449 km

Quite some time back, I created this blog as a place to record my progress in getting prepared for PBP 2011. The title of course refers to the distance I attained in my attempt at PBP in 2007, which is the distance from the start to Loudeac where I had to abandon the ride owing to a host of issues. The most asked question in late August, early September of 2011 that I answered was 'Are you going to change the title of your blog?' I did not as you can see, and I kept at it, though at a reduced rate of postings. PBP 2015 is drawing near and I have been committed to riding PBP 2015 since before I got off the plane when returning from France in 2011. I've been at work preparing to return and participate in 2015 in a host of different ways, and for 2014 it will be a foundation year. I've let a few people know that I am trying to take a run at the K-Hound award, which will require me to complete 10,000km in RUSA events in the calendar year. In laying out my brevet season, I s...

Those that know me, know that data, and numbers are part of my make up. One of my favorite sports, though one I can't play much any more, is baseball (and in later years softball) and numbers form a very important way of looking at that sport. As a ballplayer, I was never good enough to generate numbers that might superficially define me as a good player, that just wasn't the reason why I played. There were many other reasons why. However, while numbers are not at all the motivation for my involvement in cycling, they are a way I have of marking my participation in cycling. In other words, I don't ride to achieve a number, say miles ridden in a day/week/year, but I do use the numbers as a way to look back on how things were at a given time with cycling, and often when I'm looking back, it is to find that 'oh, gee' moment that shows up when the numbers become less consistent and show a change of some kind. When I look at the following chart which represents my ...

Photos by Masayoshi KOBAYASHI A number of years back, I recalled hearing stories of a 200km night time brevet run, I think, out of Davis and organized by Bill Bryant. The concept of a night-time brevet stuck with me, the main appeal being acquiring the experience of riding through the night, but being fresh at the start plus also knowing that come sunrise the ride would be done. So in 2009 I shamelessly stole the idea from Bill and created SFR's Davis Nighttime 230km. As I created the route I wanted to route it to go past some services and thereby allow for bailout options, but to also include as much rural terrain as possible. Davis was chosen as the turn-around point because of all the services there late at night, including hotels and public transportation for the return the next day should one need that. That first year, there were 17 riders and every year since we've had a few more each time. This year we had 38 starters and 35 finishers. At 20:00 we rolled from the P...

There are 17 slots left on the roster for the first San Francisco Randonneurs Golden Gate 1000km brevet. The route begins in San Jose and goes east and up and over Mt. Hamilton, past the historic Lick Observatory and toward Livermore via the San Antonio Valley , one of the most beautiful stretches of roadway with next to no development. It is stunning how remote this area feels and yet it is so close to San Jose, Oakland and Livermore. From there the route travels toward the Carquinez Straits where riders cross over to Solano County via the Zampa Bridge . The route continues up Wooden Valley east of the Vaca Mountains and crosses over to Napa Valley via the climb over Mt. George. Riders head north up the Silverado Trail to Calistoga and then on to Cloverdale via a valley route through the Mayacamas_Mountains for an overnight control. After a rest riders then head west and north on Highway 128, reaching the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Navaro River and complete an out and b...

There is wonder and excitement upon experiencing something for the first time. Memories are laid down, and in later years called back up again in the telling of a tale. Even so, approaching something with the benefit of experience, and a measure of focused preparation can often times make the return seem like a new experience itself. I learned this so well this past August when the four year wait concluded and the 17th edition of Paris, Brest et retour was about to begin. Starting in August of 2007 while still in France, and continuing and building over the next four years I prepared myself in the best way I knew how, and in what ever ways I could for PBP 2011. I left France four years ago struggling a bit to be positive about the experience of PBP 2007, and four years seemed too much like an eternity. In so many ways I had a fantastic experience back then, no doubt about that, but those experiences were also at war with the emotions of having fallen short. True also was the realiza...