Final PBP Recap

Last Day!  Really, an extra day as the sleep in Dreux was not planned, but necessary.  Another 5 or so hours of sleep, some soup, yogurt, bread and butter, coffee and Orangina, and I was ready for the final forty miles.  This last section is much flatter than the rest of the route, and it was another fine day, and though I still had the cold, my spirits were high.  Saw many people that I had seen over the past couple of days, some were dragging in, most were upbeat and excited to finish.  Even being sick, there weren't many who were faster than me up the climbs - thank you Colorado!  The most frustrating thing was dealing with all the traffic lights as we approached the urban center - after 3 days of roundabouts, the cyclist's best friend, having to actually stop at an intersection was annoying.  You could hear the crowds at the Gymnase about half a mile away, and they thronged the approach to the final roundabout, and huge cheers and applause would go up for every rider as they rode in and under the finish kite.  It was an incredible way to finish, and I'm so glad I did not push through the previous night.  Parked the bike, and joined the line for the final control stamp, a "congratulations", and "see you next time!"

Found Fred, Julie and Colin, with lots of hugs all around.  Shower and 90 minute nap, and much was right with the world again.



Michael & Colin - very happy campers after finishing PBP



Can you tell Fred and Julie are happy to be done?

So I figure I've ridden three different PBPs in one:  1) I raced, and raced well - apparently I was the 3rd fastest RMCC rider to Loudeac the first night in 16h20m, just too bad I couldn't hold it.  2) I toured, and had a lot of fun chatting with riders, setting up pace lines, stopping for food and drink with the locals, taking photos from the bike, and generally enjoying riding through France.  3) I survived - getting sick turned it into an epic, and forcing myself to keep going through the misery and nausea was the hardest thing I've ever done.  And in the end, I finished!  With a pretty decent time of 78h30m-ish despite the illness.  I guess I now have the title of Ancien (a PBP finisher), and my name goes in the Big Book of finishers, dating back to 1891.  Quite an honor for riding a bike around the northwest corner of France.  A bientot!