Issue #8: Seekers

San Francisco Randonneurs Win Paris-Brest-Paris Award

By Zachary Morvant

Perhaps you’ve heard of Paris-Brest-Paris, the Super Bowl (or, since it’s quadrennial, “Olympics” may be more appropriate) of long-distance cycling. To finish successfully, one must ride the grueling 750-mile course in less than 90 hours. While time is tracked, it’s technically not a race — so I was surprised when the president of my local club, Rob Hawks of the San Francisco Randonneurs, emailed our distro saying we’d won an award. And would anyone be in France in February to accept it?

Attendees of the post-Paris-Brest-Paris general meeting and award ceremony.

Some background: Each of the approximately 7,000 riders who participated in the 2023 edition of Paris-Brest-Paris (or PBP as it’s commonly called) had to claim membership in a sanctioned randonneuring club, of which there are hundreds around the globe. As it turns out, of all the clubs present, the San Francisco Randonneurs (SFR for short — this community is big on shorthand) had the most riders to finish the event, with 73 riders out of 95 starters. So the Audax Club Parisien (ACP), which organizes PBP, invited SFR to attend a general meeting and award ceremony in Paris.

There are a couple of big reasons for SFR’s success at this fabled event. One is our local training ground: The terrain we cover, as well as the climate, has a lot in common with the Paris-Brest-Paris route. Long farm roads with rolling hills. Big temperature swings, mist, rain. The other is our Regional Brevet Administrator (aka RBA or “president” if you can’t stomach another acronym), Rob Hawks, whose tireless work behind the scenes ensures our PBP-qualifying events happen, and that our riders are prepared for them.

Tragically, mere days before PBP, Rob fell ill and was unable to do the ride he’d not only trained for, but was instrumental in helping us line up for. He wanted someone who had finished to accept the award with him, and when I was able to make the work and family logistics line up, I was more than happy to oblige.

What followed was a whirlwind weekend in Paris with my wife, where we barely managed to stave off jet lag with copious amounts of coffee and the occasional nap. The day of the award ceremony included a lunch with the heads of a dozen or so other randonneur clubs from around Europe, lots of talk about bikes and infrastructure, and then the main event: a three-hour meeting with a few hundred folks (all in French, naturally).

My meager French Duolingo training enabled me to get the gist of the slides. There was lots of talk about stats from 2023, and plans for 2027. The mayor of Rambouillet, the town the event started and finished in, gave a well-received speech (from what I could tell). Then there were the awards: including awards for the youngest and oldest finishers, the most PBP completions (someone had notched 13! Do the math on the number of years that took), and of course the club prize we came to collect. I accompanied Rob to the stage to accept the award while the master of ceremonies made a comment that elicited some laughter from the crowd. My weak French-listening comprehension, amplified by the aforementioned chronological confusion, meant I could do little more than smile like an American idiot. (Later, a compatriot in the crowd explained it was a bit of friendly trash talk: The MC had said their club would be back to take the award in a few years.)

Zachary Morvant (PBP finisher) and Rob Hawks (SFR president) accept their club award from the ACP.

The meeting finally concluded, champagne and snacks were served, and my wife and I stumbled off into the rain to catch a train back to our hotel for a much-needed power nap. As we rolled along the tracks, I reflected. My thinking about my own PBP experience had, I realized, been incredibly selfish; I had merely been a tourist in this experience. Seeing the passion of the global village responsible for this legendary event, and the dedication of its inspiring participants has, for me, imbued it with new meaning — and gotten me already thinking about 2027.