Picture : Award of Medal At Finish Line
During my journey from North to South India, a person whom I met in Punjab asked me if I was doing a “brevet.” Having no idea what it meant, the word nevertheless stuck in my mind until I heard about it later in the context of cycling brevets undertaken by people all over India. In cycling, a brevet is a long-distance event of various distances of 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km and 1000 km which must be covered in 13.5 hours, 20 hours, 27 hours, 40 hours and 75 hours respectively.
Picture : Carrying the bike box in the London metro
A person who completes a brevet is called a randonneur. Globally, these events are conducted by the Audax Club Parisien, a club based in Paris, France and has affiliates in countries all over the world. In India, these events are conducted by Audax India Randonneurs whose headquarters are in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Picture : Registration in Writtle.
Having cycled across the length and breadth of India, I was never appealed by the thought of completing any of these brevets. However, I came to learn about the 1200 km Paris Brest Paris (PBP) randonneuring event which needs to be completed within 90 hours and is held every four years in France, and which caught my imagination. The requirement to qualify for it was to complete a series of brevets of 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km in any order within the year that the PBP was being held. Such a person is called a Super Randonneur (SR). I thus qualified for the PBP after successfully completing the SR brevets in May and June 2023 just in time to meet the deadline for qualification for the PBP in 2023. It was an extremely interesting event in that it was a gathering of some 7000 cyclists from all over the world.
Picture : My room in Writtle.
Following the PBP experience, I participated in various other brevets such as the 1000 km ride to the Line of Control from Delhi to Attari and back. Another international brevet which is held every four years is the London Edinburgh London (LEL) 1540 km ride which needs to be completed within 128 hours. It is a relatively recent creation in contrast to the PBP which is even older than the fabled Tour de France, the Holy Grail of cycling. I secured my entry in February 2025 and prepared to go to London to participate in it from August 3 to August 8. While in theory, a brevet is non-competitive and self-supportive, in practical terms it can sometimes acquire the traits of a race in that riders try to finish them as rapidly as possible even though the medal which is awarded to the person who comes first is the same as the one who comes last. Since the only requirement is to finish the brevet within a stipulated time limit, riders are free to approach the brevet in competitive terms or more leisurely ones.
I arrived at Heathrow Airport in London on July 31st. Four other co-participants from India had travelled on the same Air India flight and whom I met when collecting my bike box at the end of the journey at the airport. The total number of participants from India was roughly 160 with the largest contingent of 45 or so from Bengaluru. The overall total for LEL was roughly over 2000 from all over the world with the largest contingent being of course from the UK followed in descending order by Germany, India, France, Japan and the other countries.
Picture : St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
The starting point for the event was Writtle, a small town in Essex County located 5 km from Chelmsford and some 65 km from London. I travelled to Writtle from Heathrow the next day on August 1 via the London metro and an overground train till Chelmsford and took the bus from there. Having descended a little before the campus of Writtle University College (which was the starting point of the event), I tried carrying my bike box on the road for a couple of kilometers. But since 3 wheels had come off, it was somewhat cumbersome. Fortunately, an English lady came to my rescue and helped me to carry my box in her car.
PIcture : The lady who helped me to transport my bike box to Writtle.
I reassembled my bike that same afternoon in my room but found that I could not fit the rear wheel into the bike. In a state of panic, I then took an Uber to a bike shop in Chelmsford just before closing time. I was told to return the following day at noon. The next day, the bike mechanic told me that the front derailleur was bent (due to mishandling during the flight to London) but that it would be manageable for the ride. I thus returned to Writtle with a sigh of relief to prepare for my 4:15 am start the next morning.
Picture : Big Ben , London
Riders started from Writtle in 15-minute waves which began at 4:00 am until 4:00 pm. Riders also had the option of starting from Central London. Some 500 or so made this choice. At periodic intervals, one had to check into controls at Northstowe, Boston, Louth, Hessle, Malton and Richmond to have one’s brevet card signed and stamped. Controls also offered food, medical facilities, cycle mechanics, dormitories with air mattresses, showers and toilets.
Picture : Food at the Northstowe Control southbound (Chicken curry and rice)
Unfortunately, this year, the weather conditions were severe with the advent of the Floris storm. The ride was briefly paused for four hours on Monday 4th August though I continued until I reached Richmond at 5:00 pm where hundreds of riders were stranded due to the pause. At 7:30 pm, the ride was cancelled. One was given the option of either returning on one’s own by train or some other means of transportation or to ride back. I chose to ride back and went through the same controls southbound and arrived at each of them within the prescribed time limits. I returned to Writtle at 12:15 pm on Thursday August 7, having completed a ride of 944 km. This was the best bike ride I have ever had.
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