Road to Paris-Brest-Paris 2023

Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), I’d argue it is the biggest cycling event in the world when you combine how old the event is (older than the Tour of France), amount of riders (around 8,000), how international it is (more than 70 nationalities represented), the distance to ride (1,200km to be ridden in 90 hours) and the support riders get from spectators alongside the road. In my mind, PBP is like the Olympics of long distance cycling. 

I have two objectives for Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) 2023. The first one is to finish it. 

Arriving to Brest in PBP 2011

I rode my first PBP in 2011. It took me 87h 45m. That was the 86th time in my whole life I had ridden a road bike. I loved the experience so much I set myself the goal of riding PBP ten times. 

Now, PBP only happens every four years so a simple math exercise told me that I’ll ride my 10th one in 2047 and I’ll be 78 by then. I can’t afford to miss any edition as I’m not sure I’d be able to finish PBP being 82 years old. Hence my first objective for 2023 is to ride those 1200 km within 80 hours.

My second objective, though, is to set a personal fastest time at PBP. That means finishing in less than the 59 hours and 31 minutes that was my official time for PBP 2019 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2723782617).

At the finish of PBP 2019

I want to have the experience of riding as fast as I can and setting a personal record so in future editions I can focus on other ways of enjoying PBP. I have set my eyes on a stand that offers free sausages to cyclists. I’ll eat two of them in 2027.

As with the Olympics, everyone has to qualify to be able to enter PBP. That means any rider aspiring to ride PBP has to finish a 200km, a 300km, a 400km and a 600km Audax event.

We are very lucky, Kingston Wheelers Audax Chapter organizes a whole series of rides that can be used to qualify for PBP. A luxury at our doorstep.

In those events I normally volunteer in the morning. I love having the opportunity to welcome the riders, to help answer their questions. The atmosphere is fantastic, a combination of excitement and expectation for the ride to come. I always wear Kingston Wheelers kit, I’m proud of the quality of our events and want to show our colors. Once we send off the riders I normally help tidying up the venue and then I’ll start my ride.

For me these year’s qualifiers are opportunities to test the kit I’ll be using and to train the pace I’ll aim to be riding at PBP.

In the second half of the Gently Bentley (200km) (https://www.strava.com/activities/8742677677) I tested for the first time my “steady” pace. I was very happy managing to finish the event and not feeling that tired.

Amesbury Amble (300km) (https://www.strava.com/activities/8879816927) was my opportunity to test my rain kit. This ride is where I decided the long sleeve Gabba (Castelli Perfetto RoS) will be the jacket I’ll take to PBP.

At the Dauntsey Dawdle (400km) (https://www.strava.com/activities/9066147594) I rode with aero wheels and aero bars and I decided I was going to use both at PBP. I also tested in the first 10 hours / 250km the strategy of riding “steady” and stopping only the essential. Tiring but manageable.

Bryan Chapman (600km) (https://www.strava.com/activities/9110165742) was my dress rehearsal. Carrying all the kit I plan to take to PBP, riding “steady”, minimizing time in stops and riding through the night. Although the main learning I got from this ride is that I’ll be 100% sure I’ll start PBP with my di2 fully charged.

Since Bryan Chapman, 20th of May, I switched my training focus. June and July is all about intensity. Those 2 hills rides on Thursday evening are excellent for that, even if I always end up dropped.

In August I’ll be in Asturias (Spain). Two weeks of proper tapering to make sure I get to the start as fresh and as relaxed as possible. I’m pretty good at that.

Minutes before starting PBP 2015

I’ll be starting on the first wave, Sunday 18th of August at 16:00 (CET), rider A076 (I believe there'll be some way of following the riders at https://www.paris-brest-paris.org/). 

That will be around the 3000th time I ride a road bike in my life. I’ll be able to give you the exact number on the day.

Take care

Javier Arias González

How to use cycling to feel great about yourself

Yesterday I had a look at the profile and the result of my analysis was “A short ride (131km). Only one hill, Green Dene, at Km 25. The rest all flat” (Send me your route if you want this type of in-depth analysis).

Today, while having breakfast, I finalized my plan. “Have a coffee at breakfast. Sit at the back of the group the first 25km. Then, at Green Dene, ride at 350w for five minutes and get a PB” (I’m also available if you need help coming up with a winning strategy for your ride).

Then, at LW, as soon as the group started to ride, I hit the front and my first turn was pretty much all the way from LW to Esher. My execution didn’t exactly follow my plan.

Worse than that, in that first turn I realized my legs were still tired from Thursday’s ride (https://www.strava.com/activities/9315615637). The idea of 5 minutes at 350w going up Green Dene didn’t look that feasible.

