by Alex Miller
I completed Paris Brest Paris in 2007 and 2011. In 2007, I rode a very expensive, custom-made diamond frame bike by a highly respected builder – not the same bike as the one pictured, but very similar. It is a truly beautiful bike and everyone who has ever ridden it talks about its comfort and handling. 
But, after 1200K (750 miles), I had lost the use of my left hand (was having to reach across and shift with my right), both of my feet had extensive nerve damage, I was impotent, and my rump looked like hamburger. The ride took me 85 hours, and I was limited to 6 hours of sleep. It was not a lot of fun. I eventually recovered from all that, but some the healing took a while and the impotence in particular seemed to take a long time regardless of what the calendar said!
While I was suffering through the last several hundred miles of PBP ’07, I kept seeing this happy-looking fellow who looked like he was riding a recliner on wheels. Within a month of completing PBP ’07, I had researched recumbents, made some choices, and was riding a Bacchetta.
I was not immediately 100% converted. I live in a hilly area and I was using commuting as a primary form of training. Recumbents work in either application, but they may not be ideal starting points for everyone. For a year or so I bounced back and forth between recumbents and diamond frames. Everybody else I knew rode a diamond frame for brevets, and I chose to do the same.
When 2011 rolled around it got to be time to get serious about training and qualifying for PBP. I knew I didn’t want to repeat what had happened in ’07, so I decided it was time to try a recumbent on a brevet. 
By then I was riding a Carbon Aero 2.0 like the one pictured, an off-the-shelf, mid-priced bike. I had a lot of questions about how it might do as a brevet bike, but the whole point of the qualifying series is to figure out what works for you.
The difference was remarkable. On my diamond frames, I had always been one of the slowest riders at any brevet, usually finishing within an hour or two of the maximum allowed time. On my first two brevets on the CA2, riding with the same old gang of riders, I finished second and first respectively, and I felt great doing it. I was sold.
After a successful series completed on the CA2, I went into PBP 2011 confident that I was on the right brevet bike for me. Still, I was simply shocked at the difference between ‘07 and ’11. I intentionally finished ’11 in 90 hours, but along the way, I got nearly 20 hours of sleep! The only discomfort I had associated with the bike was the occasional hot foot (no lasting nerve damage) and a tiny spot of nerve damage on my left thumb that has already cleared up. Not perfect, but sooooo much better than 07.
Those of you who already use your recumbent bikes for brevets probably don’t need to be convinced of the advantages. But, if you’ve got friends that have yet to give recumbents a serious try for brevets, I hope you’ll share this blog with them. If they are intrigued, here is a more complete article they may want to read.
http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/newsletter/submissions_2006/004_pbp-and-recumbents.html
