欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

I have been using this software for a couple of years by now, I think.

I did not remember but according to the info at "My Account" at Paragon, I purchased the software back when its version was '11.' I got a free upgrade to the version '12' like a year ago.

Now they released a new version updated to work with El Capitan '14.'

I don't get a free upgrade to this version but a discount as an existing user. I purchased a 'up to 3' license. I own three Mac notebooks (2 x MacBook 2009 and 1 x MacBook Pro 2010) so it fits perfectly.

I am still waiting for the El Capitan upgrade for ExtFS for MacOS (Linux standard EXT2, 3 or 4 filesystem). Since I upgraded to El Capitan on one of the aforementioned MacBook, It stopped working. Now I have NTFS for MacOS working again but not ExtFS for MacOS.

There was an article at www.wort.lu concerning the Tour de France 2017 may not start in the UK after all. In this new piece, London is said to have turned down the Grand Départ opportunity citing the burdon of cost for the event. The article does not mention Manchester or Edinburgh at all. It also suggests that a German city may get the Grand Départ in 2017.

Which city?


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Paragon NTFS for MacOS 14 purchased!]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2015/09/29(火) 23:29:50|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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Back in 2010 (I think) when I decided to buy a small car for me, I chose Ford Ka.

My consideration process was not so long. I randamly typed in www.(automobile makers' name).lu and then downloaded what e-catalog available and looked for a small model with a diesel engine.

It did not take long before my choice fell on Ford Ka. I remember that I was interested in VW Polo but they were more expensive than other makes. Suzuki Splash was one of the finalists but they did not have something that pushed me on the back off the cliff edge.

In essence, I chose the least expensive model available. My Ka was almost the highest grade model. I did not need a 'sports' package (with rear air-spoiler or a shine stripes paint job) not I needed lether seat package.

I was happy with my choice. In Europe generally the prices of diesel fuel is much (or slightly) lower than those of gasoline. The exceptions are, as far as I know from my own experience, is Switzerland and Austria. I don't remember now whether the this exception applies to the UK.

Anyway, this recent scandal concerning the diesel engine emmision control is what I would like to write about here, Today.

I lived in the States (Greater Los Angels area, namely, San Ferdando Valley and then Santa Monica) for a while before 911 incidnet when I had a couple of Kurfews (in the aftermath of the Rodney King trial, remember?), the Northridge (-Reseda) earthquqke and O.J. Simpson trial period. I saw Mr. Bill Clinton sworn in on live TV. I really survived the earthquake as I lived about 5 to 6 miles (10 km or closer?) from the epicenter.

During my stay in the States, I think I took my car (an old battered Toyota Corolla and a really old battered but sexy Fiat Spyder 124 from 1970s) to one of the DMV (Department of Motored Vehicle?) to register. Before doing so, I had to go one of those service shop to have them checked for the gas emission. When I had the emission control paper, I could go to the DMV for registration.

Some friend told me that there were some gas check shops where old battered veterans ( I am talking about automobiles) could easily pass the test. Naturally I went to the shop this friend recommended me to go to.

I vaguely remember the emission check procedure back then. I was told to let the engine go at the idling level for a while and then rev it to a specific rpm, around 3,500 rpm? for a while until the tester said it was over.

When I first read about this VW diesel gas scandal, these memories ca me back to me. My cars did not have a diesel fuel engines.

VW definitely cheated as it had already so admitted. Now the people began to give the "clean diesel engine myth" a second thought. Everybody is suspicious. And if there were other automobile manufacturers who have cheated or are cheating, they are nervously shaking out of fear right now.

Back to my Ford Ka. My Ford Ka is made by Fiat in Poland along with Fiat 500Cs. So far Fiat's name has not been mentioned in the media. My Ka conforms to (or does it? No offense, Fiat!) so-called 'Euro 5' emission standard. It has a special filter for the toxic particles.

When the emission control system detects some built-up 'soot' in the filer sytem, it changes the behavior of the engine. When I run at lower rpms (like driving around town) for a while, the engine tries to burn the particle by raising the idling rev. The engine has a fuel saving 'stop-n-go' (engine auto-stop system) feature but when the filter is constipated, the eigine does not stop but keeps going.

