Day14: "I'm starting to grow webbed feet"

The figures for Sigi Grabner’s 14th leg of his ‘Once to the end of the world – and back’ tour: 197 kilometers, 1,754 meters in altitude in eight hours and 40 minutes. In his blog Sigi writes about an extremely smart investment and his star sign, which really fits the weather.

" Rain again today. The weather is ‘très bizarre’, the people at the inn said as I was leaving in the morning. Today I needed to use the hair drier in my room to get my cycling jersey half-way dry. Unfortunately the bizarre weather has also forced me to change my original route. I actually wanted to cycle the original Tour de France route via Col de Tourmalet just before Andorra. But today that wouldn’t only be risky but also pure self-punishment – and that doesn’t have to be.

So I stayed on the flats and rode in pouring rain through Pau, Tarbes and Lannemezan, which is famous for being a village on the Tour de France route, on to the little city of Montréjeau. From here it’s just a stone’s throw to Andorra … Well, 150 kilometers, but that I’ll manage tomorrow! The region here is called Midi-Pyrenées. A beautiful, hilly, green and currently very wet area. But riding in the rain has its charm. The whole thing is very strange and actually pretty ‘out there’. I’m starting to grow webbed feet. It goes well with my star sign (Aquarius).

At the hotel in the evening I met two hitch-hiking pilgrims from Lower Austria. On their way back from Santiago de Compostela they got stuck here and want to take the train to Toulouse tomorrow.

One more thing. Before the tour, I bought an ergonomic saddle that’s fitted to a man’s body: it has a hole in the middle. In the meantime this thing has turned out to be an extremely smart investment! It’s totally comfortable and for us men makes sitting in the saddle day in day out for hours bearable without squashing the important body parts. My manhood is thankful. This is the thought for the day, as well as being a recommendation for my male cyclist colleagues. And tomorrow I want to reach the goal in Andorra. I’ve got just under 150 kilometers ahead of me …"

Sigi Grabner – 15/06/09

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