欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

The seller contacted me saying that he could not send the trainer to me because the shipping fee I had paid him was not sufficient enough. I don't know the details of ebay global shipping. The excuse for this mishas he gave was that he had listed the weight of the item as 2 pounds (0.9 kg) not as its correct weight, 50 pounds (9 kg). The shipping rate that ebay's system automatically calculated was not enough for him. I thought his excuse was rather flimsy but did not want to force him to clean up his mess.

This was not my fault. In the end I accepted his suggestion that he would refund the payment.

Why did this person listed the incorrect weight? Bummer!

Now I am looking for another candidate. The problem is Minoura rim-drive trainers are scare in supply here in Europe or at least it seems so. Should I opt for tire-drive (not rim-drive) trainer?


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Minoura rim-drive trainer cancelled]の続きを読む

1. 2015/08/31(月) 01:03:52|
2. Bike Races
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I finally purchased it. It is a used unit. A trainer does not have to be brand new. My choice, Minoura RDA 80, is a relatively low-tech one. It has a wire remote control lever. It does not have one of Bluetooth or ANT+ features at all. That means that it does not break so easily.

Rim drive resistance unit is desirable because I don't have to put an anti-wear special tire on the rear wheel (and switch back to normal tire to go ride on the road or buy a new rear wheel) and worry about the tire wear at all.

It will be delivered to a friend of mine in France. Why? Because the ebay global shipping system is not really "global" and it does not deliver to Luxembourg.

By the way, the head office of ebay Europe is in Luxembourg. The office is located in a building just next to the bus stop I frequently use. Isn't it a bit strange that ebay global shipping does not include Luxembourg as its destinations?

And this is not the first time that I borrowed friends' address.

How do I get the trainer? Actually I will drive to this person and pick it up myself. By the way, this person is moving to Luxembourg in about one month. I am going to help this friend move to Luxembourg. That is when I will pick my trainer up.

A few days ago I received an e-mail (it seems that e-mail is a countable noun unlike mail, which is usually considered to be an uncountable noun) from ebay telling me that I had been an ebay user for 7 years and that they would give me a voucher of 5 dollars. How kind of them! I used this voucher to get 5 dollars off the purchasing price of the Minoura trainer.



I successfully updated one of my MacBook (2009) to El Capitan beta 5 (general public version) Today.



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Minoura rim-drive trainer purchased]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車（スポーツ用） - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/08/29(土) 01:09:25|
2. Bikes and related things
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I have three MacBooks (two 2009 MacBooks 13 inch and 2010 MacBook Pro 13, all of which I purchased as second hand from UK and USA) and they are on MacOS X Yosemite or El Capitan, Kali Linux). I have also a PC that runs on only Lubuntu.

Recently I tried, alas in vain, to upgrade Kali Linux 1.* to 2.0 through "apt-get dist-upgrade." Now it boots but not properly. I think I have to burn the installation DVD and re-install the system again from scratch. No problem. I don't know why this upgrading through dist-upgrade failed. I guess it was because it was a MacBook.

I was on "Public Beta testing program" for Yosemite and am continuously on for El Capitan. I was using El Capitan upto Beta 3. I tried to apply Beta 5 but the installation failed. Specifically it fails giving out an error message. This message indicating a verification failure hit me twice. I gave up the installation after the second trial.

I looked for some clues for this failure at "Mac Rumors' Forum site" and found some people had been having the same problem. Some had success after several trials or after trying it a day later. It has something to do with Apple's server. I will try again later.

My old notebook PC is on Lubuntu 15.04. Lubuntu 15.10 is coming this October. Lubuntu is easy to maintain because of its well-made upgrade/update utilities. I liked it until I got to know that Lubuntu (Ubuntu family in general) was infected with a kind of (some will argue otherwise) troy virus that sends some information (user's habit on the usage of the Internet) to servers. After knowing this I turned to Kali Linux because it was likely that this particular distribution seemed free from such infection. Kali Linux is cool but not so well-made as Lubuntu.

Should I turn to Lubuntu again?


Cycle trainers. I want one. I like Minoura's rim-drive trainers because they don't wear tires. I have only two rear wheels, one recently acquired Mavic Aksium and the other Zipp 404 carbon tubular.

If I was to get a trainer with a tire friction type, I will need a special antiwear or wear-resistant tire on the Aksium. Then I don't have a rear wheel for riding outdoors. I don't want to change tires so frequently. I can buy a new rear wheel for the trainer and have the special tire all the time. An inexpensive one like Shimano WH-501 wheel set or so. They (front and rear pair) come for 80 euros or so. The special tire will cost around 20 euros.

