Kate Churchill’s long distance qualification rides for Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur

Kate Churchill riding in cold weather last month

Kate Churchill of Velo Club Baracchi is in the process of qualifying for the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur, a famous long-distance randonnée, organized by the Audax Club Parisien.
She has completed three out of four qualifying rides, the 200km Double Dutch Audax which took place on a cold, windy day in the Fens, a 300km event from Manningtree that went up to the North Norfolk coast and back and a 400km event last Saturday and says she now needs “only a 600km event” to qualify.
The 400km event last Saturday was an out and back route from Cardiff to Buckingham in company with about 70 riders set off at 5am from Cardiff for the first leg to Malmesbury via the Severn Bridge.
She said, “We were well spread out by the time Malmesbury was reached. With the first 100km done it was time for hot chocolate and cake.” The second section took them to just beyond Witney in Oxfordshire and then it was on to the turn at the Buckingham Garden Centre. The entire outward leg was into a stiff headwind which made for a very hard ride.
She said, “I just had to make the best time possible without getting too tired as there were still 200km to do and some energy would be needed in order to make the most of the tail-wind on the return journey. The turn was reached at 3.00 pm after 10 hours riding. There was just time for a quick bite before setting out again.”
The return leg was indeed much quicker; little hills which on the way out Kate had crept up at 12mph were now taken at 25-30 mph. Malmesbury (300 kms) was reached by 7.30 pm. The wind was still blowing and it was a very fast ride through to the Severn Bridge.
She said, “Crossing the bridge on my own in the dark was an eerie experience as the wind was whistling and howling in the giant cables holding up the structure! It was also very cold as it was so exposed.”
“I took a very quick stop in the first garage I came to for coffee and some chocolate, and then it was a mere two hours back to the finish in Cardiff.
One of my targets for the year was a sub-20 hour 400 km ride so I was very pleased to finish at 12.25 am giving me a total time for the ride of 19hrs 25mins.”
The first person had got back a 9.05pm and the last finishers took until breakfast time.