Day: May 14, 2006

Serge got a slow start and his face was marked by fatigue and pain.  His fall yesterday has left it’s mark.  At the first feeding Serge sat on the mud guard of the trailer’s wheel and asked for a Coke and chocolate.  His eyes were shining and his face drawn.  We decided to keep an eye on him in case he felt sick and for two feedings we checked his progression.  Then the machine slowly started to run, the heat became hard to bear: the high was 38° Celsius.  Serge wears his hat, his sun glasses and applies sun block to his hands.  He still wants to wear his long pants, rather than shorts.  Feedings took place every 4.5 kilometers.

News of the day: we are running along a beautiful, brand new freeway but the works to make it have damaged the highway we are taking.  We have to drive the camper very carefully on this bumpy road.  As for Serge, he is running on the shoulders, which are made of gravel and require more vigilance than usual.

At the 27th kilometer, Serge crossed the village of Yanqi to reach the tiny village of Hoxud at the 69th kilometer, where we found a small hotel.  Serge went past the hotel to finish his stage.  The rooms, in spite of a relative cleanliness and no hot water, have brought us a bit of coolness (inside the camper it was 31° Celsius at 19H30).  The most important thing for Serge is to have a quiet, refreshing night.  This evening everything went very quickly between 19H00 and 20H30: a shower in the camper, beef, pork, rice and cabbage for supper, then a massage by Ludo and Serge was ready for a good night’s sleep.  Monday we will celebrate another thousand kilometers.  So, till tomorrow.