The next Paris-Brest-Paris, organized by the Audax Club Parisien (ACP), takes place 18-22 August, 2003. Will PBP '03 be a goal for you? If so, please take note of the following:
	· Brevet Schedule Compressed - To submit our results to Paris in time, we must finish our qualifying brevets by June 15th. You will see that our 2003 600km (6/14) and 400km (5/31) are a fortnight earlier than in non-PBP years. An expeditious brevet season is especially important to us in 2003, as PBP will have a 3500-rider cutoff.
	· RUSA Membership Required from the Start- To qualify for PBP, the ACP requires you to be a member of a PBP sanctioning body during all four qualifying brevets. If you are a US citizen/resident, this means being a member of Randonneurs USA. (If you are visiting from another country which has a sanctioning organization, being a member of that organization suffices - for example, Audax UK in Great Britain.) You may join RUSA as late as the day of the (spring) 200km brevet.
	· Brevets Must Be Ridden in Order - Paris requires that brevets be ridden in sequence of distance: 200km, 300km, 400km, 600km. (This includes make-ups.) Of course, you can substitute a brevet of greater distance - riding a 300km instead of the 200km, for example, but given our schedule, this is tricky to work out.
	· Brevet Medals Close-Out - Each PBP year ends the current series of brevet medals, so production in France is limited to what subscribers sign up for in advance. If you want medals for brevets you do, let us know as soon as possible. We will pre-order a very limited quantity, and may not be able to fulfill all requests.
	· Training for the Brevets - Our 200km and 300km brevets are scheduled no earlier than in other years. Thus there will be a brevet every other week for the entire series, without the 3-4 week "pause" encircling the Memorial Day period. So (1) be smart about using the in-between weekends to recover as needed, and (2) be diligent in building good base mileage during March and April (our snowiest months) ... even if it means taking some time out from skiing.
	· Training After the Brevets - There will be two months between our 600km and PBP. To keep sharp, consider the following: -- Long One-Day Events - The RMCC offers premier one-day events such as the Grand Loop and the Denver-Aspen Classic. Consult other clubs and organizations as well -- the Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association publishes a national calendar of events. -- Robust Tours - Tours such as the week-long, mountainous, 100+ mile-per-day RMCC Summer Contrail are good ways to maintain excellent strength and conditioning, in a less time-critical or long distance format than brevets. And they're invigorating, too. -- Challenging Club Rides - Seek out the challenging club rides, such as the RMCC Trail Ridge Road, Mt. Evans, Copper Triangle, or other mountainous rides, and, as always, do back-to-back days when you can. -- Remember to Rest, Too - A vital part of any training is resting, eating sensibly, and taking relaxing time off the bike!
	· Travel and Accomodations - Check with your travel agent or PBP veterans. We do not specifically endorse travel agencies, airlines, etc., but will list those that riders may wish to investigate. One such is Des Peres Travel.
	· More Info - The RUSA website has a wealth of information on Paris-Brest-Paris and randonneuring in general. In addition, we will try to arrange one or more orientation sessions for PBP aspirants - replete with PBP veterans - as the season progresses.