cheg

For anyone considering going back to PBP this year, the course has changed. There are about 450k of different roads this time compared to the 2019.

unterhausen

I have heard the idea was that outbound riders and inbound riders won't have to stare at each other's headlights as much. But I also imagine some of those little villages would prefer only to deal with riders fewer days

GhostRider62

I thought the route changes were to give us an extra 3,000 feet of descending.

When I first went to PBP in 1995, it seemed like there were few descents or maybe because I am heavier and more aerodynamic, I just notice the speed now. My recumbent hit 60mph on a brief tailwind downhill sometime after Brest before the wind shifted.

unterhausen

Considering all the climbing after Carhaix, it does seem like there should be more descending. I think one of the worst experiences of 2011 was that I had to pedal down roc'h Trevezel outbound because the headwind was so strong. The pavement was really rough then too, fortunately they fixed that. But then the tailwind going back up on the retour made up for it. I really missed that tailwind in 2019. Somehow didn't notice the pavement on the way back up.

GhostRider62

Instead of the Roc and some bits and pieces before and after, where we have ca. 60' per mile, the new one gives us 80 feet per mile of descent. Perhaps, qualifying as lumpy for UK Randonneurs. Loudeac to Brest is 6,000 and the new return is 8,000. Something like 210 miles and 14,000 feet. Slightly rolling.

unterhausen

They skip the rock? I didn't think that was possible. I would miss the national highway going back to Carhaix, going down those big hills was a lot of fun. And I'm not usually a fan of descents because you have to climb up the other side.
I'll have to look at the route, I'm a big fan if Sizun too. It's just in the right place to stop for a bit.

GhostRider62

You go down the Roc and then go right at Landerenau (sp?) onto the 2019 return side into Brest and then on the return in 2023, it is more South of the Roc and hillier. The bridge is on the return. Depending on time of day, climbing the Roc would be with wind assist and frankly even on a recumbent, I did not find it to be difficult. Just long. This year, I predict some cursing.

clasher

Here's one copy of the route from rwgps: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43034089 it seems to match up with what I've seen on the open runner links. In a video the acp released in the spring they said they wanted to split the riders on that middle third of the route so that roads would still be passable for drivers without creating as much risk for all the riders. I'm looking forward to the new roads,even though that descent on the return down the Roc' was awesome.

GhostRider62

I like splitting it up. No more lights in my eyes. Motor traffic always seemed very low to me but certainly eliminating overlap of outbound and inbound riders from Brest to Tintineac makes sense.

ThermionicScott 

One plus side of the overlap in 2015 was that it confirmed I was still on the right track when there weren't many people riding in the same direction as me.

unterhausen

There is something to be said for seeing riders going the other way. It can get really lonely sometimes, and those arrows go missing. I never really felt lost in 2019, but in 2011 I really wondered if I was going the right way. I didn't have a GPS in 2011, but then again I didn't really look at my GPS in 2019 except to wonder why I was looking at a giant long list of names. I guess it could be amusing if you are riding in a group, just read out some names and see who starts looking around. The moral of the story is to go look at your garmin's settings, there are a lot of things that it would be wise to turn off.

clasher

I rode off the course in a small group and my gps started squawking about it, I started shouting and most of us stopped and turned around... I yelled in French and what little German I knew at the others but two or three kept going the wrong way. It was daylight and we just took the wrong exit at a roundabout in Saint-Méen-le-Grand, not sure how I missed the arrows but I was glad to have the track running.

GhostRider62

Thinking about it so more, there is a certain appeal of seeing the fast riders returning. Not sure if it is astonishment or guilt but I get a jolt of speed seeing them.

unterhausen

I definitely like seeing fast riders returning. For me it has always been during the day, somewhere near loudiac. In 2019, I saw lone riders fairly far before that.

GhostRider62

In 2019, I slept in Fougeres and then an hour nap in Loudeac. I saw Marko Baloh and another rider somewhere up in the hills before Carhaix around maybe 5 pm. I was a very surprised they were not further up the road but fighting a headwind outbound for two riders must hard especially not on a low flung recumbent (like me). The best was 2015 seeing Bijorn all smiling like on a Sunday promenade ride and 20 minutes behind him a large pack was chasing and their breathing sounded like 10 race horses at full gallop.