欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

JetBoil original and Sumo
I recently got a used Sumo kit (Cup and the burner from the United States of America through ebay). My old old (the very original generation) kit is quite different from the recent ones. I acknowledged the improvement over the old generation products.

First of all, mine used to (for a short while as the head deteriorated quite quickly) look like this. This burner head was fragile and this burner head had to be improved promptly (I guess).

(image 01: filched from the Net - JetBoil original stove's burner head)

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My original kit has a simple valve and its frame is not stable under cold ambient temperatures. Later they (JetBoil) developed a better valve. This silver device seems to have something to do with it. Its frame is stable even the surrounding temperature is quite low.

(image 02: filched from the Net - Showing a silver device attached to the burner valve)

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The burner got lighter and shorter to improve the portability.

(image 03: filched from the Net - Height comparison)

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The burner head may have a few or several generations. This is the first generation, I guess eventually they settled on the one that is in use now.


(image 04: filched from the Net - This is the improved burner head that replaced the original generation head)

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This is the old style knob. It worked but I guess some people complained that it was not easy to turn it when they had thick gloves on where the nature required the protection from the frost bite.

(image 05: filched from the Net - Mine has this old style knob)

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This is the knob on my Sumo kit.

Now it is easy to operate the valve with thick gloves on and it is not possible store the kit inside the cooking cup with the gas canister attached. If is it the feature to prevent accidents like gas leak, it is marvelous but if it is a design flaw, it is terrible. Is it a feature or a bug?

(image 06: filched from the Net - My Sumo's burner has this type of knob)



Paris-Roubaix 2024
This entire blog is my diary as you have already known for long time. Sometime I address "you" as in "as you know" but this "you" is not in the second person, rather in the first person. I am talking to myself.

Anyway, I am writing this to remember what I did, how I did it or how I did it wrong. For example, I did something really stupid this year and I want to write it here.

It was Sunday, April 7th 2024. Sunny with hazy occasional clouds. (It was) Not a typical day for more dramatic Paris-Roubaix, which was completely OK for me as I don't wish for any injuries for the riders. The previous evening I decided in the motel room (Premiere Class, a French economic hotel chain) that I would just visit both the feed zones before eventually making my way to Roubaix Velodrome finish line.

The previous (Saturday, April 6th 2024) I was puzzled and frustrated as I tried to watch my portable DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcast - Terrestrial) TV by the Velodrome aforementioned. I put the device in the search mode and found none of the channels that I wanted. The reception was bad and most if not all were encoded (not free to view).

The previous year, 2023, I could watch the free-to-air broadcast and could enjoy the show. How could this be? I was puzzled. The French authority (or broadcasting companies) decided to encode everything?

I was at dismay.

I left the hotel (an inexpensive motel) around 08:45. I woke up around 08:00, took a shower, packed quickly including Hannah and left. I drove to the first feed zone between "Pavé" sectors 25 and 26. I have been there before. In the end I got one bidon from an unknown rider. He threw it to me, not at me, meaning that he gently tossed it so that it would softly tumble-land on the grassy road shoulder at my feet. How nice of him!

After this I drove to the second feed zone between sectors 14 and 15. Actually I changed my mind and wanted to reach sector 14 but I failed miserably and arrived at the feed zone. How I failed? I failed to notice that my detour route (to avoid hitting the race course) would hit the very freeway ramp the peloton was going to use. How stupid of me! I had known this would happen because I had made this mistake years ago. I just forgot about it the previous night when I calculated the route on Garmin BaseCamp.

This cost me around 25 or 30 minutes. I eventually drove to the next on-ramp as quickly as I could but not as fast as I wished. Eventually when I drove close to the destination, I had to settle with the feed zone where I got no droppings.

After this, I drove to Roubaix and took out Hannah and walked to the Velodrome. This year , there was a change in the route diversion. When you (it is me, I am talking to myself) drive close to the Roubaix Velodrome, Gendarmerie officers (or other Police officers? as there are a lot of Police organization or layers in France) stop you from going into the race course. For the last many years, this diversion point after getting off the highway was the roundabout marked with a cross sign shown in the map screenshot clip a bit lower than the other.

This year (Saturday and Sunday), the diversion point was an another further up roundabout also marked with a cross (meant to be a road block) sign. This was supposed to be a nicer suggestion but turned out to be a trap. It is closer to the Velodrome but since it leads to "a" road, you get a more packed road.



I (or "we", as there were a lot of fellow drivers) used to choose my own streets to get to the destination. There are a lot of streets around this residential area and we got less traffic on the way. For some reasons, there were some out-of-service traffic lights on the way (Police officers were there to guide us). I arrived safely but with a lot of frustration.

I enjoyed the day anyway.

