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On 21 August I shall be taking part in the oldest cycling event in the world, the Paris-Brest-Paris, or PBP. The event pre-dates the Tour de France but stopped being a professional race in 1951, because it is quite long and the format of the Tour with its relatively short stages was preferred by the riders. Since 1951, the PBP has been held every four years and is open to anyone up for trying to cycle 1230km within a maximum time of 90 hours. To qualify I had to ride a series of qualifying rides starting with a 300k, then a 400k the following week, another 400k the week after and then, after a weekend off, a 600k. It was actually a 630 from Goring to Scunthorpe and back.  In case you are wondering you are meant to do these qualifying rides spread over four months gradually building up but I had left it a bit late to do that. A friend very kindly lent me a very nice bike and sent messages of encouragement. Most of the other texts I received suggested I should give up. Now I am quite looking forward to it except for all the cycling. I found on the qualifying rides that my knees hurt for about the first 12 hours or so but then I got used to it. I hope it’s the same on the PBP. I think I will find the lack of sleep and riding through the nights more of a challenge. In May and June the nights were quite short. I aim to cycle through the first night and then try and get a couple of hours on the next two. It will depend how much time I have built up to stay within the time limit.

 

I have decided to try and raise some money for Moorfields Eye Hospital. I think that for anyone like me who has always loved the freedom of being able to run by the river and cycle and climb and row, organisations like Moorfields that research the causes of sight loss and provide outstanding care are hugely valuable. So please support if you can.

Thank you,

Peter

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