A rear wheel and a tire together cost around 100 euros. If I could get a Minoura (Japanese manufacturer) rim-drive trainer, I don't need an extra rear wheel or a special tire.

I have an eye on a Minoura trainer on ebay. I have not decided to get it or not.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kali Linux, MacOS X El Capitan, Lubuntu and Cycle trainer]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車（スポーツ用） - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/08/23(日) 01:19:01|
2. Linux
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I am thinking about getting indoor cycle trainer for this upcoming winter. Should I get one? Riding the bike outdoors is always fun but riding outdoors is not always possible due to the fact that it rains, snows, is too hot and most of all I am too lazy to wake up early in the morning.

According to some rumor sites (predicting the parcours of the upcoming Tour de France), Mont Ventoux is almost likely to be one of the climb finishes during the TdF next year (2016).

I have some unfinished business with Mont Ventoux; specifically, I have done it (climbing it from the bottom to the top) in 2014 but I had to rest (just for a couple of minutes each time) four times before reaching to the top. I have never done it in the right way, climbing it without stopping at all.

There are things I can do to prepare for this.

For example,
1) buying a WiFli (Wider, Faster, Lighter) kit (a middle cage RD and a 32-T cassette) kit and equip it on my bike

2) or buying a triple front FD, a shift lever and a crankset.

These methods will cost me dear.

3) Or alternatively (relatively a long shot but) I could lose some weight to make the vertical movement of my body easier.

Except for the option 3), I don't consider them the right ways to go. They are more like excuses.


My current set up is a 34 front chainring with a 28-T rear cassette. This is the lightest set up that a normal road bike with a short cage RD can handle.

The right way to go is, no doubt that anybody with sense will tell you, losing the body weight by shedding off the unnecessary body fat through training more.

How can I motivate me to train more?

I am a financial supporter of "Limits (http://limits.technology/)" pedal power meter through Indigogo (www.indigogo.com). This is one. This power meter is supposed to arrive some time around the end of 2015.

I am shopping around and considering my options, a normal trainer (fixed rear end) or a roller trainer.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Training for the TdF 2016 and other things]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車（スポーツ用） - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/08/17(月) 15:31:06|
2. Bikes and related things
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I love cats. There is a trend, maybe small and outre but certainly, something that caught my interest.

Cat cafés are happening. There seem to be ones in some of the capital cities in Europe. There are some in big cities in the States. They first got popular in Asian countries.

I would like to start one here in Luxembourg if, of course not likely in near future, I could.

There seems to be none of them at the moment here in Luxembourg. Is there demand for it? I doubt it. Although there is constant demand for something new and good comfy cafés. So why not?



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Cat café in Luxembourg?]の続きを読む

1. 2015/08/15(土) 15:28:37|
2. Cats
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Written only in Japanese as the content is very sensitive (actually not!).


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Séjour = Permit (stay and work) in Luxembourg]の続きを読む

1. 2015/08/14(金) 18:21:53|
2. Info Luxembourg
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It is that time. I had a letter from; (the envelop carries the sender's identification as follows)

LE GOUVERNEMENT
DU GRAND-DUCHÉ DE LUXEMBOURG
Ministrère des Affaires étrangères
et européennes

Direction de l'immigration

It is the one branch of Luxembourg's government that we, foreigners living in this country, have to deal with regularly.

In this envelop, I found a letter printed on the both sides, one in French and the other in English, telling me that my current papers would expire in a short and so on.

Actually, this letter had been sent after I requested to keep my mail at the local post office. So I received it one month later. OK, I will work quickly to renew my papers.

I have to collect various papers starting Monday morning. I have to go several places, local city hall to make the official copy of my passport pages and the certificate of the residence.

Then I will go to a brach of the Justice system and get a paper saying that I have not been involved in serious criminal activities (I think traffic tickets would not count).

I will ask the social security office to send me the paper to tell that I am paying (or my employers are paying) the tax.

I will have to go to my bank to pay for the process fees payable to the government and get the receipt.

I will make some copies at a local copy shop. The work contract and the apartment contract will be needed for the renewal process.

One thing I am missing this time is in a way optional. If I can provide this piece of document, I will get a bonus. I live and work long enough in Luxembourg to almost qualify to get a long term visa. For this, I will need some kind of proof that I am well established in Luxembourg. The letter suggests that documents like a certificate of Luxembourgish language course enrolment, memberships of some clubs or organizations or some testimony from some important Luxembourgers.

If I don't provide this last piece of the puzzle, I will get a short term visa and will have to renew it as usual.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [It is time to renew my 'Carte Séjour']の続きを読む

1. 2015/08/02(日) 20:38:38|
2. Info Luxembourg
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