It's done!

I guess I forgot to write a conclusion and such so I promise to collect my thoughts on that...

Just to close for the moment I finished around 82 hours, within the time limit...

Henrik actually recovered and found me in Dreux while I was eating lunch. We were both happy to be there realizing we had plenty of time to get to St Q and the finish. Although we got split up on the way into town we found each other at the finish and handed in our cards at the same time... Now to wait until Sept 30th when the official announcement is made. I'll post a final thoughts around that time...

last stop before paris!

well... after the last stop henrik's legs started to go... so I ended up in dreux before he did... I hoped he would be ok... and timewise I was pretty good to still finish before my 84 hour cutoff...

later while eating at dreux (and still trying to get a data connection on the phone to send this!) henrik showed up...

down and out... well almost...

well on the way to ??? I noticed the rear brake was set a bit too weak so while messing with it I saw this...

though I hoped it would last the trip the wheel started getting worse around 80 miles later... so I decided to back off on the power and hope to make it to the next control without having to stop and tweak the spokes just to get there...

I bought a new rear wheel at the next control... though I had the tools to do this but because of they very busy bike shop it took me an hour just to buy it... plus side is I got a chance to rest and chat with others... also piece of mind that a new wheel was on the rear put some more juice back into my pedal stroke...

those nice country roadsw

for those who don't know there a lots of little french roads that are very beautiful and hilly... after doing the bonifay cheaha challenge to prep for pbp now I must say pbp is much hillier than bonifay...

they say bmb (boston-montreal-boston) is hillier than pbp... ok that's a tough one! but these french roads have more apeal...

more sleeping anywhere...

in the back of the bar we find that three bar chairs are quite comfortable as a bed after 400 miles of continuous riding

stopping at quaint shops was the bomb!

on our way back to loudiac(sp) it turned freezing cold with rain... we found this little café/bar open at 1am... it was packed but warm with lots of hot coffee... I got a café o la with double sugar... delicous! afterwards the rain let up and the sugar and caffeen kicked in and I was flying... unfortunatly coming into one of the other small towns I misjudged a curb and clipped some type of brass plate in the road and poped a spoke... was ok though so rode on through the night... we picked up some other groups who enjoyed that I had bright lights and could lead the way fast down the curvy roads at night (gps was a big help as I knew ahead of time if an intersection or turn was coming up)...

cyclist will sleep anywhere

back at the control between brest and loudiac(sp) ... we started to notice more and more riders napping... after this point we found it not uncommon to find them sleeping in bus stops, park benches, small alleys and such...

made it to brest!

we are half way!! it is cold and windy... gotta be 25 mph winds coming off the water...

we also faced strong rains but it is the combination of weather that is killer... just knowing we are at the half way point and we are heading back to loudiac(sp) is giving me the courage to continuew

stephen doing pbp!

my canadian buddy stephen kickin back with his pals... we would continue to pass each other until brest...

lineing up at control...

I think this is the control between lodaux(sp) and brest...

data on the phone was failling when it was dry enough to try...

previously in laudax(sp) was where we slept on actual beds for a total of two hours!!

secrect control!

we were bombing down this hill into a small town... all the sudden this guy starts waving a red flag at me... I slow thinking there is a dangerous intersection... around the corner there is a guy in a parking lot yelling at me... then I see a bunch of riders queuing up at a building!!!

it is the first secret control!!

speed buggies

met these beauties when we left fourth control... they are super quiet and fast... except going uphill...

at first control

we reached the first control in villanines-la-juhel...

getting ready...

today dan and I went into st-quentin to pick up some things... some snacks for the morning and a smaller water bottle (see the yellow one on the bike)... turns out with a front fender that the 25oz bottle won't fit because it will hit the fender!

we are now cat_napping until 5pm... then we will head up for dinner and ill watch the fast 8pm and the slow 9pm start... weather is gloomy and cold... henrik should be here around 5pm...

ride checkin.. bike inspection...

because of the rain they canceled a serious bike inspection... I was asked to put plugs into my handelbar ends (i lost them) and I obbliged by going to a restaurant and getting some wine corks to stopp up the ends...

I left rather quick from the registration with my card and booklet... I found dan and we went to his hotel... we went to the resturant for lunch and to get the corks and then bummed around... juliet and dad were at notre dame...

riding to the start of pbp

sunday I kissed juliet and hugged my dad and said i' see them on friday... I went out into a post rainy road and then went back and put on my fenders... then I set off to saint-quentin-en-yveli (about 5 miles west of versailles)...

the ride from hotel to ride checkin was approx 15 miles and just outside of paris it was very very hilly...

the pic shows me at the city limits of st-quentin... note the water on my glasses... the weather is turning cold and wet...

bus tour of paris

after my ride on l'ourcq we took bus tour of paris... here is juliet in front of the opera house... it was turning chilly and the bus ride was warmer than walking...

one the main bike section of the l'ourcq

the l'ourcq trail is approx 25 miles long (paved) and approx 75 miles unpaved. I rode the paved part which had some very nice sections of pavement... one area had cobbles but I could still manage these short sections with 25mm tires. along the way a guy with an astana jersey passed me and so I latched on... we passed and dropped all the other fish i'd let go... we would talk a bit and the others would catch up and then we would go fast again and the others would drop... eventually we hit the end of the pavement...near the town of claye-souilly... he lived there and left the trail... before he left we chatted in broken english and bad french... as the others caught up and also left to go into claye-souilly...

eventually we departed and I rode back to a café where juliet and my dad were sipping coffee...

canal de l'ourcq bike trail

on saturday I took the bike out for a test ride along the canal de l'ourcq. the trip from the hotel to the bassin de-la-villette was about 4 miles... mostly on bus lanes (that have bike symbols in them) so other than the stoplights it was not a bad ride... met a russian? who's name was vladimer and he was tromping aroung on his bike... he was also doing pbp. this pic is right after I got on l'ourcq bike trail... still inside paris

eiffel at night...

i'm sitting at a hotel near the start and wanted to upload some pics...

here is tour eiffel at night... not as good as with my canonn s3 digicam but it is still pretty cool...

venus in the louve

took a camera pic of venus and mona lisa... the venus pic is clearer so I sent it.... now to let the dogs rest a bit before going to find the sculpture 'winged victory'

cruisiz to paris at a cool 180mph

the eurostar hit 160 in brittian but one out in the french countryside they cranked it up to 180mph!

on the eurostar!

we are ready to travel under the english channel! see you in paris!

east meets west

I bet you though this pic would be soemthing about british and orient cultures... instead it is greenwich uk where the time meridian is marked... the location where zero degrees longitude is demarked.

i n the pick im standing with one foot on the west ans one on the east. the metal structure behind me is a marker of stainless steel that has a spear point which is angled north along the meridian.

across the thames is the big ben!

here we go!

waiting in miami airport...

pbp tv

go to http://www.parisbrestparis.tv/ during the event (august 19th? through August 23rd)... to see live coverage and pics and videos of the event...

test fit of pbp jersey

last saturday ride b4 pbp...

busting down south post road... the gang does another weston/mirimar run... will be three weeks b4 I can do this again...

the bike

all ready to go... one last test ride b4 it is put into travel case...

Smile

go to http://rusa.org and http://paris-brest-paris.org for more info about the ride!

Less than two weeks to go!