After driving on the freeway for a while, it seems that the built-up soot goes away and the stop-n-go begins working again. I don't use my Ka frequently (almost none as I don't have winter tires) during Winter and in March this stop-n-go does not work at all. I have to drive for a while on the freeway for quite a while before I see it kick in again.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [My Ford Ka is equipped with a (Fiat made) diesel engine and is it OK?]の続きを読む

テーマ:自動車・バイク関連ニュース - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2015/09/26(土) 19:55:53|
2. Ford Ka
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Now after some toil, I can write in Japanese on Kali Linux 2.0 installed on MacBook 2009. I wrote something down about setting the Japanese input environment under Kali Linux 1.* (* means any arbitrary number). So I look it up in my blog here (it is supposed to be my dirary) and figured out what to install.

Now I am happy.


(Please click on the image to magnify!!)

One note: I think the desktop is somewhat similar to Mac OS X Yosemite or El Capitan. The desktop background is from Kali Linux 2.0 desktop pictures but if I change it to one of OS X desktop pictures, it will certainly look like Mac OS X Yosemite or El Capitan desktop.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kali Linux 2.0 installed on MacBook 2009 and now being set up Part II]の続きを読む

1. 2015/09/23(水) 22:13:21|
2. Linux
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I took a moment to install Kali Linux 2.0 on one of the MacBook 2009.

1. Making an install DVD from the downloaded image
2. Booting the MacBook from the DVD
3. Installing the system on the HDD

There have been many changes made to Kali Linux 2.0 since its 1.0 version was out. First of all running gdisk on the installed HDD has been made unnecessary. I was surprised when the installation process ended (the DVD was ejected) without giving me the chance to run a terminal and run some commands in it, namely, gdisk /dev/sdb/ (as the HDD in the optical bay is the destination disk).

At this stage, I thought the installation process had failed and I had to repeat the installation again.

With much doubt, I pressed the 'option' key when I rebooted the MacBook. Surprisingly, the boot screen showed the option of booting from the "Windows" partition (the HDD in the second bay). Still in doubt, I selected the "Windows" partition. And tada! Kali Linux successfully booted.

So they (developers) has integrated 'running gdisk and converting the boot sectors Mac-compatible feature' into the standard boot image. Thanks!

There are many changes but here I write only a couple of things that I noticed.

Security policy has been tightened. I tried to make a new user (for daily use other than 'root'), I realized that the system does not accept weaker passwords. It even had a feature to offer strong passwords.

The system feels like running a tad slow and sticky, though.

Now I have to set it up so that it can write Japanese. Now I am writing this with MacBook on Yosemite.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kali Linux 2.0 installed on MacBook 20009 and now being set up]の続きを読む

テーマ:Linux - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2015/09/23(水) 01:14:58|
2. Linux
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According to an article on www.tour-magazin.de, Münster has failed or is not willing to host a stage in 2018. City is not willing to set the needed budget aside for the event.

The Tour is likely to have a foreign Grand Départ in 2017 and the candidate cities are London, Manchester and Edinburgh (Scotland).

Let's see my options, shall we?

Are there ferries between Edinburgh (or close cities) and some ports on the Continental Europe?

A quick search tells me that there are (at least) some.
1. Amsterdam Ijmuiden to Newcastle (upon Tyne)
2. Rotterdam Europort to Hull (Kingston upon Hull?)
3. Zeebrugge to Hull (Kingston upon Hull?)

I was familiar with most of the names above as I had done some research on the ferry routes between the UK and the Continent back in 2013 (preparing for the Tour 2014, which started from Leeds).

There seems to be no direct connection to Edinburgh. The closest port is Newcastle upon Tyne. I wanted to know the idea of prices. They are expensive. The round trip would cost me between 300 to 380 euros, roughly. If I make the passengers two, the price goes up around to 330 to 410 euros.

If I make the car a motorhome and the passengers three, the price goes around to 500 euros.

As you can see, If I have at least three passengers, the ferry price also gets very reasonable. As I had written earlier, the rental price for a motorhome would get very reasonable when shared by (at least) three people. This seems to be the number I have to crack. I need two or three co-travelers with me. If I have two or three people with me, I could have a very comfortable trip.

