74.98km – 9H45’
Altitude : 264m
The countdown has begun…..
Yesterday, for planning purposes, Serge and I talked about the number of kilometers he plans to run the last day, i.e., Sunday, October 17. I also asked him if he wished to continue running 75 km per day. His answer was “Yes”. He does not want to mention the figure he has in mind, as if doing so would bring bad luck. So, like him, I will unveil nothing more than to tell you there will be an average of 75 km/day to October 16, then 35 km on the 17th to reach a round number. I have a feeling that calculators will be activated…
So the end of the story will show if Serge can hold to this rhythm and goal and if he can, then forecasting can begin, by the support crews and the people following via Internet. So far you have been pessimistic, except for Alain, from Fieu, who was ultra-optimistic with 27,500 km. But it is not yet the time to start doing arithmetic and posting results because Serge still has “a lot on his plate” and hills to climb.
This morning, on the banks of the Rhône, the favorable wind doesn’t bring a smile to our runner, who is seething inside. We leave from the opposite bank of the Rhône, the side of the Isère department, then enter the Ain department and finally reach the Savoy (Savoie) department, where Jeunes Dirigents from Chambéry are waiting for him. Serge enters this department accompanied by 2 flag bearers and the “clarines” (small cow bells) keep time with Serge’s pace, which is not very quick this morning.
We are at km 38 and things get serious with the climb to the Col du Chat, which is reached at the top of a 15 km road that winds through vineyards, now bare of grapes and whose leaves are a magnificent yellow in the sunshine. Then the wind brings its load of clouds, which seem to stagnate above the mountain range.
Below the Epine mountain mass, on the banks of the Bourget Lake, clouds release buckets of water. Thierry, Olivier and Philippe of the CJD, Sophie and Laurent, are quickly soaked. Ludivine and Franck, the couple from Dieppe who are in the neighborhood, have come to finish the stage. They had already been part of the stage which ended in Dieppe in October of last year. Then in Cognin, 3 km from the finish, there are some 20 runners who join the small troop in the streets of Chambéry for the finish, which takes place at the foot of the Chateau des Ducs de Savoie. We don’t take the time to admire it because of the rain. Julien Chorier is present. Last year he won the Diagonale des Fous and he has already been 3rd and 4th on the UTMB. No doubt about it, we are in the country of the “trail runners”. There is also the presence of a UFF team, with Christian, regional president of UFF and in charge of the “sport conseil” section, because the UFF is in its field of action: management of a number of top-level athletes’ assets.
At the finish, Serge saw his first cousin, Laurence, the one cousin we had not yet seen and who lives near Annecy. It was brief meeting because Serge got cold quickly due to the humidity.
We hope that tomorrow the weather will be better for our finish on October 5: Chambéry – Grenoble at 6:00 p.m. at the Bachelard Stadium (across from the Lesdiguière Stadium)
Town : Chambery (Savoie)