Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) is a 1200 km (750 mile) Brevet that was founded in 1891. The event is held every 4 years. As in all Brevets, riders need to be self-sufficient, as there are no follow cars, only checkpoints with limited supplies along the route. There is a 90-hour limit, with the clock running continuously. Most riders sleep as little as possible, sometimes just catching a few minutes nap beside the road before continuing on. In a state of exhaustion, one of our old employees took a nap in a farmer’s field before climbing back on his bike.
Participants must first complete a series of brevets (randonneuring events) within the same calendar year as PBP for qualifying. A series consists of 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km. Mike Barry Sr., and his business partner in Bicyclesport / Mariposa, Mike Brown, founded the Toronto Randonneurs (now Randonneurs Ontario) and organized a series of brevets so that local cyclists could qualify for P-B-P. The two Mikes never had the chance to ride P-B-P as they had to take care of the shop while most of the shop staff rode the event.
Where once PBP was contested by a few professionals as a demonstration of the bicycle’s potential, today the focus is on the every day riders and weekend warriors. Despite insistence that it isn’t a race, PBP offers trophies and prestige to the first finishers. For some riders, the goal is just to finish within the time limit, while for others it is to finish as fast as possible.
This Mariposa was designed to be ridden through the countryside in California and also in the August 2023 P-B-P. The frame was built with lightweight Kaisei tubing and it has an ENVE Adventure carbon fork with routing for a dynamo hub generated lighting and usb charging system so the rider has the option to ride through the night and charge their GPS and mobile phone. It has also has Honjo Fenders, so the bike is equipped for inclement weather. It was built up with a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 12 speed groupset and lightweight, fast Princeton Carbonworks Peak 4550 wheelset and René Herse Bon Jon Pass Extralight Tires.