The ferry ticket price for Calais - Dover for my small car with one passenger (me!) back in 2014 was 95 euros. I thought about getting a round trip ticket between Hull and Zeebrugge. I dropped the idea because the ticket was a bit expensive considering the comfort that I get with the ferry ride. I decided to drive on my own.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[TdF 2016, 2017 and 2018]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/22(火) 01:13:01|
2. Tour de France
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I'm driving to Paris on Sunday and come back by evening.

I'm helping a friend of mone move to Luxembourg.

No big deal.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Paris this weekend]の続きを読む

1. 2015/09/20(日) 10:51:43|
2. Diary
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velowire.com suggests that Bern, Switzerland could be a stage start and finish city during the TdF 2016. Hotel booking in that area seems to strongly suggest the probability.

Bern, Switzerland! I have been to this city many times. The Tour de Suisse used to finish in Bern during 2005 to 2008? or 2009? I used to go there by train or later by car. I have a friend living there and the first time I was there in Bern was back in 2003 to attend his wedding, in fact.

Bern is not too far away from the Swiss-French border. Bern is also the city where Fabian Cancellara lives, I believe. At least he is from that area. I remember this friend of mine above-mentioned saying that he had seen Fabian with his wife shopping in local supermarkets several times.

Anyway, Switzerland is a rich country and can afford hosting a stage or two, of course.

Have you ever been to the Tour de Suisse? I mean 'been there' and NOT 'seen the race on TV'. If you been to the race, you will notice the great difference between them (TdF and TdS). The publicity caravan of the TdS is much smaller than than of the TdF, no doubt. The cadeaux (small gifts) that they offer set themselves apart.

Example:
TdS: a really nice practical LED flashlight with AAA battery cells included! Hearty ice cream on the cone. Really tasty Swiss cheese, etc.

TdF: Oh well let's not criticize the hospitality of ASO's.

I am really looking forward the publicity caravan in Switzerland include some extra Swiss only caravan cars.

Do you also know that there are region limited caravan participants? For example, some caravan cars only appears in limited areas. There were those UK only cars which gave us tea bags (what else?) or non Vittel mineral water (probably Vittel affiliate company in the UK) back in 2014.

There were such participants in the Netherlands or Belgium this year, too.

I am very sure if such PC participants are in Switzerland, they will give out something very very nice.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [TdF 2016 memorandum III]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/20(日) 00:27:56|
2. Tour de France
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I am happy to announce that the long-term permit (for living and working in Luxembourg) is a done deal. Today I went to the office as I had received the invitation letter the previous day to pose for the photo and had both of my index fingers scanned for the fingerprint. I can pick my permit card one week later. So it is a done deal.


The Tour de France 2016 may include a short trip to Italy and/or Switzerland according to velowire.com. There was a year when the TdF had a short dive into Italy. I drove to Italy and enjoyed the stages. I remember that Fränk Schleck had a yellow jersey at the end of the stage. I had a good memory of this Italian side trip.

Crans-Montana is said to be the stage finish in the Switzerland side trip. I have been to Crans-Montana at least twice when this pretty town was used as the finish of the Tour de Suisse.

The Tour de France had a Swiss side trip to Verbier. When was it? I don't mind driving to Crans-Montana during the Tour de France 2016 (103rd edition) but there is a minor annoyance concerning this trip. In Switzerland you have to have a one year vignette for the highway. It is about 50 euros. It is valid one year, in other words, it is valid till the end of year 2016 when I buy one in July 2016.


(Please click on the image to magnify. Screenshot clip made from Garmin BaseCamp)

This time I worked on the screenshot clip to make it have some captions (names of the locations). You can use the scale (10 km) to guess the distance between those locations. One thing I have to remind you that this area is among the Alps. There are no straight connections roads and there are mountains and valleys between them. If the direct distance is 20 km on the map, you have to drive sometimes up to 60 or 80 km to get to the destinations.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [TdF 2016 memorandum II]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/17(木) 14:29:54|
2. Tour de France
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Plans for TdF 2106:

2016
Wednesday 29th june: opening of the headquarters and press centre at the parc des expositions in saint-lô
Thursday 30th june: presentation of the teams of the tour de france 2016
Saturday 2nd july: first stage, mont-saint-michel > utah beach sainte-marie-du-mont
Sunday 3rd july: second stage, saint-lô > cherbourg-octeville
Monday 4th july: third stage, granville > …

(from ASO's site: http://www.letour.fr/)

Luxembourg to Saint-Lô : around 700 km (with or without using tollways in France)

To get there in time for the Team Presentation (if I decide to see it), I have to leave Luxembourg Wednesday morning.

