This week BBC News ran a feature about Drew Buck, a long-distance cyclist from Somerset, England, who is famous in the randonneuring community for completing Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) multiple times on vintage bicycles.

The article prompted me to search through my own set of photos from the 2011 edition of PBP, and I realized that Felkerino I had the pleasure of encountering Drew Buck at various points throughout the ride.

Drew completed the event riding a 1900 Peugeot bicycle and wearing clothes representative of that time period as well.

Here is Drew arriving at the 90-hour start, where his presence caused quite a stir.

Felkerino and I watched him ride past as the 90-hour riders began their journey.

Because we opted for the 84-hour start we were able to take part in the 90-hour festivities as observers. Energy was bouncing around every corner of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines that day.

We crossed paths on Roc Travezel (Roc’h Trévézel!) as we were pedaling our way toward Brest and he was on the return. Brest is the midway point of PBP.

I was snapping photos of riders as we passed them going in the opposite direction and did not even realize that I captured Drew as he was remounting his bike.

I also have a few shots of him at the finish. Drew is looking away in this photo, but it gives you another idea of his ensemble. Avid randonneur and mile-eater Judith Swallow is also in the background of this shot.

And finally, a last look at Drew’s Peugeot after its long journey. Great job, bike!

I was so caught up in my own ride and how Felkerino and I were doing during PBP that I did not give much thought to how cool it was to encounter Drew Buck at these various points. We just happened to cross paths with him at the beginning, middle, and the very end of the ride. Now I see these times again in my photos and it’s really quite amazing.

PBP was an incredibly intense experience. So much was happening, it was hard to soak it all in as one complete experience. I have loved the tangible memories of my photo sets because they have helped me unpack other moments from this great ride, like these of Drew Buck. Thanks for revisiting them with me.