Saint-Girons to Bagnères-de-Bigorre: I Know Where You're Heading

Stage Nine, from Saint-Girons to Bagnères-de-Bigorre. There are four Category One climbs, and one Category Two.

Today, it's fat slow Niko riding. Ageless sweeps past, then slows down.

I know who you are, says Ageless. You're not Niko.

You are dreaming, my friend, says Freud-Niko.

Dreaming am I ? says Ageless. Interpret my dream.

Alright, says Freud-Niko. You wish to kill Niko, that is you wish to kill me. But I am a father figure, so you dare not, and therefore you dream I'm not he.

Hah! cries Ageless. QED!

Is there anything else, puff puff,  you would like to tell me? puffs Freud-Niko, who is finding the mountain quite steep.

I see you are finding the mountain quite steep, observes Ageless. I am too. I was wondering, as you are a doctor, if you know much about lobster pee?

Lobster pee? says Freud-Niko. I think I know where you're heading. Be careful, Ageless.

Yes, says Ageless, unpinning the toothpick holding together the front of his outfit.

Oops! Dan Martin rides by. Lucky Ageless stopped talking. Lucky Dan Martin is not finding the mountain so steep. He is soon out of sight.

Ageless pulls a small box of pills from the depths of his outfit.

I got these at the chemist, says Ageless. The same chemist where I acquired the sleeping draughts for Gaius and you, and your embrocation, remember?

Can't say I do, says Freud-Niko.

And I know why, says Ageless. But I may not be telling. If I were to take these, what's the likelihood I would get caught?

Your pee having such a different chemical composition to begin with, most unlikely, says Freud-Niko, sounding just like a doctor.

I believe you, says Ageless. You sound more like a doctor than a bishop, I must say.

Don't push your luck, Ageless, says Freud-Niko I'm still the captain.

Ageless glints red and green.

He swallows three pills in a hurry, and disappears up the mountain, leaving Freud-Niko behind.