From American Randonneur Spring 2018 Dr. Codfish BY PAUL JOHNSON

If you are contemplating your first PBP in 2019 (or any 1200km brevet, for that matter), this is your year. Well, actually PBP is next year, but this is the year in which you can make quantum leaps in your preparation for a successful PBP.

I rode my first 200km brevet in 2000. The next year I rode a complete series. There were a lot of ‘firsts’ for me that year, some good and some not so good. Noshing on pizza at the finish of my first successful 600km brevet in 2002, I thought: if this were 2003 I would have just met the requirements to ride PBP. By the same token, if this were 600km into PBP, I wouldn’t be packing my gear and bike into my pickup for the drive home. I’d be half way to done and I would need to get back on my bike and ride back to St Quentin with another 600km to go.

Though riding that first full series of brevets taught me a few things, I wasn’t sure I could finish a ride like PBP. So that fall when my club put on a 1000km brevet across the Cascade Mountains and back, I signed up for it.

I learned much more riding that event. I learned that I probably could have ridden another 200km; I also learned how much more preparation I needed to be confident that I could complete PBP. More than anything else, riding that 1000km event the year before PBP brought my preparation into sharp focus. I only wished I had ridden it earlier in the year. There was work to do, but I set my sights for PBP 2003.

When I finished the 600 I had slight tingling in my fingertips and toes. When I finished the 1000km, the outside toes on both feet were numb, likewise some fingers on both hands. The numbness lasted two months. After the 600, my neck was sore, and at 900kilometers into the 1000, I suffered Shermer’s neck. As I said, I finished, but it was not pretty.

As a result of these experiences, a couple of things became clear to me: there was a lot more to riding 1200km than just the distance. And little problems can turn into big problems if you ride long enough.

After this experience I made some serious efforts to avoid these problems in the future. I went to a professional bike fitter which resulted in some subtle but very effective changes to my position on the bike. My handlebars came up and back some; I got new pedals and stiffer (and wider) shoes. I added padding to my handle bars. I changed my strength training in the gym to include neck strengthening exercises. I did this part of my routine religiously; I did not want to ever suffer Shermer’s neck again. I think that worked. I rode four more 1200’s (including PBP 2007) and a couple more 1000’s with no neck problems, but the foot problems took longer to overcome.

After PBP 2003, my feet were still a problem. In 2005 I rode two 1200km events, the Cascade 1200, and the Gold Rush Ranndonee. By the time I finished the Gold Rush 1200, I knew I had to solve this foot problem or give up riding long distance events. I had a pair of custom riding shoes made, including orthotic insoles. I was skeptical but I was also desperate. My first long ride with the new shoes was the Van Isle 1200 in British Columbia. I had no foot pain at all. Well, my little toes tingled a bit, but I decided I would live with it. I wrote the shoe maker and told him of my great success. He wrote back saying I should send the shoes back, and he would make a new pair of orthotics that would completely solve the problem. I didn’t want to do this
for fear that things might somehow get worse. He insisted, so I reluctantly sent the shoes back, and after riding with the new orthotics, I never had foot problems again.

These are just a few of the things I learned about preparing for a long brevet. I also learned some valuable lessons about on-bike nutrition, clothing, luggage, and assorted bike equipment. But those are topics for future columns.