Even worse than that, as soon as Green Dene started I started to pray for someone (not me obviously) to lead us up the climb at a steady pace. A pace below 350w I added in my prayers. 

From there I sat at the back of the group for the rest of the ride. Only to see GC Denis, The Pope and Richard L. taking town sign sprints left and right. 

My completely destroyed ego rebuilt itself as soon as I took the final sprint at Esher. To do so I very conveniently ignored all the wheelsucking I had been practicing all day, including all the approach to the sprint. 

Rebuilding my ego is more important than the fairness of the sprint. 

Follow me for more tips on how to feel great about yourself.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9325208700/

Take care

Javier Arias González

Chasing The Pope around Kent

I hope that by now you know that you are going to have a hard day out if The Pope came to you with this proposal: Heading down to Seaford via Ashdown Forest - just over 200k and c. 2400m elevation to be taken at a decent pace.(av speed c. 30 - 31kph).

Kent is his playground. The climbers didn’t have a chance in heaven today. He amassed so many mountain points today you could accuse him of gluttony, but being The Pope I guess he has a pass on that.

Nor the sprinters for that matter. He knew the route by heart, he even knew where all the town sign sprints were. 

Riding with The Pope and GC Denis I had high hopes today at the sprinter game but when Declan, a real sprinter, decided to join us, unannounced, I very quickly switched role. 

I kind of was forced to play the role of “this ride is too hard, I’m struggling a lot, sure there is something wrong with the bike that is slowing me down”. And I played that role to perfection the first 50 kilometers. Not once they saw me at the front.

Funny enough two of the hardest climbs of the day came at kilometer 50 and from there I started to feel a bit better. Enough to move to the front a couple of times so my riding mates knew I was still there.

A stop with a coffee AND a coke. A slow start after the coffee stop so we could visit the cliffs. And a few kilometers to warm up again transformed me.

I was now in the weird role of “the last 50k feel better than the first ones”. 

Still chasing The Pope, still beaten in every climb, still missing all sprints but, somehow, inexplicably, feeling better. 

 

So much so that I moved to the front as soon as Juniper, the last climb of the day, started. Something I don't think has ever happened. 

As always happens in these cases, I was a bit overoptimistic and I started a bit too strong. I, obviously, very quickly, slowed down And slowed down. And slowed down even more. Until The Pope, with his infinite mercy, moved to the front and allowed me to take a rest before attacking him to take the last KOM of the day. I don’t have a chance to make it to heaven.

Less so when you add the way I took the final sprint of the day (I knew very well where that was). 

The Pope attacked and opened a gap. 

I took advantage of the traffic, the work that GC Denis did and the fact that The Pope didn’t sprint to make it first to the line.

Does anyone know how I can book a place with air conditioning in hell?

ps. Follow me for more tips on how to save your soul.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9283596253

Take care

Javier Arias González

Spanish Cycling Jargon 101 (Part 3) - Cuñao

Look at them, bunch of losers; Only 180km and they are already wasted!

What's wrong with daddy?

Nothing, that today he ‘climbs’ the Aubisque at The Tour.

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Cuñao’s literal translation is brother in law.

But Cuñao is also used to describe someone (usually men) in your family or group of friends that thinks and acts as if he knows more than you about everything, even if he usually doesn’t know what he is talking about. He knows everything; he has the solution and the right course of action for every situation but lacks the skills or experience to back his words.

I have three sisters so I’m a (triple) cuñao in the literal meaning and after today’s ride the slang meaning of “cuñao” seems accurate for me too.

Picture this. Last meters of Juniper “hill”, Dai at the front, me on his wheel. 

As difficult to believe as it sounds I had done my fair share of work at the front so I was free to sprint, take the KOM and claim it a fair sprint (some believe that detail never bothered me at the time of sprinting but that’s just gossip).

At a given moment I saw Dai giving up. He was done. 

I knew that was the right moment to move up. I knew that moving in parallel to him would demoralize him. He would give up completely, slow down and I would take the KOM without even sprinting.

I “knew” what to do. What did I do? That’s where the cuñao in me manifested itself. 

I too gave up. I was done.

He felt me giving up, that gave him a morale boost. He kept riding. I slowed down. Dai took the KOM without sprinting.

Now you know, don’t hesitate to ask me if you have any questions about how to take a KOM or win a sprint. You’ll definitely get the right answer.

Btw. The rest of the ride was fantastic, great route, great company, great weather. 