Saturday, April 6th
I left Luxembourg around 07:00? maybe. It was a fine day in April. I filled up the tank on the way at a gas station along the highway in Luxembourg. I drove directly to the sector 15. It was around 10:30 and the place was quiet except for the "Paris-Roubaix Challenge" riders. There were no road block of any kinds at that hour in the morning. I could even drive to the feed zone or the area close to the sector 14. I parked my car at almost the same place as I did last year. After a short rest in the car, I got down to my business. I did some painting on the cobble stones.

After the passage of the peloton, I drove to Roubaix and saw the end of the race.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Paris - Roubaix 2024 summary]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2024/04/08(月) 20:55:57|
2. Bike Races in France
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Paris - Roubaix 2024



This screenshot clip shows the cobblestone sections 26, 27 and 28. They are featured in the Men's edition of Paris - Roubaix 2024. If you look closer at them, you will notice that the sections 28 and 26 are very close to each other.

You might think that you will watch the peloton at the early section of 28 and move (by bicycle hopefully) to the section 27 while the riders are away tacking section 27. The town (or village) of Viesly is a small one and you can move across it on foot and by bicycle in 10 minutes (cobblestone on foot and through the village by bicycle - total of 700 meters or 800 meters).

It can feasible because the peloton is not widely stretched by then. Do you need explanation? From the start (Compiegne) there are some riders who want to escape the big group. They ride relatively flat asphalted road for 90 km. By then, the gap between the escape group and the peloton could be around 5 minutes. And the peloton is normally tightly packed. You will watch the small group of riders pass and maybe 5 minutes later the big group pass followed by a host of team cars and press security motorbikes (and other vehicles of course).

You have to position yourself on the cobble where you can push your bike and walk back to the village as soon as those vehicles get scarce. Once you get out of the race course, you get on the bike and rush to the sector 26. You should be able to complete the move within 15 minutes. You have around 20 minutes (according to the time table).

Problem is your escape route. If you want to continue your day with other cobblestone sectors, you want to drive away from this area to get somewhere. You have to park your car carefully so that you can drive away as quickly as possible.

I use Garmin BaseCamp to simulate the escape routes when planning the watch plan. I love Garmin BaseCamp. I love my Garmin Camper 660.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Paris - Roubaix 2024 itinerary]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2024/04/05(金) 11:13:06|
2. Bike Races in France
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I have a confession to make

I just recently made two instances of ebay purchase from the United States of America. They are arriving sometime in late April or early May, I guess.

What did I buy? I am a bit ashamed to tell what they are. So I have a confession to make. I bought two used Streamlight Stingers, to be specific, one Stinger (incandescent bulb) and one Ultra Stinger (ditto). They are used and not the recent models with LED bulbs.

1. The Stinger comes with an AC 120V (US wall plug) charger and a battery but the seller said (in the description) that it did not turn on. Otherwise, it looks decently clean and the anodized finish still holds the look.

2. The Ultra Stinger comes with a DC 12V (car cigarette socket) charger* and a battery and the seller said it turned on. The anodized finish has been lost on edges.

** This charger is a piggyback style charger which is made for Stingers not for Ultra Stingers.

Most unfortunately, none of the serial numbers on them are “prime” numbers.

Why do I need two Streamlight Stingers? I don’t but I just wanted them.

When they come, I will have more to say about them but for now I don’t have much to say.

The reason that the Stinger does not turn on is unknown (also to the seller). Maybe the battery has totally deteriorated or simply the incandescent bulb is blown.

Or (as one of the description photos suggests) the charging contact points on the Stinger (two screws most likely made of some stainless steel) seem to be rusted (or dirty) and they are keeping the charger from charging the battery. I don’t know at this point.

This Stinger looks curiously beautiful. I don’t know when Streamlight stopped making them (incandescent bulb Stingers) in favor for LED Stingers but it must have been a long time ago considering the fact that Streamlight started selling Ultra Stinger in 2015. This Stinger must have been kept in a drawer and forgotten for a long time (10 years?). The rechargeable battery could not have survived so long.

By any means, I will have to either swap the batteries to new ones or I have to make alternative batteries by converting some 18650 Lithium ion cells to fit inside them.

What about the ancient technology incandescent bulbs? Are you gonna do something about them? You (the readers) may be asking (I know you don’t exist) and I want to do something but only in the future.

I know currently Lumens Factory sells LED upgrades for both the Stinger and Ultra Stinger but they are kinda expensive.

In the first place as I have already confessed above, I really don’t need them for anything for the moment. This brutal fact does not get me to make a haste move to upgrade them to brighter LED bulbs.

What should I do when the indigenous incandescent bulbs eventually blow? Should I get replacement incandescent bulbs or upgrade them? I don’t know yet.

I had already done a short research on ebay to find out how to convert them into accepting 18650 cells. I will see what I can do by understanding the structure of them and measuring them once they arrive.

I always had in my mind ideas of converting them into18650 powered flashlights and was not interesting in getting the chargers. For some reasons unknown, both of the flashlights I could get came with one charger each.

Anyway, I am very excited to have them onboard soon.

Paris - Roubaix 2023 done!

