Convergence [bicycling, brevets]
Jun. 14th, 2023 11:21 amSaturday and Sunday was the last of the qualifying brevets for Paris-Brest-Paris 2023, Joe's Niagara 600k. This is the brevet route that I rode last year in July with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scrottie - well, he rode the 400k and I rode the full 600.
Since completing it I've been busy, with things like forgetting to fix a flat tire for Frodo's rear wheel, working with my research students, and Tuesday night pottery class. Also mulling over what I specifically want to write about this one. (see the footnote, later)
There were more riders this year compared to last year, because of PBP. It turns out I'm not the only one with a complex spring calendar, so there were 9 riders altogether who attempted (and completed!) the 600k, and 2 riders who attempted and completed the 400k. A crowd compared to the four who rode various distances last year.
The riders on this one kind of all deserve full pseudonyms instead of initials: there's The Sage, the Regional Brevet Authority (brevet organizer) who rode at a steady pace and reportedly finished with just 5 minutes to spare. I spent most of Saturday riding with the Information Technologist, listening to opinions on things such as randonneuring website design and RBAs who put primacy on top-notch cue sheets rather than immaculate gpx files (cue much inward chuckling on my part). We also teamed up for some sections with the Homebrew Boys, who I believe were either from Vermont or the Boston area and for whom this was their first 600k. I spent most of Sunday riding with the Poet, who said on one prior brevet he got into a verse-off with EO of Dill Pickle Gear, where she recited limericks about musical instruments while he recited some other style of poem of the same general length of a type I can't remember anymore. Apparently EO won the poetry contest because she had more limericks memorized than he could keep up with. I've decided I am going to try and meet up with her in Boston before heading to France, if I possibly can.
The Mountain Biker had graciously agreed to give me a ride from the Super 8 to the start, and it was only when I went out to load my bike on his car that we both realized we volunteered together at the Lake George overnight control last September for the New York-Montreal-New York 1200k. Always good to see a familiar face!
I was grateful to have this brevet be a re-ride, such that I had a good sense of where I was and what was ahead, as compared to this year's 300k and 400k, which were totally new routes. It was also interesting to have various different memories resurface as I rode along. Even before the ride: arriving at the Rochester train station, reading a book while S reassembled his bike and the sun disappeared below the horizon, then riding down a harrowing hill and back up again on the other side to reach the Super 8. The cul-de-sac and dirt road to and from the Sage's house. And more.
The Sage gives us some crucial last-minute tips on the route
Each of the places where I'd stopped to pee last time. The long, straight road that fed us into the outskirts of Niagara and then onto the bike path towards Niagara Falls. The falls themselves, visited twice last year. The flat tire in the dark and rain.
This year the Homebrew Boys arrived at about the same time at Niagara Falls so as to get slightly more than just a selfie.
Although honestly I kinda like the selfie better.
The harrowing departure from Niagara Falls was actually far less harrowing this year, because I knew what to expect and where to go, and we were riding in a larger and more obvious group of 4 of us that could just completely take over a lane.
The lakeshore straightaway sections, including the patches of shoulder where the pavement suddenly gave way to patches of bone-shaking surface (not gravel? not sure how to describe). This year I brought a larger rearview mirror and wasn't (unintentionally!) tricked onto those patches, mercifully.
I also brought two spare taillights with me, so I didn't wind up waiting for long at this particular spot:
Although we did actually venture into the tourist strip this time instead, where I ate a regrettable dinner of fried mozzarella sticks and a milkshake, which did not agree with me and led to a period of solo soft-pedaling just as it started to get dark.
For this brevet I also finally practiced peeing directly off the bike:
An important preparatory step for riding in France. You will be pleased to learn I had great success. This is one of my biggest goals for Paris-Brest-Paris 2023, after all.
I suppose I'll end by talking about the Convergence. On Sunday, I spent most of the day accompanied by the Poet, who had only managed 1.5 hours of sleep and was eager for company after having ridden his 300k and 400k brevets completely solo. I kind of like riding by myself but I can sympathize with wanting to get out of one's head sometimes. He'd initially tried riding with the Sage, out of a sense of camaraderie and respect, but the speed difference wound up being too great, so he went on ahead.
