Audax rides

Whilst the allure of the PBP kudos of been there and done that is strong. I'm not big on crowds or long queues. When I read the blogs of people who are back markers like myself they seem to not eat very well or queue for hours at the controls.

That wasn't my experience as a back marker (I was in one of the last waves of the 90h starters ~ 8pm) and took a shade under 88h (so only 2h in hand at the finish although partly due to hammering it from Druex to the finish).

Can't remember much queuing for food (Fougères maybe the worst at 10 minutes queuing, but most of them it was less than 5 minutes to get food). On the way back I tended to stop at local cafes and boulangeries along the way so I was only resting and topping up on food at each control rather than wanting a big meal.

(The half roast chicken at Fougères, both times, sticks in my brain as being very tasty though and worth a 10 minute queue.)

Then again, by the looks of it I was behind the main bulge for the majority of the ride. Go to:-

• http://pbpresults.bikeaholics.org/pbp2011/histogram
  and add my frame number 5653 to the tracking and then hit Start to see a rough idea.
  
  

I'm not one for big crowds either. Loudeac (where I spent nights 2 and 3) was the only time it felt very busy due to the area where you arrive at the control which had a very busy/cramped bike park.

It would have been much busier if you did the ride in 75-85 hours, and I did hear stories about those right on the time limits finding limited food at the controls. Guess I was lucky ending up in the sweet spot between the two.