Riding through a Walt Disney film
It's only after two nights of riding and not sleeping that the hallucinations start, says Michel. They come first in that moment between day and night, when your eyes are trying hard to make sense of the lengthening shadows.
Michel, you might remember, rode the Mille du Sud 1000km ’Brevet’ in 2014, and wore his Josephine bib shorts for 59 hours while doing so. Animals run around at the corners of your vision, he says: telephone poles become people, and you are suddenly surrounded by an enchanted forest.
Even without hallucinations, long-distance Brevet rides are a magical experience, Michel says. Dawn at the top of a remote col or riding through the crashes and bangs of a thunderstorm at night are unforgettable experiences.
The birdsong just before dawn or passing from the pitch-black silence of night on a country road to the noise, smells and colour of a village en fête, with food cooking over an open fire, wine flowing and all the residents dancing in the square.
Michel doesn't fear the hallucinations when they come. He enjoys them and feels safe.
'It's like riding through a Walt Disney film,' he says.
This summer, he is riding the 1100km Paris-Brest-Paris, and has his sights set on London-Edinburgh-London in three years' time.
We'll be outfitting him with classic Josephine bib shorts, merino Violette jersey and our reflective Lucette gilet to make him visible during the night.