Spanish Cycling Jargon 101 (Part 1) - Me llevaron todo el día con el ganchu is at: https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/10/spanish-cycling-jargon-101.html

Spanish Cycling Jargon 101 (Part 2) - Rompepiernas is at: https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2020/09/spanish-cycling-jargon-101-part-2.html

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9245226307/

Take care

Javier Arias González

My body said no

I was all hyped for today’s ride. In my mind the Col de la Madone was going to be the best climb in Nice and I was looking forward to putting on a great show. I even had a coffee with breakfast. 

Col de Eze came and it was raining, still, as soon as we started to climb, the rain jacket felt a bit too much. Managed to remove it while riding without crashing and that was my top moment of the day. From that moment on, everything went downhill even if we were climbing.

First my heart rate wasn’t going up even if I thought I was putting on decent power. Let it be, I thought, it will rise soon enough. 

Except it didn’t and instead I couldn’t hold the power anymore. So I had to ease down a little bit. 

Rain didn’t stop so I started to feel cold. And my pace kept going slower and slower. 

By the time I got to the top of the climb, several minutes after my riding mates, I had had enough. I put my rain jacket back on, took a caffeine gel, and hoped for a bit of recovery in the descent.

I got a bit of recovery, yes. But that didn’t help me much. As soon as we hit the Col de la Madone I needed a pee stop and to remove the rain jacket (again). That meant I found myself climbing on my own.

That was a good thing. I’m glad no one had to witness my explosion. I was trying to get the legs going and at some point my legs, my heart rate, my brain, my whole body, said no.

And that was it. From that moment I entered surviving mode and crawled my way to the top. 

Kudos to Bidders that waited patiently for me and gave me a conversation. Tubeless strategy at Paris-Brest-Paris is a topic I can speak at length about and he listened patiently while my words distracted me from the fact that we were still climbing.

We got to the top many, many minutes after The Pope and GC Denis and still that wasn’t the lowest point of the day.

From the top of the Col de la Madone we had a 30kms descent. Enough time to recover a little bit and make me feel slightly optimistic.

At some point I recognised the road and I knew the Nice town sign sprint was coming. That was going to be the third time we were going to cross that town sign in these days. 

The first day I missed the sprint because I had no idea the town sign was there. I think The Pope took it (!!), which gives you an idea of the level of the sprint.

The second day I missed even if I knew it was coming, even if I closed the gap Bidders created with his attack and even if I had good legs. It turns out I wasn’t 100% clear where the town sign was.

But today I was. I knew very, very well where the town sign was. And I saw The Pope pushing the pace at the front, all excited about the sprint. 

I sat on Bidders wheel and waited to launch my attack.

Except Bidders were before me. 

I also started my sprint and tried to close the gap but it wasn’t even close. I even feared The Pope would pass me, thank providence that didn’t happen.

That would have been too much to take. 

For the one that focused all week in recovering between rides (you’d be amazed at the speed I could get into my siesta after a ride), for Mr. Endurance is my game, this training camp has been a day too long. 

I’m now very tired, completely destroyed and demoralized but very, very happy with my riding mates and this week. Another experience to treasure.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9174432967 

Take care

Javier Arias González

Disgrace

Col de Vence, almost 17km at an average gradient of 5.2% I sat on The Pope and Bidders’ wheel aiming to stay there and attack them in the last 200m to take the KOM. A faultless plan that failed with only 6km to go to the top. Disgrace.

Was then accused of starting hostilities in one of the last climbs when all I was doing was following someone else’s wheel. The Gamin misled me. It was telling me we still had one kilometer to climb at the same exact moment The Pope sprinted for the town sign. Disgrace.

At the end of the ride my Garmin congratulated me. Apparently my FTP is now 268 watts. Disgrace. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9162789218

Btw. This route is fantastic. Another must do if you are riding around Nice.

Take care

Javier Arias González

One more cinglé du Mont Ventoux

Short but hilly ride (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html)

Very, very happy with this ride. Not because I managed to get a great performance but because I managed to do as best as I could considering my circumstances.

Saturday’s 600k (https://www.strava.com/activities/9110165742) left me very, very tired. Since then I have been completely focused on my recovery. To the point that I had to endure a few jokes from my riding mates when I refused a few beers, they saw me drinking milk or went to bed early. It doesn’t matter, I still love them and I was motivated to be as fresh as possible today.

And I managed to start today reasonably fresh. At least fresh enough to sit on the wheels of Bidders and GC Denis. The Pope being the mountain goat flew up the mountain every single time. Very impressive efforts. Bidders was my hero of the day. He sat in the front on all three climbs setting a metronomic pace. Challenging but not killing us. The picture shows how delighted I was to be able to stay on his and Denis’ wheel on all three climbs. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/9144229712

Take care

Javier Arias González