Introduction and History
In 1999, I participated in one of the premier cycling events of the world, Paris-Brest-Paris, organised by Audax Club Parisien. Although Tour de France is far better known, the Paris-Brest-Paris ride, and Randonneuring have a long and interesting history. “Randonneur” is a French word that roughly means “to amble or walk”. PBP, as most randonneurs refer to it, actually predates TDF by 14 years. In 1891, the first ever bicycle road race was held; the 572km Bordeaux-Paris. With the new diamond framed, pneumatic tired “safety” bicycle supplanting the high-wheeled “ordinary”, Pierre Griffard, publisher of the newspaper Le Petit Journal, decided to organise the first edition of PBP to show off the capabilities of this new machine. The first PBP was a 1200 kilometre race and was open only to French males. Given the difficulties of the routes, the organizers decided that PBP would be held every 10 years, and the next edition was held in 1901, this time organized by rival paper L’Auto-Velo, published by the founder of Tour de France, Henri Desgrange. This edition was international, open to foreign entrants, and in addition to the “coereurs de vitesse” racers, there were also a second group, the “touriste-routiers” non-racers. This format was followed until 1931, when Audax Club Parisien, founded in 1904, took over the non-race category, which was to become the Paris-Brest-Paris ride. The 1931 race was won by Sir Hubert Opperman, an Australian, in a time of 49 hour, 23 minutes.
Of the non-racers, there were two groups : “allure libre” group, consisting of individuals riding by themselves, and “audax” riders that cycle as a group with a leader at a fixed pace. Both groups had 90 hours to complete the route. 1951 was the last year that the Paris-Brest-Paris race was held. By then, Tour Du France had become the premier event for racers, and was considered more “civilised”. 1971 was the last year that the two Randonneur groups rode together. Since 1975, the “allure libre” format has been held every 4 years and is the familiar PBP brevet that most Randonneurs ride. Since 1979, the requirement for entry in the ride has been completion of the “Super Randonneur” series of 200, 300, 400 and 600 km brevets completed within the same year. Although PBP is not a race, and all who finish are rewarded with a medal, there are always the few that try to out do others’ times. In 1999, the fastest male, a Frenchman, completed it in 44hr 22m. The fastest woman was an American, completed in 53h 11m. In addition to the traditional 90hr time limit, there are two other groups – an 80hr and an 84hr. Each of the three groups has their own start time. Most riders choose the 90hr limit. Surprisingly, while one might expect such a ride to be the domain of young fit cyclists, the 2 largest age groups were 40-50 years and 50-60 years old. The oldest rider to complete PBP ’99 was a 75-year-old Belgian man, whose time was 78 hr! There were also two 18 year olds.
Long Distance Rides
Many club cyclists become fascinated with the challenge of completing long distance rides. The Toronto Bicycling Network organises several “Century Rides”, ride of 162 km in one day. The club also holds the Toronto-Niagara-Toronto Hairshirt, a 322km, one-day ride. Randonneuring takes the idea of long distance riding further, with a series of rides, called brevets, of 200, 300, 400, and 600 km. These rides all have completion time limits, and check points that one must be pass through by a set times, based on a average speed of just 15 kph. In addition to these rides, there are also brevets of 1000 and 1200 km. The most prestigious of these is PBP. Those wishing to ride PBP and other rides of similar length are required to do a “Super Randonneur”, which is completion of a 200, 300, 400 and 600 brevets in the same year as the big ride. Successful completion of a brevet entitles one to a commemorative medal, and additionally, there is a medal for completion of a “Super Randonneur”. The most prestigious medal is for completion of the 1200 km Paris-Brest Randonneé. Riding a 200 is not much more difficult than riding an imperial century (162km) and easily completed within the 13 ½ hour time limit. A 300, with a 20-hour time limit, is only 100 kilomtres longer than a 200, and both can be successfully ridden entirely in daylight. The 400 km brevet, with a 27-hour time limit, is the first really challenging ride, and the first of the series where night riding is unavoidable. The ride is too short to allow any sleep time, so a Randonneur will now have sleep deprivation as an added challenge. The 600 km brevet, on the other hand, with a time limit of 40 hours, does allow some time to sleep, if one has managed their time well and is not too slow although some riders have elected to ride straight through., Even with a sleep break the 600 still has significant night riding. In addition, there are brevets of longer distances. Many clubs offer 1000km brevets, and in addition to PBP, a number of other clubs organise 1200km brevets. These have completion times and checkpoint times that are based on speeds of 13 kph. These are by far the most challenging, since one is now riding over a period of 3 to 4 days through 2 or more nights. Each Brevet participant gets a “Control Card” and Route Sheet. The Control Card gives the starting time of the brevet, the time limit, and a list of controls and their closing times. The route sheet is only a cue sheet, with turns, checkpoints and distances. In addition to the listed checkpoints, there are often “secret controls” – checkpoints on the brevet whose location is known only to the brevet organiser. Missing even one control, either before it closes, or if missed by going off route disqualifies the rider.
How You Can Become Involved
In addition to brevets, Randonneurs Ontario has rides called populaires. These are un-timed, open rides, of distances much less than 200 km, to allow for club members to socialise and for non-members to try out the club. They also serve as training rides in preparation for brevets and other long distance rides. In addition to these, there are several 200 km brevet, spread over the riding season, that one can try their hand at a brevet.
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