This is a brief description of what I did on Sunday, April 9 2023.

I woke up in the same hotel room where I had done the same the previous day. I had a shower, …. I can continue but it will bore you to death so I stop here.

I drove to sector 25 where I had been the previous year. Only this time I wanted to try the entry section of the cobblestones.

The weather in the morning in Valenciennes was a strange one. It was going to be a sunny day, maybe chilly but a sunny day. So I guess that all the clouds were gone toward the dawn during the night. This causes so-called the radiative cooling effect. The temperature must have dropped sharply in the morning.

The previous day it was cloudy, wet but almost no winds. So all the moisture in the air stayed in the area. When the temperature dropped, the moisture in the air appeared by condensation, thus making the visibility low until around 09:30 or so.

When I left the hotel and began to roll, I could not see past 100 meters.

I arrived there smoothly and spent some time relaxingly until the publicity Caravan and eventually the race arrived.

I intended to drove to sector 15 but I missed the exit and so I continued on to Roubaix. I had enough time to use the portable toilet inside the velodrome and look around.

There were people at the entrance of the velodrome checking the incoming spectators. They were checking the contents of the bags that the spectators who wanted to come in had. They were not concerned with in any way that fake epidemic at all.

I was watching the race on my portable TV set. The reception of DVB-T in Roubaix was excellent as always.

Footnotes:
Valenciennes is located next to Denain, where girls start and close to most of the cobblestone sections. It is easy to access to those sectors. I know many or most female teams stay there. I stayed at the same hotel as I had the previous year this year. The charge is reasonable although I could have paid less if I had booked it even earlier. Because of the credit card fiasco, I booked it at the last moment.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Paris - Roubaix 2023 done!]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2023/04/10(月) 16:03:08|
2. Bike Races in France
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Paris - Roubaix Femmes 2023

I am writing this in the hotel room in Valenciennes in the evening after the race.

I drove to Sector 15 (Tilloy - Sars-et-Rosieres). I was sure that I was there for the first time. I did not remember ever being there and I did not recognize the place when I got there.

I got there before 10:00 o'clock, I guess. There was a small square set up by the locals and the local tourism office. There were some tents hosting some food and drink stands at the exit of the cobble stones sector. There was also a big screen TV there.

There were already bikers riding the course. I had to wait for hours until they eventually stopped coming. The stream of bikers were supposed to dwindle before the arrival of women's race. I was going to paint some names on the cobbles stones but I could wait. I had time.

The weather was OK. The sky was covered with clouds but it was not raining. There were small paddles of water along the cobblestone paths. The ground was wet and there was no chance of dust swirling up. It was not cold or hot. In a way, it could have been the best or close to the best conditions for the race.

I met and talked a while with some local people or fans visiting there from remote places. There were these two guys (father and son who said they lived only 5 minutes away) who told me that it was this pavé section where Frank Schleck had a bad fall and had to abandon the Tour. He (the father) pointed to the house about 100 meters away and said it was there he had that fall.

Anyway, I watched the race there. I drove to Roubaix after the passage of the race.

Fantom Auchan supermarket

Before heading to the sector 15, I wanted to do some grocery shopping (some food for tomorrow). I found Auchan supermarket just in the area. It appeared on the Garmin BaseCamp map and also on the Garmin Camper 660. So I set it as the destination and drove. There was no such building at the location where my GPS navigation told me I would find it. Sometime it happens.

Toe warmer ends in Roubaix

Finally I got to her and gave the toe warmer back. I got a autographed bidon (drink bottle) from her in return. A happy ending!


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Paris - Roubaix Femmes 2023 done!]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2023/04/08(土) 21:49:24|
2. Bike Races in France
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Interstellar 2014 by Christopher Nolan

I watched the movie. I like well-screenplayed Sci-Fi films.

Visually stunning Sci-Fi movies will cost a fortune I believe. CGI production and / or movie sets will run a staggering amount of money I imagine. Some big-budgeted movies show off amazing computer-generated scenes but sometimes turn out to be disappointingly boring like ...

Anyway, I had to watch Tenet 2020 several times to enjoy it. I first read the "Plot" of it at Wikipedia dedicated to the movie. Also I watched some YouTube videos that explained the complicated story.

I will watch Interstellar again to appreciate the movie.

Paris - Roubaix 2023 travel and watch plan

For the travel plan, I need to book a room somewhere near Denain online (like with booking.com), which requires a valid credit. I have a newly freshly issued one but it has not been activated. I am waiting a new PIN code in the mail, which is supposed to come this week. I wake up in the morning and walk to the postbox outside to see what is in the mail.

It is Wednesday afternoon, April 5th (as of writing this). I hope it comes Tomorrow.

As for the watch plan, I have vague blueprints in my mind.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Interstellar 2014 by Christopher Nolan and Paris -Roubaix 2023]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2023/04/05(水) 22:05:01|
2. Bike Races in France
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