A Paradocs Abroad

Wim's post on the bc-randonneurs list drawing attention to the fact that ACP has posted the preliminary route for PBP 2007 was the inspiration for this ride.

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The route out of Brest passes about 20 km from our house in Saint-Renan. We rode the D67 through Gouesnou to Guipavas where it intersects the D712 - the PBP route - north of Brest. Along the way we saw about 100 road cyclists. Ones, twos, small groups, and 3 big packs. I think the latter was actually all one club (most wore matching jerseys) nearing the end of a ride, and split into 3 groups by attacks (some of the guys in the last group looked pretty shattered). Sunday morning really is "la matin du vêlo". As we were to learn though, there is good reason to start early...

As soon as we turned on to the N712 the riding got even harder than the usual, wrinkled Breton countryside. The hills were longer rollers and a little steeper than farther west, so your momentum from the previous downhill doesn't last very far up the next climb, and then the rest of the climb saps you, you recover a bit on the next descent, and repeat, ad nauseum.

As I've said before, ride lots of hills if you're planning to ride PBP 2007...

Eventually, (and inevitably) you give away all of that elevation and descend a fast, tree-lined hill. I recall hitting 70 km/hr on this hill on PBP in 2003, but I only did 60 today. At the bottom of the hill you're nearly back at sea level, at Landerneau on the riviere l'Élorn. I don't recall passing though Landerneau in 2003, so perhaps the final route will deviate around it's centre-ville.

From Landereau it was pretty relentlessly uphill on the D764 to Sizun. There we stopped for lunch in a little salon de thé and creperie across the street from the church. I remember sitting on the stone wall by the church, eating a snack on the way to Brest in 2003.

The road continues to climb from Sizun. A couple of times the grade kicked up enough that I was in the red zone, and Susan dropped me (but she always waits... eventually). As was the case in 2003, I was surprised by how gentle the last part of the climb is, and how we were suddenly at the top. We paused for a look around, and some photos, though it was pretty hazy, and then headed back to Sizun.

The descent confirms the gentleness of the climb - our speed rarely exceeded 40, and we were pedalling most of the time. Part way back to Sizun the cloud cover broke, and what had been a humid, overcast day started to become hot and humid.

There are a few French shops and restaurants that open on Sunday morning, but most of those close in the afternoon. We were unable to get water in Sizun, and by the time we reached Loperhet our bottles were empty and things were grim. Fortunately we spotted a Coke machine and had enough change to get a bottle and a can. That kept us going for the rest of the ride. I think I know why the French clubs ride on Sunday morning - because you can die of thirst on the roads of France on a Sunday afternoon...

The route into Brest leaves the D764 between Sizun and Landerneau and proceeds via the D87, some other roads, and the D33, through Dirinon, Loperhet, and Ploughastel-Daoulas. Then, suddenly, you are descending a hill alongside the N165 toward the Pont d'Iroise. I think it is one of the most elegant looking bridges I have ever seen!

We left the PBP route on the north side of the river, but didn't avoid a long slow climb through Brest. Our route took us back to the N712 in Guipavas, and we retrace our morning's path back to Saint-Renan for a total of 136 km.

This week's ride was more about training than sightseeing, compared to last week, and we averaged almost 1 km/hr faster. We managed our nutrition better so we didn't bonk, but we still ran low on water.

P.S. Roc'h Trévézel is the highest point in Brittany.