1) Paid ways: It will take up to 7 to 8 hours including the breaks.
If I take the tollways all the way (Luxembourg - Metz - Paris - Saint-Lô), it will cost me about 40 euros.

Leaving for Saint-Lô early Wednesday morning and arriving there in the evening to check in a camping site nearby.

2) Paid ways: It will take up to 8 to 9 hours including the breaks.
If I take the tollways halfway (Luxembourg - Belgium - Charleville-Mezieres - Reims - Soissons - Paris - Saint-Lô), it will cost me about 23 euros.

Leaving for Saint-Lô early Wednesday morning and arriving there in the evening to check in a camping site nearby.


3) Unpaid ways: It will take up to 14 to 16 hours (including the breaks and filling up) if I opt for avoiding the tollways.

Leaving Luxembourg early Wednesday morning and overnighting on the way and arriving at Saint-Lô in the morning of Thusday, June 30.

Caen is relatively a big city on the way to Saint-Lô so I will find a lodging near Caen.

Wednesday, June 29: Overnight near Caen
Thursday, June 30: Overnight near Saint-Lô
Friday, July 1: Overnight near Mont-Saint-Michel

The Grand Départ is in Mont-Saint-Michel about 100 km from Saint-Lô.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [TdF 2016 memorandum]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/15(火) 13:43:59|
2. Tour de France
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Rumors and rumors. We (they?) are gossiping about the course of the Tour de France 2016.

Usually, the rough diagram of the course layout is announced toward the end of October. This year it will be 20nd of October (Tuesday). We will know the start and finish cities (or location on top of mountains, not necessarily cities) by then. Additional details will be gradually revealed in time.

If you google (not necessarily via Google but also via other search engines) words like 'Tour de France 2016,' you will be presented with numerous sites carrying projected, predicted, guessed, revealed and spilled names of locations relating to the event.

My favorite site (because it is also in English) is velowire.com and it tells me very juicy stories about the event.

Various sites almost confidently confirm that Mont Ventoux is on the menu. I am happy to hear that.

According to the site aforementioned, Mont Ventoux comes after a stage held between Carcassonne and Montpelier followed by a short individual time trial stage nearby. I would really like to enjoy the climb there. That means (like last time the lone mountain was included in the program) that I will most likely skip the stage before it and arrive at Bédoin one day earlier.

I know that the day the stage is held on Mont Ventoux, there will be (as there was last time) a constant and almost unbroken stream of bikers coming up and down the climb from morning to short past noon (when the traffic is cut by the Gendarmerie as the Publicity Caravan nears). You have to either wake up really early in the morning (Thursday, July 14) and go up or forget about enjoying the climb.

Last time I was there, I think I skipped a stage arriving in Lyon and drove straight to Mont Ventoux. I settled 4 or 5 km down the finish and rested well the previous day waking up early in the next morning and rode up by bike. I was on top of the mountain by 10 AM? There was no so much traffic (I mean bikes) by then.

Wait a minute! This year, 2015, was a year of counter-clockwise year. The course circled counter-clockwise (Pyrenees first and then the Alps). Next year, 2016, should be a year of clockwise year (the Alps first and then Pyrenees) but according to the said site, the TdF 2016 will be also a counter-clockwise layout. Why?

A possible answer to this un-tradtional circulation is the fact that (according to velowire.com) there could be a visit to Italy or Switzerland around the Alps stages. Avoriaz (I was there the last time the Tour visited the place and I was happy to see Andy Schleck win there) could be a stage finish and the start of this could be somewhere in Switzerland. ASO had to break from the golden rule of counter-clockwise/clockwise course to make room for Italy/Switzerland visit.

