Day: May 13, 2006

Desert and more desert and always wind, even it if is favorable.  Serge trots along with small steps that graze the pavement, so much so that at the 40th kilometer he fell.  He skinned his knee and received a blow on a rib just where he wears his cardio belt.  It keeps him from breathing  normally and causes pain that goes around to his back.  On every crossing Serge has fallen.  Let’s hope this will be the only time it happens here.

We went around the city of Korea and climbed to a 1200 meter pas, before descending a bit in the direction of Yaqi.  We are still on highway 314.

The monotony of the scenery makes the team a bit slack and disenchanted and the days seem very long.  We have the feeling that we are seeing the same place over and over again.  We have become listless but Serge eats up the kilometers without tiring.  I don’t know how he does it. I’m astonished by his motivation, especially since this daily race has gone on for 5 months.

This evening Sergio is tired.  The pain in his rib is hard to bear when he coughs or changes position.  It’s like a stab in the back.  He had trouble finding a comfortable position in bed and when he finally fell asleep it was late.
 
In response to a question that is asked frequently, Serge changes shoes about every 2 weeks, that is to say every 1000 kilometers.  He is now on his 10th pair.  He doesn’t like to change shoes and wears them to the thread.