Folks,
Now that we will all be looking smart in our new jerseys, Sat 15th @ midday sounds like a good time to try and get a group photo.
[Make that venue outside Le Velodtome.]
If you can make it see you there, try to wear event/club jersey if you have one.
Paul
there are several thousand reasons why we should not quit at Paris Brest. These range from the practical to the personal. Everyone is going to have a bad patch or two at some stage and question what they are doing. There’s nothing wrong with feeling like this, one of the characteristics of a wise randonneur is recognising this. Another is knowing that they will come good after a while and start feeling better.
Long distances can cloud our judgement and tiredness may lead us to make rash decisions. Decisions made under the influence of alcohol may make sense at the time, but won’t necessarily seem practical in the cold light of day. Think of tiredness as having the same effect.
If you are feeling low, never make any decisions until you have eaten, slept and had time to gather your thoughts. When you have done this you will realise that there is only one option and that is to carry on.
5 of the several thousand reasons are:
1. Think of all the time, travel and training that you have spent getting this far.
2. You will be kicking yourself until Christmas.
3. We may never be here again.
4. You know that you can do it.
5. How are you going to get back to Paris? It may take twice as long as riding. Negotiating several train transfers with a bike is not a glamorous proposition on a good day. Think of it on a bad day, reinforcement to carry on. A fairly mundane one, but an important one nonetheless.
one to brighten up your day if you are having it rough.
Ned Flanders – “you were cycling two abreast?”
Homer Simpson – “ I wish! We were cycling to the lake.”
The world will be waiting a long time to witness an athlete of Emil’s calibre again. The Czech distance runner won the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon at the Helsinki Olympics of 1952. Over the 7 days he accomplished this, he also set 3 Olympic records. It was also his first time to run a marathon.
The darling of the Communist Regime , the easy going Emil soon fell foul of The Party as he never shied away from expressing his opinions. After speaking out against Russian aggression in his homeland, he lost his cushy number in the Army and spent the next 6 years working in an open cast uranium mine. The Regime’s plan of having him returned to Prague as a bin- man in order to publicly humiliate him soon backfired. The people held him in such high esteem they chose to empty their own bins as a mark of respect to their champion. He was quickly transferred to the countryside to dig ditches, away from public view.
Boys take down your Britney Spears posters, girls take down your Ed Sheeran posters and replace them with a photo of Emil. A true inspiration.
Not very inspiring, but a useful tool if you are a light sleeper. They can come in useful in the days leading up to PBP. Light sleepers may find it hard to sleep in the controls so, taking a set of earplugs with you
is important. Occasionally, by error, people are not awoken at their requested time. Consider setting the alarm on your phone to ring 10 minutes after your designated time in case you are overlooked.