Paris Brest Paris - 1987 (#11)
Plaquette by Audax Club Parisien
(100 pages - 40 photos)

The 1987 paquette was again the biggest one to date. As in 1983 there is a four-colour cover, and two-colour printing in the body, but the colour switches from blue to brown. There is an increasing focus on international participation.

A frustrating feature of the '87 plaquette it that the pages aren't numbered. On what would be page 79 there is a chart showing 1987 brevet participation broken down by country and distance - it's a good snap shot of randonneur cycling activity world-wide. (Information of this sort was available in '79 and '83 but this is the first time it is presented this clearly and purposefully.) There is also an informative recidivistes (multiple PBPers) entry on page 88, a feature that would become standard in future plaquettes. The ride was damp, and maybe this is one reason there aren't many good on-bike photos, and why a number of the photos used are gloomy and out of focus. Thanks to Dan McGuire and Harold Bridge who both gave me their plaquettes for this project..
[Eric F - February 2011]

PBP '87 - Vital Statistics:

Participants (Starters): 2587
Finishers: 2119
Women Finishers: 104 (4.9 %)
DNFs: 468
Attrition Rate: 18.1 %
1st Solo Man: Scott Dickson (44:01)
1st Solo Woman: Kay Ryschon (61:17) 160th overall
1st Tandem : Robert Breedlove / Lon Haldman (55:56) 61st overall
1st Mixed Tandem : Jean-Claude Chabirand / Nicole Chabirand (64:52) 242nd overall