Stephen Dart's account of his 2007 Paris-Brest-Paris ride. Congratulations to him and the other SW AUK riders.

Greetings from good old Blighty. Well, what can I say - the boy done good! PBP 2007 was certainly a challenge in every sense of the word. The story could easily last for four days but against all my natural insticts here's the short(ish) version - I hope. Just over 5300 riders from 42 different countries had signed up for PBP 2007. Monday 20th August Having got the bike ready I spent much of Monday 20th trying to rest but didn't really sleep. My start at 21:30 on Monday 20th August had around 3000 riders. What many people looking on the internet didn't realise was that the organisers let the '21:30' riders go in groups of 500-600 at 20 minutes intervals. I eventually left Paris at 22:30. This difference of an hour would come into play later in the ride. Our group cruised out of a drizzly Paris throught every red light for 20km as police stopped traffic at many junctions. Red lights stretched forward to the horizon as a huge line of white lights followed from behind. Thousands of people cheered us off as we disappeared into the night.

Tuesday 21st August By the time we reached Mortagne au Perche (140km) at 5:30ish on Tuesday morning it was pouring with rain. Like a drowned rat I arrived at Villaines La Juhel 222km just before 11am. After a quick stop it was onto Fourgeres at 310km (192miles) where I met Mum and Dad for the first time around 14:30 (the plan was they'd meet me at certain controls to collect wet gear and supply me with any extra food and drink I needed). I'd dried out in the afternoon before getting drenched again on the way to Tinteniac 364km where I arrived at 18:23. A quick bit of food and into the night section. Loudeac 449km was reached at 00:15 (279miles in 25h45m) - I had 5h20m in hand. After a plate or two of food I lay down on a cafeteria floor under a space blanket for a hours kip. By 2am I was back on the road, still wet, but needed another kip a few hours later so sat in someone's doorway for 20minutes. An unscheduled control at Corlay at 4am allowed me another 30minute sleep on a hall floor.

Wednesday 22nd August Another drizzly morning. I arrived at Carhaix (525km) at 09:14. Meeting Mum and Dad again I changed my base layer, shorts and socks (although my shoes were completely soaked) and was loaded up with Crousants and Danish Pastries. On to Brest. The weather actually improved and during the mid-point of the ride I enjoyed blue-sky and sunshine. I reached the turn at Brest 614km at 14:46 (381miles in 40h 16m) with 2h59m in hand. Mum and Dad surprised me with a surprise visit (I think they just wanted to say they'd driven Paris-Brest-Paris!) and supplied me with more food and drink. Heading eastbound, by the time Carhaix was reached on the return leg (699km) it was 21:06. Mum and Dad took another change of wet gear and saw me cycle off into my third night which was overcast and drizzly again with a touch of wind as well - oh, whooppee! The section between Carhaix and Loudeac is the toughest of the ride with many hills. The climbs weren't as tough as the hills of Devon but with 430+ miles in my legs and only 1h50m of sleep things were beginning to get a little hard. It was around this point in the ride that I lost track of which day it was or fact where I was. I remember having to work out that I was on the PBP in France several times! Also, there were lots of micro-naps on the bike - not good!

Thursday 23rd August Loudeac, 775km (481miles) was reached at 04:37 on Thursday morning. After a plate of food I allowed myself a 30minute nap on the cafeteria floor again. I should have had more but needed to push on. I now only had 1h53m in hand but a couple of hours of weaving on the road necessitated another 20minute nap by the side of the road. Daylight and still overcast/drizzly. Tinteniac was reached mid-morning, then I met Mum and Dad again at Fougeres 916km (569miles) at 15:29 - I'd caught up a bit of time with 2h6m in hand. Another change of kit and into my fourth night. At this point I realised that I might have to ride straight though to Paris with no more sleep breaks. Tiredness was causing me to ride slower and slower. The slower I rode the more I nodded on the bike. The faster I rode the weaker I got and the slower I rode. By now the appetite had started to go and I was only just drinking enough to keep hydrated. Villaines La Juhel at 1002km (622miles) was a welcome site and reached at 21:40. Although I now had 3hours in hand it was too early to stop for a sleep. I needed to carry on to ensure I didn't have too far to cycle on the Friday. Thursday night I was very tired. I frequently nodded asleep and weaved across the road. Luckily nothing else around. I even drifted off of the road at least five times and managed to stay upright on every occasion bar one - only a slight scrape.

Friday 24th August I dragged myself into Mortagne au Perche 1084km (673miles) at 06:06 on Friday morning. I'd averaged just 6mph for the 50mile stage from Villaines La Juhel to Mortagne au Perche and as a result my time in hand had dropped to just 24 minutes. Definitely no time for sleep. I bought a bagette, broke it into pieces and put it in my rear jersey pockets. Time to dig deep as the sun began to rise. However, PBP was never going to be a race. It was always just about finishing - playing the percentage game. As long as I stayed within the time limits, that was good enough. Mum and Dad greeted me at Dreux 1158km (719miles) at 10:33. With 1h7m in hand, which included the extra hour from the start, I knew I was going to finish. In fact there was never any doubt that I'd finish. Yet another change of kit which included a pair of Union Jack overshoes. Onto the bike went a Union flag and Devon flag. Dreux had very much a festive atmosphere even though we all had another 42miles to do. This final stage was fairly flat with only three climbs of any worth. The edge of Paris was reached just before 15:00 and the riders were then directed around the conurbation of St Quentine en Yveslines. Lots of red lights to keep stopping at. An international group assembled as the finished approached. American, Canadians, Italians, French, Spanish, Swedes and Danes. With 762 miles in our legs and not much sleep over the past four days the speed began to rise as we went through the final set of traffic lights on green. National pride was now at stake as a sprint for the line ensued. In the end I edged out a Danish rider as we came onto the finish roundabout at 30+ mph. What an amazing feeling. Eight years of dreaming and many months of training fulfilled. My finishing time - 89hours 2minutes. Lots of photos and goodbyes to new friends from all over the world. A couple of hours later after washing a filthy bike and sorting out the car my head hit the pillow at the hotel. I couldn't be woken for a celebratory meal and slept for 12 hours solid! Its just 5 days since the finish now and most of the aches and pains have gone - good conditioning I guess - but I have got numb toes on both feet and numb fingers on my left hand - nerve damage from resting on those points for so long. It's a common injury experienced by long-distacne cyclist and should subside in a couple of weeks. Would I do it again? Well, PBP requires a lot of training and time to prepare and there are plenty of other challenges out there to do. For now PBP is off the list, but never say never.... Thank you to everyone for your emails, texts and messages. Some of you did receive texts from me - who you were I can't remember! Every single word kept me going. Thank you! (Well, it was sort of short'ish!)

Cheers, Stephen Ancien de Paris Brest Paris 2007