78.1km – 9H38’
7:30 AM Serge is alone in front of the stadium where the rugby men of the Montois Stadium were so brilliant yesterday. The weather is dry after a night of rain. Leaving Mont de Marsan, at Km5, 1st refueling.
This stage is 100% in the Landes department, with a succession of hills, lots of duck farms and producers of foie gras, pâtés and other local food specialties.
There are two good climbs on the agenda, the first to reach the village of Mugron after crossing the Adour River, the second to reach Montforten-Chalosse. Jean-Luc of the “Los Astiaus” club, then William from Poitiers and finally a runner from Pau, whose name we did not catch, join the race. They are able to find Serge often thanks to the GPS GPRS beacon, which gives his exact location every minute…
Serge is in a very playful mood and makes Eliane and René laugh a lot. He changed his shoes today. They are the same Aero model by Mizuno but they are new. He hasn’t had time to break them in but since the first three pairs have enough mileage on them, he is going to rotate three new pairs over the next 2,500 km.
I join the team at 2:30, after having managed the second problem this morning: the mailbox of Outlook which could not handle the changes made to the PC and which has not functioned since last Friday afternoon. After that I stopped at the supermarket to stock up on freeze-dried food and soups. I can’t park the camper on the road and I’m about to leave when the team insists that I wait for Serge at his fueling stop. I understand the reason when Serge arrives with a beautiful locally made cake and candles appear from the van as if by magic. What a surprise for my birthday. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who sent messages today. I’m very touched.
Serge leaves with his MP3 and his rhythmic music that will take him to Peyrehorade, a small town 22Km to the south of Dax.
The pace was good today but it’s the last for Eliane since she leaves us tomorrow. This evening René and I will go to Bayonne to meet Joël at the station. The relay is assured but I have a feeling we will all miss Eliane and that Serge is going to pull the legs of the “DuPont’s,” alias René and Joël, by saying that things were better when Eliane was here. Serge is a real tease!
Town : Peyrehorade (40)