106 riders started the America's premier 1200 km randonnČe August 16-19, 2001. The field included 14 riders from eight European countries. The Paris-Brest-Paris organizers, Bob and Suzanne Lepertel were at the start of this year's BMB. At the Sunday finish picnic, Lepertal presented a small souvenir to Jennifer Wise from Audax Club Parisien (ACP) in recognition of the fact she is the only female organizer of a 1200 km randonnČe and the President of Randonneurs USA, an ACP affiliated club.

Almost 88% of the riders completed this year's ride. This was the highest completion rate since 1993 where 91% of the field finished the ride. Two major factors contributed to the success of this year's ride. BMB organizer, Jennifer Wise strictly enforced that all participants must complete a brevet series in order to enter BMB. Many of those who did not finished the brevet series were asked to attempt the shorter Quad Centuries instead. Two mechanics, Pierce Gafgen and Chris Tompsett were leapfrogging the riders, making bike repairs and enabling the riders to finish the ride.

The BMB out and back route began at Newton, MA, passed through controls at Bullard Farm, Brattleboro, Ludlow, Middlebury, Rouses Point and ended at Huntingdon, Quebec. One of the major improvements of this year's ride was the new route into Canada. BMB veteran, Mike Lang of Ottawa (formerly from Montreal) scouted out this quiet and hilly route between Rouses Point and Huntingdon. Unlike the previous routes in the past, this new route had almost no potholes with just a handful of ARRET signs.

As a 1200 km randonnČe, BMB offers an opportunity to test the fitness and stamina of the riders. All riders must finish within 90 hours to be official finishers. Finishing is the primary goal of most randonneurs. RandonnČe rides are not races and there are no special prizes given to the top riders. All finishers receive the same prize - a Randonneurs Mondiaux 1200+ km medal on a BMB 2001 commemorative ribbon.

The weather was warm with highs in mid-80 on the first day and lows in 50's on the second night. There was light rain on the first night and rain the next morning. The five lead riders on the second day (Tom Buckley, Ed Kross, Keith Fraser, Christopher Morris and Michael Lau) took the bulk of the punishment from the bad weather and head wind. On the second morning, a 20-25 mph head wind from the southwest challenged the lead riders on their return from Rouses Point to Middlebury. The wind subsided later in the afternoon. That evening, a thunderstorm drenched the same five riders between Middlebury and Ludlow near the top of Mt. Killington. The sky then cleared up for the remaining of the night and the following two days.

Tom Buckley, 46, from Keokuk, IA, Keith Fraser, 42, from Vancouver, BC and Michael Lau, 39, from Ottawa, ON, Canada were the first finishers in 54 hours 20 minutes. Ed Kross, 42 of Framingham, MA who slept for an hour at Brattleboro was the fourth finisher in 56:02. Theodore Lapinski, 28, of Montague, MA was next, finishing in 56:43 with the lead female rider, Melinda Lyon.

Lyon, 38, from Boxford, MA set a new BMB course record in 56:43 by improving on her previous record of 57:58 from BMB '96. She was about two hours behind the lead riders after the first day and maintained that gap throughout the remaining of the ride.

Mel Stoler, 45, from Brookline, MA finished in 83:03 on a single speed (freewheel) bike. Steve Abraham, 21, from England completed BMB on a fixed gear back in 1996.

Jerry Khorll, 57, from Chesterfield, MO was just nine miles from the finish when he suffered from a muscle spasm on his back. He wisely hitch hiked a ride to the finish, slept overnight and finished the last nine miles the next morning. His finishing time might be a bit slow this year but he reiterated the primary goal of randonneuring in finishing the ride.

BMB was also a RAAM qualifier. The RAAM qualifier allowed riders to qualify by declaring their intention to ride BMB as a qualifier and by completing the course in 65 hours or less. Riders attempting to qualify may ride with and draft other riders; however, their crews may only met the riders at the controls. Three European riders registered for the qualifier this year. Karl Salomaa, 23 of Finland qualified in 59:15, Christopher Morris, 32 of England qualified in 61:15 and Werner Haertl, 31 of Germany qualified in 62:23.

A record number of 23 riders finished the Quad Centuries this year. The Quad Centuries riders rode four 100 mile rides in four days on the BMB course. The Quads allowed the riders to experience the major climbs of BMB between Newton and Middlebury with stops in cafČ and without suffering from any sleep deprivation. Turbo Flores, 14, from Indianapolis, IN completed the Quad Centuries with his uncle and long-time UMCAer, Don Silas.

BMB offers a 1000 km brevet for those who wish to qualify for the Randonneur 5000 medal. Jim Wilson, 54 from Gainesville, FL was the solo finisher.

Further information and complete results

Top Finishers

Rider, Age, Hometown	Time
Tom Buckley, 46, Keokuk, IA	54:20
Keith Fraser, 42, Vancouver, BC, Canada	54:20
Michael Lau, 39, Ottawa, ON, Canada	54:20
Ed Kross, 42, Framingham, MA	56:02
Theodore Lapinski, 28, Montague, MA	56:43
Melinda Lyon, 38, Boxford, MA	56:43
Hubertus Hohl, 37, Haar, Germany	57:44
Chris Pile, 30, Norwalk, CT	58:57
Chris Grealish, 38, Boulder, CO	60:57
Dan Rupar, 38, Wausau, WI	60:57
Byran Johnson, 36, No. Easton, MA	61:15
Dan Fuoco, 48, Boca Raton, FL	61:44
Jim Solanick, 52, Lake Worth, FL	61:54
Jeff Radan, 41, Rockville, MD	62:18
Jim Trout, 31, Seattle, WA	63:34
Silas Little, 55, Temple, NH	64:10
Bill Schwarz, 56, Kinderhook, NY	64:10
Chris Block, 41, Dover, MA	64:23
Gary Reisfield, 42, Orange Park, FL	65:32
Eris Zama, 50, Cesena, Italy	65:48
Ken Bonner, 58, Victoria, BC, Canada	66:18
Michael Bingle, 45, Vancouver, WA	66:35
Marc Pritchard, 46, Cattaraugus, NY	67:32