Attached is a "DCR Style" annotated PBP cue sheet.
Some may think it is pointless to make such a thing, since you can just follow the arrows or the other riders, and for the most part that is correct. But sometimes arrows have disappeared from the course (souvenir hunters) or have been turned the wrong way by capricious boys in the villages (I know someone who crashed when the boys rotated the arrow back to the correct direction at the last moment and he slid on wet cobblestones trying to correct his course). And of course, other riders can be wrong.
The official PBP cue sheet contains many cues like
"D790 Crossroads D4 x D790 2.5 495.5"
That one's at least somewhat clear -- you're turning onto D790 at the crossroads. But how are you supposed to know which way to go if you get there and there is no arrow?
And then there is:
"Crossroads D764 x D785 0.5 563"
As it turns out when you look at the map on the PBP website, that one just has you stay on D764, which doesn't seem obvious to me.
So the attached "DCR Style" PBP cue sheet _attempts_ to put in the turns, so the above two cues become
1.6 308.0 BR D790 @ Crossroads D 4 x D 790
and
0.3 349.9 X D785 tro D 764
For those who are not familiar with our cue sheets, they use the following abbreviations (many of which are not used in this cue sheet):
KEY: R=right; L=left; BL=bear left; BR=bear right; S=straight; X=cross; Q=quick; tro=to remain on; SS=stop sign; UM=unmarked;
T=T intersection; TL=traffic light; RR=railroad tracks; >=becomes; DH!=on downhill; ETM=easy to miss;
All the cues are in standard units -- it's just too hard to recalibrate my brain to kilometers.
Some of the turn directions are just guesses for how things will look on the ground, particularly in city centers. They should give the general direction that the road will be going, at least.
In general, I tried not to "add" cues but rather just clarify what's there already. But there are a few places that I thought could use some clarification, for instance the section going in to Brest that the official cue says "Along the waterfront" turns out to be over a dozen turns or road-name changes, many of which will probably be obvious, but who knows?
This should all be thought of as "hints about how things looked on the map before the ride." The arrows and official cue sheet should always be consulted in case of question, and maybe you'll have a GPS file to help as well, plus other riders may actually know the correct way to turn.
There are also some comments after each control about the length of the next leg, feet of climbing, climbing rate per hundred miles, and feet of "notable" climbing (more than 400 feet).
And at the controls, I deleted the opening time (since that will never, ever be relevant for me) and used the space to put hints to myself about my ride plans. E.g. after Loudeac I have "Loudeac C01:08 A16:45 S46 Slp 240 D21:31 DD12:29" which means "Closes at 01:08, Arrive at 16:45, stop for 46 minutes doing "control things", sleep for 240 minutes, and depart at 21:31; Drop Dead departure time is 12:29". The interpretation of drop dead departure is that it is the departure time for a randonneur who rides at a constant effort level (e.g. taking into account terrain) and with a speed that gradually declines over the whole event, but who never stops for anything and will take the full 90 hours. If you're leaving after the drop dead departure time then you need to pick up the pace for awhile to get some time in the bank.
Nick