(More about the source of this text - Gerry's PBP99 info archive)

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 09:03:10 -0400
From: David Bundrick <dbundric@legis.state.ga.us>
To: randon@cycling.org
Subject: Re: From 0 to super randonneur in 9 months -Reply

Douglas: I enjoyed reading your description of your randonneuring
experiences. As to the distinction between physical exhaustion and
sleep deprivation, I've included an account of my brush with the
latter at PBP. I started with the 2145 group, as I also ride a
recumbent, and arrived in Brest at 0300, where I grabbed a 1 1/2
hour nap. Then I rode back as far as Mortagne au Perche, arriving at
0700 Thursday morning, where I was oblidged to sleep another hour.
has strange effects on the mind. Here's how it
affected me:

"I rode through the next day and night, arriving at Mortagne au
Perche at 7:00 am Thursday, and that's where the lack of sleep
caught up with me. The first thing amiss was the fact that I
couldn't make myself understood even in the simplest French (I
suspect the same would have been said for English, if I'd tried!) I
didn't know what country I was in, but didn't think it was France,
thought it might be Quebec, Canada. I supposed the "logic" was that
I had started in France and had been riding so long, I must have
left that country. I bought breakfast and sat next to three
Frenchmen who were carrying on a conversation. I became convinced
they were speaking English and that I knew what they were saying, so
I joined their conversation, speaking English!! Of course, they were
speaking French and they quickly established the fact of my error.
I tried to get back on the bike but instead sat at a table and put
my head down and slept sitting up for one hour. Then I left the
control, but when I stopped at the end of the street I "forgot" to
put my foot down and just fell over onto the cobbles, Benny Hill
style!! A citizen helped me get up again, and when I tried to thank
him and assure him that I was alright, I tried to speak French but
it came out in Vietnamese, a language in which I was once proficient
but have not used in years!! I've never been that messed up in my
mind without the assistance of some substance or another! After a
little riding, though, the fog in my head lifted."

David Bundrick, Atlanta, USA