In any case, on Saturday evening, when I wasn't feeling great, the Information Technologist said, "Let's communicate with each other and the Homebrew Boys about sleep stop plans and maybe meet up Sunday morning at some point." With the route, there were two options for the sleep stop: finish out the first 400km, then add bonus miles getting to/from accommodations, or, sleep before reaching the 400k control, and have more miles to complete after the sleep stop. Last year S and I took Option #1 because S needed to reach the 400k control to finish out his part of the ride. That meant we got back to the motel at something like 3 or 4 am, and then I didn't sleep for long enough I think in good part because the sun was up and it was the time of morning I'm naturally awake.
This time I decided to go for Option #2, which worked out extremely well for me. I got a luxurious 3.5 hours of sleep right when I needed it most, and the whole time was restful, restorative sleep. From the text exchange, it sounded like IT took option 2 and would get underway about 30 minutes behind me, and the HBB would be setting out somewhere around an hour behind me after taking option 1. I figured they would therefore all catch up and pass me sometime Sunday morning.
It was only at around 2 pm, when the Poet and I had to pause to figure out how to deal with a bridge closure, that I finally noticed a text indicating that IT and the HBB were still about an hour behind us. Huh! I thought to myself, and then turned back to the business at hand, which included the bridge crossing and then some rather steep, hot hills, headwind, and too much sunshine.
I texted back to let them know we were still ahead, and the Poet and I kept going. Fast-forward another 15 miles. By that point, we were about 30 miles to the end of the ride, and then suddenly IT, the HBB, and, much to my surprise, Mountain Biker all caught up with us! (I'd expected Mountain Biker to be far ahead as he'd mentioned interest in going for Charlie Miller time at PBP this year). So then the six of us formed a slipshod randonneuring paceline* and the good spirits carried all of us together to the finish line.
It was amazing to experience that convergence. I mean, yes, we had all started out riding at the same time, a good 35 hours earlier, but there we all were, having had our various different individual adventures and misadventures in between, and yet also finishing collectively at the same time.
And as I think I mentioned, even better, at the end everyone was more than happy to meet up for a big post-ride feast and beer and (as we sometimes put it) to talk about how great we were.
A good ending to a good ride.
*Randonneurs are NOT good at pacelining/drafting, for the record. I also feel it's important to note that I am mentally omitting a lot of impolite commentary right now, about this point and several others, as I don't see much utility in dwelling or harping on certain negatives from the brevet.
scrottie - well, he rode the 400k and I rode the full 600.Since completing it I've been busy, with things like forgetting to fix a flat tire for Frodo's rear wheel, working with my research students, and Tuesday night pottery class. Also mulling over what I specifically want to write about this one. (see the footnote, later)
There were more riders this year compared to last year, because of PBP. It turns out I'm not the only one with a complex spring calendar, so there were 9 riders altogether who attempted (and completed!) the 600k, and 2 riders who attempted and completed the 400k. A crowd compared to the four who rode various distances last year.
The riders on this one kind of all deserve full pseudonyms instead of initials: there's The Sage, the Regional Brevet Authority (brevet organizer) who rode at a steady pace and reportedly finished with just 5 minutes to spare. I spent most of Saturday riding with the Information Technologist, listening to opinions on things such as randonneuring website design and RBAs who put primacy on top-notch cue sheets rather than immaculate gpx files (cue much inward chuckling on my part). We also teamed up for some sections with the Homebrew Boys, who I believe were either from Vermont or the Boston area and for whom this was their first 600k. I spent most of Sunday riding with the Poet, who said on one prior brevet he got into a verse-off with EO of Dill Pickle Gear, where she recited limericks about musical instruments while he recited some other style of poem of the same general length of a type I can't remember anymore. Apparently EO won the poetry contest because she had more limericks memorized than he could keep up with. I've decided I am going to try and meet up with her in Boston before heading to France, if I possibly can.
The Mountain Biker had graciously agreed to give me a ride from the Super 8 to the start, and it was only when I went out to load my bike on his car that we both realized we volunteered together at the Lake George overnight control last September for the New York-Montreal-New York 1200k. Always good to see a familiar face!
I was grateful to have this brevet be a re-ride, such that I had a good sense of where I was and what was ahead, as compared to this year's 300k and 400k, which were totally new routes. It was also interesting to have various different memories resurface as I rode along. Even before the ride: arriving at the Rochester train station, reading a book while S reassembled his bike and the sun disappeared below the horizon, then riding down a harrowing hill and back up again on the other side to reach the Super 8. The cul-de-sac and dirt road to and from the Sage's house. And more.
