Paris Day 6 Sunday: Bike Check and Rain Trek

We stayed at the hotel this morning as the pick-up for drop bags took place at 10:30am. The drop bag contains all the extra gear that James might need on the ride but can’t, or doesn’t want to, carry on his bike. It includes things like changes of bike clothing and extra energy bars. There was quite some deliberation about whether James should pack his rain gear in the drop back or just carry it on his bike? Should he bring the big gloves that Christian lent him or leave them in the drop bag and just see how cold his hands get the first night. In the end he decided to bring the rain gear and the gloves on the bike. If he finds that he doesn’t need them he can leave them in his drop bag when he reaches Ludeac, which is the control stop at the 400k and 800k points along the course. It was a good decision to keep the rain gear because in fact a drizzle of rain started to fall just as we were preparing to leave for his bike check at the Gymnase des Droites de l’homme (which is also the start point for the PBP). I ordered a taxi to take me and the girls to the check-in and we were to follow James who had already set off on his bike. There was a little confusion when the taxi arrived because the receptionist had not realized that I had the girls and the stroller and had already arranged with the taxi driver to take and other woman and her two teenage daughters in the taxi with me. The taxi driver explained to me that it all stems from the problem of so many people in St Quentin for the Paris-Brest that there are not enough taxis to handle the demand. We managed to sort out the situation and we all piled in and headed to the Gymnase (it was an SUV of sorts).

The woman we shared the taxi with is Jeannie and her two daughters who are from Texas. Jeanne is a lovely woman and we had such a delightful conversation in the taxi. This is her husband’s fourth PBP and she has been coming along with her girls since they were 2 and 4yrs old. Seeing the girls brought back lots of memories of coming to Paris with them for her husband’s first PBP.

We arrived at the Gymnase ahead of James and bumped into Dan and his wife Cindy whom we’d met while waiting at the gate at SeaTac airport. After chatting with them for a bit James arrived and the Seattle Randonneurs gathered for their group photo. With 60 riders representing the club in the PBP they are the largest group present this year. After photos we had a lunch of hotdogs, chicken and chips at the Gymnase and the girls played amongst the tress in the new raincoats we’d picked up in Seattle shortly before our trip. James and I struck up a conversation with a Scottish man, Rod, from Edinburgh. He seemed a man in his 50s or 60s and this was his 4th PBP too (I’ve met the wives of a lot of riders who are on their 4th). After an interesting conversation on many topics, with some tips for James’s first experience, we parted company and took the girls into the Gymnase for the check-in. It turned out that with the organizers had abandoned the bike checks (I have no idea why) and James just had to check in and pick up his pack with his control swipe card his frame ID to be attached to his bike an his ID sticker to attach to his helmet for identifying riders in photos taken along the route. He also received a really nice PBP bike jersey and water bottle.

The bike check-in was an amazing opportunity to see the range of bikes entered into the ride. Apart from variations on the standard single rider bikes there were some that looked like little cars, tandems that had both riders facing opposite directions, and three person bikes that seemed long an unwieldy. It was also a great time to see the various nationality if riders wandering around checking in, a lot of enthusiastic greeting amongst those who probably haven’t seen each other since the last PBP. We also had good fortune tracking down Paul O’Donoghue, who is the head of the Irish Randonneurs. Jamess’ mum had been in e-mail contact with him in Ireland in an attempt to learn about the Irish contingent and try to buy an Irish jersey for James to wear on one of the days. We had such a great chat with him and learned a good deal aout his efforts to grow the small club in Ireland. There were initially 9 riders participating in the PBP this year but it turns out that some change in policy this time meant that what ever passport the rider used to register for the PBP was used to assign nationality (?) In the end, as a result of this, there are 12 Irish riders in the PBP (excluding James who registered with his American passport). Paul was delighted that his club’s representation had grown by 33% in a matter of days

After we had spent a couple of hours at the check-in absorbing the buzz and enjoying the scene we decided it was time to make our way back to the hotel. I had decided that since the prospect of getting a taxi back was slim that I would just walk back with the girls. I was keen to get some exercise myself (I’m trying to maintain my weight as some of you will remember ) and  I also wanted to get a feel for the area where we are staying. As we were leaving the rain started to fall and pretty soon it just poured down. The girls and I were in our rain coats, with them cozy and secure in the double stroller, and I headed in the direction of our return. I quickly discovered that there were no pathways around the first roundabout. I managed to flag down a passing police car containing three police officers to ask if there was anyway for a pedestrian to get around the roundabout. They just said no and drove on. Completely useless! So I backtracked and realized that if I made my way to the roundabout preceding the Gymnase I could then get onto the other side of the road and follow a path a little distance from the road on that side. It all worked out and was quite and enjoyable adventure. Ashley and Caitlin were great sports the entire time back. The rain did stop and we chatted and recited poems and played silly nonsense games (like everything they would invite to a party:  spiderman, mice, hair, summer, snow-you get the picture! They would just collapse into giggles at every new noun they came up with and we were certainly kept very much amused as we walked what turned out to be just under a 5k walk.

When we returned we had an early dinner and hung out in the hotel having a very relaxed evening with the girls who played with the Kapla blocks again (an excellent toy for their creative imaginations). Tonight they played with Mathew who is 10yrs old and the son of Jeannie from Chicago. There are a lot of very friendly people here at the hotel and the buzz this evening was contagious. It’s the big day tomorrow and you can feel the anticipation in the air.