Wet Dreams

It has been raining here. A lot. For days. This makes me restless, and when I'm restless I tend to dream about new things to do. After wasting lots of time reading bike stuff online I found myself dreaming about the Paris-Brest-Paris ride. I had heard about it before, but I did not know any of the details. It is, somewhat obviously, a ride between Paris and Brest and back to Paris. Thousands of riders attempt this 1200km journey and I'm pretty sure that well over half finish it under the ninety hour time limit.

And the nice part is, anyone can do it. Well, they have some silly rules about carrying three spare light bulbs for you bike lights, and a glow in the dark vest (though it seems helmets are optional). But other than that all you have to do is complete a series of rides (200, 300, 400, and 600km). And then you are on your way to Paris. There are qualifying rides in every state and many, many countries. I missed the first ride for Iowa, but I still have a chance to do either Minnesota's or Wisconsin's. The Wisc. series runs all four qualifying distances in nine days or so. In between there are off days that include things like BBQs. And we all know what BBQs have. Beer. You might be thinking beer is not so good when training for such distances. Au contraire. Did I mention that it is quite customary in France to drink beer and wine with your wonderfully large meals while riding the PBP? It is true.

Unfortunately, I cannot afford to go this year (Money is tight, though I am willing to accept sponsorship. Contact me within the next two weeks if you are interested in such a unique opportunity. Or you can buy the rights to this novel, it might be the better investment.) So I will have to postpone my dreams until 2011. Like the Olympics, PBP only comes around every four years. But that will give me all kinds of time to hone my randonneuring skills. And to acquire the obligatory new bicycle. Sure, any bike with wheels can be used in the PBP, but in my rain-induced dreams I have decided that I need this bike to complete my 1200km jaunt. With a name like that it has to be ridden on such trips.