The Sage gives us some crucial last-minute tips on the route
Each of the places where I'd stopped to pee last time. The long, straight road that fed us into the outskirts of Niagara and then onto the bike path towards Niagara Falls. The falls themselves, visited twice last year. The flat tire in the dark and rain.
This year the Homebrew Boys arrived at about the same time at Niagara Falls so as to get slightly more than just a selfie.
Although honestly I kinda like the selfie better.
The harrowing departure from Niagara Falls was actually far less harrowing this year, because I knew what to expect and where to go, and we were riding in a larger and more obvious group of 4 of us that could just completely take over a lane.
The lakeshore straightaway sections, including the patches of shoulder where the pavement suddenly gave way to patches of bone-shaking surface (not gravel? not sure how to describe). This year I brought a larger rearview mirror and wasn't (unintentionally!) tricked onto those patches, mercifully.
I also brought two spare taillights with me, so I didn't wind up waiting for long at this particular spot:
Although we did actually venture into the tourist strip this time instead, where I ate a regrettable dinner of fried mozzarella sticks and a milkshake, which did not agree with me and led to a period of solo soft-pedaling just as it started to get dark.
For this brevet I also finally practiced peeing directly off the bike:
An important preparatory step for riding in France. You will be pleased to learn I had great success. This is one of my biggest goals for Paris-Brest-Paris 2023, after all.
I suppose I'll end by talking about the Convergence. On Sunday, I spent most of the day accompanied by the Poet, who had only managed 1.5 hours of sleep and was eager for company after having ridden his 300k and 400k brevets completely solo. I kind of like riding by myself but I can sympathize with wanting to get out of one's head sometimes. He'd initially tried riding with the Sage, out of a sense of camaraderie and respect, but the speed difference wound up being too great, so he went on ahead.
In any case, on Saturday evening, when I wasn't feeling great, the Information Technologist said, "Let's communicate with each other and the Homebrew Boys about sleep stop plans and maybe meet up Sunday morning at some point." With the route, there were two options for the sleep stop: finish out the first 400km, then add bonus miles getting to/from accommodations, or, sleep before reaching the 400k control, and have more miles to complete after the sleep stop. Last year S and I took Option #1 because S needed to reach the 400k control to finish out his part of the ride. That meant we got back to the motel at something like 3 or 4 am, and then I didn't sleep for long enough I think in good part because the sun was up and it was the time of morning I'm naturally awake.
This time I decided to go for Option #2, which worked out extremely well for me. I got a luxurious 3.5 hours of sleep right when I needed it most, and the whole time was restful, restorative sleep. From the text exchange, it sounded like IT took option 2 and would get underway about 30 minutes behind me, and the HBB would be setting out somewhere around an hour behind me after taking option 1. I figured they would therefore all catch up and pass me sometime Sunday morning.
It was only at around 2 pm, when the Poet and I had to pause to figure out how to deal with a bridge closure, that I finally noticed a text indicating that IT and the HBB were still about an hour behind us. Huh! I thought to myself, and then turned back to the business at hand, which included the bridge crossing and then some rather steep, hot hills, headwind, and too much sunshine.
I texted back to let them know we were still ahead, and the Poet and I kept going. Fast-forward another 15 miles. By that point, we were about 30 miles to the end of the ride, and then suddenly IT, the HBB, and, much to my surprise, Mountain Biker all caught up with us! (I'd expected Mountain Biker to be far ahead as he'd mentioned interest in going for Charlie Miller time at PBP this year). So then the six of us formed a slipshod randonneuring paceline* and the good spirits carried all of us together to the finish line.
It was amazing to experience that convergence. I mean, yes, we had all started out riding at the same time, a good 35 hours earlier, but there we all were, having had our various different individual adventures and misadventures in between, and yet also finishing collectively at the same time.
And as I think I mentioned, even better, at the end everyone was more than happy to meet up for a big post-ride feast and beer and (as we sometimes put it) to talk about how great we were.
A good ending to a good ride.
*Randonneurs are NOT good at pacelining/drafting, for the record. I also feel it's important to note that I am mentally omitting a lot of impolite commentary right now, about this point and several others, as I don't see much utility in dwelling or harping on certain negatives from the brevet.
