Paris Brest Paris (PBP) LFGSS 2011

Well done, all!

I would love to do this one day, it sounds amazing and awful all at once. Good luck!

Do it, you have four years to prepare which is about four times as long as many people take. Even the two years to London-Edinburgh-London is easily within reach.

The bike (and LFGSS cap) at the end:-

http://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_02.jpg

And someone found one of me on Flickr having a quick rest at the side of the road somewhere on the way down from the Roc back towards Carhaix:-

http://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_01.jpg

The bike (and LFGSS cap) at the end:-

http://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_02.jpg[URL="http://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_01.jpg"][/URL]

Careful now, you don't want to get Ed too excited. :)

just seen Ultan Coyle's picture on FB after 1200km in 53-ish hrs..
what a legend ..

http://twitpic.com/6c257z

I just heard that a rider died on the PBP. :(

Here's some more info:

http://groups.google.com/group/sfrandon/browse_thread/thread/df4b5629d6c873da/7db7bc8bca9b4b58?hide_quotes=no#msg_7db7bc8bca9b4b58

RIP Thai Pham.

  ![](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5303/5804400694_0a90a2aacf_z.jpg)

I heard about this from another rider on the last night of riding. At the time we'd hoped that it was just some misreported exageration of something less serious. Alas it serves of a stark reminder of the risks we take even in something as simple and innocuous as audax riding. Small comfort perhaps that it is such a rarity.

Rest In Peace Thai Pham, I'll see you on the road.

I'd heard about the accident/death on the Tuesday, the news seemed to go around the RUSA riders very quickly, and they were a lot more sombre than I'd expect the USA-ians to be.

RIP Thai Pham.

Small comfort perhaps that it is such a rarity.

There has been a few deaths on Audaxes in the last few years. I think it's 5 RUSA riders in the last 3 years. Some more info here: http://saferando.blogspot.com/

There was one UK rider fatality early this year (on a UK January 100km Audax). http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Sports-cyclist-dies-collision-long-distance-ride/story-11929021-detail/story.html . RIP Pat.

From what I remember, the general UK statistic is of one cyclist death per ~20 million kilometers covered. According to the Audax UK stats pages, AUK riders cover ~3 million kilometers per year as part of Audax UK events, so one death every 6 years would not be anywhere abnormal. On one hand Audax riders will tend to be more experienced cyclists than the average rider, on the other hand I've seen plenty of "experienced" Audaxes riding unsafely (usually as a result of extreme tiredness).

For a big event like PBP (5000 riders * 1230km = 6 million kilometers) you're a significant way towards the average fatality rate (I'm not sure what the equivalent statistic is for France). There was another very serious accident on PBP resulting in a Taiwanese rider in a coma; an update on the 'randon' google group says that 'he woke up from the coma just recently' (dated 1st Sep) and that another injured Taiwanese rider "who lost part of memory of the incident but is fine now with the aid of respirator."

On a happier note. Here's a write up for you:-

Paul Rozelle's write up of doing his Galérien du Mont-Ventoux (all 4 ascents of Mont Ventoux, 3 by usual road and one by the forest road). This is the extra version of the Club des Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux which is just the 3 road climbs/descents from Bedouin, Sault and Malaucene).

On fixed.

Just three days before riding PBP (which he completed in 80h01).

https://groups.google.com/group/randon/browse_thread/thread/b33ac8163be2fd5f?hl=en#

Doing both Ventoux and PBP in the same week would help make the point in a more extreme fashion: if this can be done on a fixed-gear bicycle, then tell me what, exactly, cannot?

http://vimeo.com/28985636

A bit more atmospheric this one (put together by Damon Peacock):-

PBP 7 D Trial.wmv - YouTube