TOTAL DISTANCE: 140 km
SLOWEST MOMENT: final 9 km to Pau
TOP SPEED: 47 mph
REALIZATION DU JOUR: Even the midi-Pyrenees are steep, surprising and unforgiving.
MY HANDS ARE SO DIRTY all the time. I'm constantly washing them. I make sinks look like wet ash trays.
Morning in Hossegor. I leave camp one more time to the beach. On arrival, I notice the waves are perfect. Then I notice no one is riding them. I look right down the coastline and see a tiny man barreling down a monster wave. Then I notice all the waves are monsters!
The waves are so big the only dudes riding are the ones getting towed in by jet ski. It was fun to watch, but if I wasn't surfing I had to catch my train 30 miles south in Bayonne. I had two hours.
Didn't get lost. Packed up camp. Said bye to Frank. Pumped up Dan (front wheel). Avoided camp director who I never paid. Down the hilly road to Bayonne. Past monkey farm. Past reptile zoo.
Bayonne train station. What do you mean no more trains to Toulouse? Panic. Back on the bike. Nasty fall in botched u-turn attempt. Chain off. Bleeding. Enters highway with bruised palms. Escorted off highway by police.
Follows river West towards Pau. Most beautiful ride yet. Finds ideal campsite. Treats self to fancy-ish meal. Lamb chops, French fries, cauliflower mash, salad, bread, goblet of beer. Intensely satisfied. To tent. Thinks about girls.
Up early. Off to Pau. Route too simple- decides to complicate things. Gets a little lost. White cows, chunky horses, snakes, hawks and hedgehogs. Hills extremely difficult and plentiful. Legs tired, water gone- the sign of a good, hard day on the road.
To Pau train station. Pretty city.
Bought train ticket in a flash. Bikes allowed on board? You bet. One hour-- got snack. Boarded train. Pretty girl sits across, carefully arranges jacket over short skirt. Bummer.
6 pages away from finishing "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Read most of it in 3 days. So. Good.
Gets off train feeling good. To McDonalds for wi-fi. Map reveals intended destination 80 km southwest of present location. Back to train station. No trains to Montreal. Breaks down. Gets snack. Back to McDonalds. E-mails couch surfing contacts furiously. Phone battery running low.
A hostel!
Enters hostel gates. Upstairs- reception empty. Closed for the evening. Barrows phone, calls director, gets voicemail. Discouraged. Meets beautiful French dancer girl in hallway. Grad student. Wears nerdy glasses, floral summer dress, has hard-to-pronounce name. Go to her room. THIS JOURNAL IS RATED PG.
She has to leave. Can't sleep here. Stranded again.
Outside-- meets sun burned Australian girl and freckly German talking about manners. Talks until "mozzies" get bad. Sleep on the linoleum floor of their hostel room next to French mother and daughter. Wonders if they're fleeing from domestic abuse.
Can't sleep. Where's that dancer girl? Sun burned Australian not interested in getting a beer. Locked into room for the night. Smells like feet. Little freckly German snores loud.
Wakes up at 7. Sneaks out. Doesn't want to wake mommy. To the train station. One ticket to Bram leaving in three hours. Sneeze attack. Sneezing in the bookshop. Small English section-- no "Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"--only Michael Crichton. Still sneezing. Holds in final sneeze in for sake of pretty girl. Back thrown out from held-in sneeze. Pain.
Bikes to bakery. Pastry, half baguette. Back still pain. Pain means bread in French. Buys pate for lunch later. Costs .80€. Really? Cheapest meat product. Suspicious. Wish I had tiny pickles.
Runs into huge group of cyclists from overseas following the Tour de France. Receives fist bump from Colorado man on fancy carbon bike.
To McDonalds. Finds better cafe with wi-fi. Table of girls wearing sunglasses under overcast skies. Guessing everyone has yet to sleep. Unintentionally rude to barkeep, although my transaction French is improving substantially. Teddy waits for me in Montreal 80 km southwest. Promises wine, children and river rafting. E-mail from Sam. Thinks of home with no desire to return. Except maybe to take a dump A LUKE ALONE.
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