The Beacon Message Board

Wow - Eddie Sumner's riding PBP again (3rd time I think), started at 05:19 this morning, flew to the first control. Respect! A true Beacon unsung hero.

http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/pbp201 ... rticipants

Number 8507

Blimey go Eddie go!

Not only is Eddie an unsung hero in terms of the PBP but has also got a strong record for riding the qualifiers:

BISHOP'S CLEEVE, Cheltenham 203 12 Mar
Leominster 210 26 Mar
WOLVERLEY, N of Kidderminster 305 09 Apr
CHEPSTOW 401 30 Apr
CHEPSTOW 619 14 May
TEWKESBURY 215 25 Jun
TEWKESBURY 304 09 Jul

The two Chepstow events are horrors with the 619 being the notorious Bryan Chapman - an event that crosses every single possible hill between Chepstow and Holyhead.

Surely, Eddie has got to be a clear contender for the Club Touring Trophy?

Eddie and I were juniors together, so he has to be 75 now, give or take a month. He'll do himself a mischief!

Utter and complete respect.

Yeh, he must be getting old - looks like he took a sleep stop last night

Just arrived at Brest, still going strong by the looks of it, halfway there - only another 600km to go.

I've been hoping to meet Eddie ever since I joined the Beacon and noticed his accomplishments. Trouble is, he only seems to do audax and he's unlikely to be found on any audaxes I'm capable of doing because they're too short / easy.

Eddie reached Brest last night.

His cumulative speed was 15.7kph, which is only just above the minimum permissable. There are no more controls registrations since then, so either he is resting or has retired from the event (hopefully it is the former).

There are a number of different time limits Philip. Some up to 90 hours which is 13.3km/h

I'm not sure which group Eddie is in, either he started 19 minutes late in the 84 hour group or 11 minutes early in the free start group which has to finish by 17:00 on Thursday. Either way he needs about 14.3km/h

His average speed looked comparable to the likes of Danial Webb & Ray Joiner so I wasn't too concerned (although I think they're in one of the 90 hour groups) but he doesn't appear to have got back to Carhaix yet where he was expected at about 02:00 so I hope all is well.

It's beginning to look like Eddie packed at Brest - a shame if that's the case but a valiant effort all the same. Let's hope he's OK.

Whilst Eddie may not have made it to the finish, former Beaconite Danial Webb has completed. Beacon audax supporters Ant Wheatley (Stourbridge) and Ray Joiner (Tamworth) also completed. Ka Wai Li who joined B runs earlier this year, has PBP history and had intended to ride this year but his name was not listed.

For me, this event which consists of endless riding into strong Atlantic winds through kilometres of dull countryside has never appealed.

It was so cruel that you were robbed of the chance to complete another PBP Eddie - I'm glad you're OK though and able to keep the bad experience in perspective.

Really hard luck, Eddie. When I read that you had abandoned I felt sure there must be some kind of mistake ... but I wasn't thinking of a French motorist's mistake.

We all remain in awe of your achievements, Eddie, and although four years is a long time to wait, if ever there was a man of 79 who could do PBP, that man is you.

Bad luck Eddie, I can honestly feel your disappointment. But like you say, it could have been a lot worse.

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Even worse was the fact that it was not your fault.

Anyway, there is still the LEL in 2013.

Commiserations Eddie. Terribly bad luck. Four years is an awfully long time to prepare for something!

Ruth

Eddie, that's really hard luck. You must been really cheesed off after all your hard work. Still. look at it this way, you're still in one piece and you'll still only be 79 next time round!

Just picked up on this. Glad you are OK Eddie - still a fantastic set of rides even if you didn't get back to Paris this time.