying: "Is that shirt stuck to your back?"
Q: Anything else that comes to mind?
A: The start - we went off in groups of about 600 riders and just the sound of 600 pairs of cleats locking in, rippling back from the front, really did make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The reaction of the French people - waving, calling out to us, encouraging us all the way. The sights - that first evening, immediately after the start, of a long ribbon of tail-lights stretching far out into the distance ahead. The realisation - you were only a tiny part of a much larger affair, of a huge international celebration of cycling...
Q: Got any plans for the late summer of 2007?
A: Yes!! |
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