Confidence

There's a lot of comfort in knowing.

Two weeks from France, and the Paris Brest Paris preparations continue, but with two PBPs and several other long rides on my resume, I'm pretty confident in my abilities to get it done. I know how it feels to line up at the start, and I know what I'll shoot for distance-wise, day-by-day. I know how to prepare for whatever weather we'll get, I know how to eat on the bike. I know how to deal with the inevitable lows that will punctuate three to four days of riding.

Experience has taken the edge off the nervousness, and this time, more than ever, I'm looking forward to the fun of the PBP spectacle, just as much as the challenge of 750 miles in the saddle. My buddies Capn Ende and Bossy Girl Carol and Joel and many others have taught me how to have fun, even as you're suffering through the heat and the rain and heavy legs. I've had the chance in recent months to share the road with many skilled and devoted randonneurs, including Capn Ende, Branson, Jerry, the Florians, the Kamms, Steven, Stephen, Jimmy, Geoff, JoeRay, Sridhar, Ian, Tim, Lynn, the Pauls, Mark Thomas, Spencer, Wes, John M, John P, Joe, Bob, Maria, Andy, Janis, Carol, Brother Rob, Joel, Dean, Byron, Bryan, Alan, Al, Martin, John O, JoAnn,  Henry, Vance, Gary and Sara, Chris, Mike O. And on and on and on. Those guys have trained and taught me well.

Sometimes I learn from my riding buddies. Sometimes I learn it at the school of hard knocks, like in 2005, when I rode the inaugural Cascade 1200. Here's the lesson -- show up unprepared and slightly out of shape and you may finish, but get ready for some butt ugly suffering, not the exquisite kind that some people like to write about. I'm not interested in a repeat of that, so the training has remained constant. I've ridden mountainous training routes three times in the past month. Those rides may be the very best preparation I'll do. I've  completed a few other long rides, including a 175 miler to the beach with a 135-mile return, two back-to-back 100Ks in the mountains, a 135-mile mountain day in 90+ degree heat with 10,000 feet of climbing, and a midnight start 300K with serious hills. I have another 200K coming up, and I'll follow that with a century ride, then put the bike in the box for the long plane ride to France.

Training has been one part of the picture. I've also been getting the bike ready. In the past month, I've changed nearly everything on my beloved Coho, right down to the bar tape. I built new wheels, including one with a new Schmidt hub. I could not get the rear wheel to stop creaking, so I went to plan B and reinstalled a wheel that is about one year old. I've changed the entire drive train, including a new rear derailleur, and knock on wood it is shifting flawlessly. The seat that I said I would retire after LEL, just shy of two years ago, well it has finally been retired. Nine years of continuous service and thousands of hard miles. Lucky stars, I was able to purchase the same Terry seat NOS on eBay.

All of the equipment changes, with a proper testing period, give me confidence that my bike will be ready for the big show. The one questionable call is the new stem I've installed. At 90 centimeters, it's shorter than the last one by 10 centimeters, [Ed. note: Arrgh! metric system! 10 millimeters; see note below] and it's also adjustable and set up at a higher angle than the last one. The goal is to eliminate the neck pain that has plagued me toward the end of every multi-day ride I've done. The neck seemed fine on a recent 200K, but the stem appears to have caused another set-up issue -- my left knee now aches for the first 80 miles. I raised the seat about 3/8-inch and I'll shift the angle down slightly. Maybe that will cure it, maybe not. If I have to live with a little knee pain at PBP, I'm not sweating it. Because I've done the leg work.