Brevet in brief

The epic of the first brevet in the PBP campaign got off on Friday evening when the boys rolled over for a bit of carbo loading. We had sauce and meatballs compliments of Judy, made from tomatoes out of my garden from last summer. It was a family affair, with Mike and Judy, Nita, Richie Rich, Gigantor, AccuJoe, Billy, and me sitting around the table outside enjoying a quick feast before the 3 hour drive to Quakertown, PA.

Bellies full, we loaded up the vehicles and started out of town, with the mandatory stop for coffee, of course, and hit the road a mere 45 minutes behind schedule. The road trip was standard fare for this bunch, a caravan that would put to shame any notions that we ride bikes to save the planet (a VW van and an F150), one high speed exchange of a gallon of water, and a little bit of road rage from a girl who tried to run Billy off the road after getting stuck behind us.

We pulled into the hostel at 11 and met Tom, the event organizer, who signed us in, gave us brevet cards and cue sheets and a few words about what to expect in the morning. Looking around the room, we could tell we should expect something unlike what we were used to. A Softride laden with bags and a dynamo hub lighting system, a Bilenky tandem, and more Brooks saddles that I’ve seen in a lifetime. We packed off to bed and with plans for a 5AM wake up. Upstairs we bunked in with Zayne Braun, who was up to join us for the ride despite the recommendations of his coach.

In the morning we rose early and headed into Quakertown for breakfast at Joe’s Plain and Fancy Dinner, an establishment that took the neon and chrome dinner aesthetic to its illogical extreme (the inside of the bathroom stall doors were mirrored chrome!!) but provided exceptional pre-ride fare. We ordered enough to take a little with us for a little mid-ride boost of pork and grease. Back at the start the crowd had begun to form and we all suited up and joined the bunch amassing on the lawn for the start. Setting up the bikes we were joined by Elk who was up to join us on his singlespeed (bless his heart). A familiar face and a bunch of tattoos made us feel a little less out of place among the world of aggressive tourers crowding around the patio of the hostel. There was a surprising amount of wool apparel and more primal wear jerseys than I’ve ever seen. We all looked a bit cavalier in our knee warmers as much of the crowd was in thermal tights, jackets, and at least one guy in a balaclava. There were some nice technical details on some of the bikes (which ranged from an old fixie to a carbon aluminum Cannondale 6 thirteen) including some nice lighting system, classy bags, and this very cool bagel holder system on a tandem. At nearly 6:57, Tom sent the masses (if 34 constitutes a mass) off prompting at least one, very real, protest that it was not yet 7. Timing neuroses aside, the ride headed off, but we waited behind as Elk had just gotten a call from Yozell that he was minutes away and wanted to join the ride. Mike pulled in about 7:10 and we got rolling around 7:15 with 9 strong (Elk and Mike keepin it real on singles).

We rolled out easy keeping about an 18 mph average over the opening miles. We caught up to our first riders as the course headed into its first wall climb. The day would be characterized by short flat legs (<1.5 miles) with lots of turning, punctuated by power climbs that ramped at impressive angles between 10 and 20 degrees. The route took us through some very pretty country, lots of semi rural farmland and small towns with beautiful stone houses and out buildings. The day started out grey and cool, but AccuJoe had promised us 60 degrees and sunny by 1PM and we foolishly believed him. The day never really warmed up, though there were a few breaks of sun, and we spent much of the day fighting the chill as much as the terrain. The course crossed the AT twice, once at the top of Fox Gap, the highest point on the route and the longest sustained climb of the day at a little over 2 miles. A look at the route profile might give an indication that the +10,000 feet of climbing for the day did not come in very consistent intervals. The climbs were short and steep which kept us from ever getting into much of a rhythm and the frequent turns in the flats and rollers kept us from being able to tick the miles off in a coherent pace line. The real bright spot of the day was that one of the checkpoints (controles) was at a pizza place in Washington, NJ that served fine pizzas and ice cold beer so that we could refuel both the body and the mind at once. We’d spent the preceding 85 miles catching up to the folks that left on time in the morning and our leisurely lunch put us back in the middle of the riders which meant we had more people on the road with us for the back end of the route. Brevets being the weird culture that they are, we only were joined by one guy, Joe, who was willing to integrate himself into the group. He settled right in to the group and pulled through when his time came. The others that we picked up along the route were surprisingly anti-social but plenty happy to sit in the back and enjoy the draft for 30 miles.

Over the last 40 miles, we cut back into PA and over the last climb of substance, which ended with a brutal 20 degree wall before leading us into 20 miles of rollers to the finish. We came in to the finish 8.5 hours after we started, just about 4:30. After a bit of food and a shower we parted ways with Zayne, Elk, and Yozell and loaded the caravan back up for the drive home. As we hit 80 on the way back we stopped to fix a flat for a carload of ladies in distress on the roadside. The comedy of these girls was well worth the day’s effort and the 6 hours of driving.

All in all the brevet was a success. Kudos to Tom Rosenbauer for a well chosen course and nicely marked cue sheets. Everyone made it and finished strong. Everyone came away looking forward to the rest of the series.

The next event is the DC 300 on April 28th, which kicks off a bad ass schedule over 21 days with 1100 km and one weekend off. That leaves the next 3.5 weeks to focus on other things for a bit: work on intensity a bit so that I can do a little racing this year, and, oh yeah, all the rest of life that takes place off the bike.