Anyone thinking of (trying to) qualify for P-B-P 2011?

[GuyP]

Lost my sanity ages ago.

 

I met a guy in the UK who has done PBP on a fixie several times. Now that is insanity.

 

And just because PBP isn't tough enough - they rode from England, to Paris, did PBP, and then rode back home.

 

Gives real meaning to living, breathing, eating, sleeping cycling!

[pbp2007]

 

On another note, I dont do the Audax rides here in SA anymore simply because this is not Europe, the towns are not 5km from each other and you pass through long stretches of open roads where you are very vulnerable to crime, mechanical issues, running out of water or food etc, especially as in most of these rides you do a lot of it on your own.

 

Theres also no back up, you pay for a map and thats it, if you have an accident, get attacked / hijacked have a serious mechanical, anything dont expect assistance from Audax.

Self-sufficiency is part of the Audax ethos, so wherever in the world you take part in an event it's effectively as if you were on an individual ride. That said, there's nothing stopping people riding together; actually, locally it's recommended.

 

Those of us involved in trying to organise events are as concerned as everybody else about the hazards out there. In the Western Cape, the plan is to have an escort vehicle monitoring every ride, even every group of riders. Obviously this won't be easy or cheap. Sponsorship is being investigated. Last Sunday, I drove the escort. Generally this isn't (much of)an issue in daylight.

 

Although this kind of arrangement isn't in line with Audax's rule of non-support outside of controls, there is sympathy for our situation.

 

On the matter of payment, I'd say that the main purpose of the entry fee, which is quite modest, is to pay for homologation for those who are interested in earning points or qualifying for PBP. It also gets you a rather nice medal featuring the event distance. And, of course, the cue sheet so you know which way to go.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I'm not big on taking all day with these things if I can help it - the last 200Km we did in 6hrs, which was more appropriate, but it seemed to have been frowned upon a bit where the recommended max speed is apparently 25Km/h or something like that.

 

 

Yeah, but theoretically speaking they shouldnt allow you out of the check zone until your time is up if you arrive early.

 

So if the first check zone is at 50kms, and as you say, the max speed Audax allows is 25kms, it should take 2hours, but if you arrive at the check at say 1.45, they are supposed to hold you at the zone for 15 minutes before they stamp your card.

 

The few that I have done have been quite particular on this I have to say, and always held us before stamping the card if we arrived early.

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) SA has a "racing" and not a "touring" culture, so the Audax is seen as a race, which is, I guess, not really in the spirit of the event.

[GuyP]

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) SA has a "racing" and not a "touring" culture, so the Audax is seen as a race, which is, I guess, not really in the spirit of the event.

 

I'm always happy to adopt the culture of the relevant disciplines, although it probably takes an event or two to sort yourself out - I guess there's always going to be some crossover culture if you participate in multiple disciplines. I've only done one audax, and perhaps we were lucky - otherwise you just have a little more rest between stages, which means you are more revitalised for the next stage.

Where it really probably begins to matter more (with no experience in this regard), is for the much longer events, where you're a lot more tired, and therefore perhaps happier to adopt the 25km/h (or less) speed.

 

I'll learn!

[cat-i]

eish this is crazy!

 

slobes y ou doing freedom challenge next, to train for the 2015 one?

[GuyP]

All the great life stories start with doing something crazy ...

 

The PBP is 1200Km over 90 hours, going through some of the most historical parts of France, cobbles and all. I think half of the allure is the history, not only of France, but also of the event, which I think is over 100 years old! And then there's the cameraderie!

 

[cat-i]

All the great life stories start with doing something crazy ...

 

The PBP is 1200Km over 90 hours, going through some of the most historical parts of France, cobbles and all. I think half of the allure is the history, not only of France, but also of the event, which I think is over 100 years old! And then there's the cameraderie!

 

sure - but i might prefer to tour it rather - more time to emjoy the history?

 

what do you ride it with - a roadie bike would be uncomforatble (for me anyway, but possibly cos i never ride it)

[GuyP]

sure - but i might prefer to tour it rather - more time to emjoy the history?

 

what do you ride it with - a roadie bike would be uncomforatble (for me anyway, but possibly cos i never ride it)

 

Touring is super cool (have circumnavigated France and a few other countries), but you don't often get a whole lot of like-minded folk going in the same direction, experiencing the same things, with the same goal!

 

 

I've got two steel bikes I do the ultra's on (apparently much better at shock absorption) - my old Bridgestone road bike, and a Ritchey cyclocross bike (with two wheelsets - 28mm and 35mm depending on what I'm up to).

 

MTB is probably a bit too slow imo, although probably a lot more comfortable! I think it's all in the saddle - I bought an Ergon saddle a year back for ultra distance. Heavier than a race saddle of course, but who cares if you can still feel your butt after 400Kms!

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Self-sufficiency is part of the Audax ethos, so wherever in the world you take part in an event it's effectively as if you were on an individual ride. That said, there's nothing stopping people riding together; actually, locally it's recommended.

 

cut, cut,

 

In the Western Cape, the plan is to have an escort vehicle monitoring every ride, even every group of riders. Obviously this won't be easy or cheap. Sponsorship is being investigated. Last Sunday, I drove the escort. Generally this isn't (much of)an issue in daylight.

 

Although this kind of arrangement isn't in line with Audax's rule of non-support outside of controls, there is sympathy for our situation.

 

On the matter of payment, I'd say that the main purpose of the entry fee, which is quite modest, is to pay for homologation for those who are interested in earning points or qualifying for PBP. It also gets you a rather nice medal featuring the event distance. And, of course, the cue sheet so you know which way to go.

 

Yeah, I understand the self sufficiency bit, but as you know, the route in Europe follows that towns are very close together, whereas here you can easily go 50 / 80 or more kms between towns, so if there is an issue, help is far away.

 

I like your idea of a vehicle to follow, from my info theres no such plan here in JHB, unfortunately, we dont live in Canada and crime is very,very,very real

so I think this should be taken into account and rules bent a little.

 

I hope you didnt take my comments regarding the cost wrongly, I didnt mean I dont "want" to pay, in fact I am quite prepared to pay more than they they do charge, (up here its around 100 bucks last time I did it) if they provide a few basic services, like maybe an ambulance on stand by, an emergency vehicle roaming the route etc, I would even say I regard these basic services as essential in the SA context, certainly, I know from chatting to others that fears like crime, having a motor accident and not having access to medical services etc are the main reason people dont do these rides anymore.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Touring is super cool (have circumnavigated France and a few other countries), but you don't often get a whole lot of like-minded folk going in the same direction, experiencing the same things, with the same goal!

 

 

Yeah, I have done some touring as well, I toured through Hungary, along the Danube, then over into Austria and back, roughly 5 days worth of riding but distance wise only about 300 kms.

 

Then I have toured from San Francisco down the coast to LA, also about 7 days but here the distance was a bit more closer to 2oo miles, whats that, 400 kms.?

 

Most of these tours do around 50 /60 kms daily, which can be anything from 6-8 hours.

 

Usually, I just use the bikes that are provided by the tour company, which are fine in my opinion.

 

In Europe they have a real touring culture, so its not uncommon to see people with touring bikes with saddle bags, big lights and fat wheels, in America its not so common, but they are super organised, there are cars riding with you which carries all your gear, and they have set points where you stop and lunch is set up for you, or rest stops with drinks laid on, one day we even got picnic baskets and we went and sat out on the beach!!.

 

It has to be remembered, these tours are for everybody, young, old, fat, thin, unfit, fit, if you want to race, then probably these tours are not for you, as you actually miss most of the fun which happens in the group.