Here is a screenshot clip from my Garmin BaseCamp with Montelimar (top center as a bike icon), Mont Ventoux (lower right as a peak icon), Bourg-Saint-Andéol (middle right) and Vallon-Pont-d'Arc (middle left) with a 10 km scale on the bottom left so that you can see their locations.



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [TdF 2016 Rumors and ...]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/13(日) 15:10:19|
2. Bike Races
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4. | コメント：0

Vandalism: deliberate destruction of public or private property

I park my car in front of my studio apartment. So do many of my neighbors. Of course those who have their own garage keep their cars in it to protect from weather, theft or vandalism.

Once my Ford Ka's passenger's side door mirror was damaged. That day I could see five or six door mirrors damaged or just bent (not destroyed but just bent) up and down along the street.

Some one did it deliberately walking down the street.

A couple week ago, I found a scratch about 50 cm on the door. Some one did it.

Today early in the morning, I found that my driver's side door mirror was bent forward. The construction or structure of the door mirrors on my Ford Ka does not allow the door mirror bent forward. When bent forward, the mirror breaks at the pivot area. I don't say it is a structural defect but it is not a wise design.

Some one did it deliberately. Luckily, the passenger's side door mirror had been broken (an accident that happened on board the ferry I took from the UK to Calais) a year ago. So the mirror had been fixed by a mending tape. What I found was a door mirror bent forward and the mending tape broken. No real damage was done.

I am sick and tired of these acts of vandalism. What can I do to protect my property?

Anyway, the above-mentioned accident was not my fault. I was completely stationary. The bus hit my door mirror. I rushed to the driver of the bus to tell what happened. The driver came down and saw the mirror but drove away ignoring my plea to fill in the insurance claim.

So I put the picture of the bus I took that evening. If somebody recognize the bus and its driver (60 year oldish man), tell him that he is a criminal.

Here you go.




In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Vandalism is pain in the royal keister and what can I do about it?]の続きを読む

1. 2015/09/08(火) 16:15:25|
2. Info Luxembourg
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4. | コメント：0

I was watching the TV live as Monday, September 7 was my day off. Lucky me! I was watching Eurosport (Deutschland) live and I was so excited and happy to see him win.


Tuesday morning I went to SNCT, where you get your car registered, inspected and you get your license. My Ford Ka needed a Contrôl Téchnique (renewal of car inspection). I failed. My Ka had the alignment of the front suspension off the tolerance. It had to be repaired and re-inspected within 21 days. I immediately drove to my car dealer and asked for the needed repair work. It will be done by Wednesday evening.

Actually before driving to the dealer, I went to the immigration office to submit a paper, the last paper (I hope). Hopefully in a matter of week, I will receive a letter from this office to come to take a picture for the new card. In one week the new card will be ready.

On Monday, the Minoura RDA2429 R arrived.

I learned that R = Rim D = Drive A = Action 24 29 (applicable for 24 to 29 inch rims) R = (optional) Remote control.

I haven't opened the package yet. I will open it and check what is inside later.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Fränk Schleck wins on top of Ermita de Alba and Contrôl téchnique]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/08(火) 10:30:24|
2. Bike Races
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4. | コメント：0

I totally forgot about it until I read a tweet by Fumiyuki Beppu saying he was going to participate in it.

I have to go there.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Grand Prix de Fourmies 2015]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車レース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2015/09/05(土) 23:28:08|
2. Bike Races in France
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4. | コメント：0

I got a letter from the government (the immigration office, a branch of the foreign ministry) telling me that my permit should be OK but I was missing a document.

I moved several times since moving to Luxembourg. I have lived about three years at this current address. The missing document is the certificate of the past address where I lived. One of the requirements for getting this new long-term permit (to work and stay in Luxembourg) is living in Luxembourg for 5 years uninterruptedly. Naturally, this missing document is required.

The initial letter from the immigration office does not mention that I have to submit this past address certificate nor did the several office workers mentioned it orally.

To my relief, this document is one of those that you can get on request for free at the proper place in a couple of minutes.

I've already got that this afternoon and will submit it to the immigration office Monday. I will hopefully get a further letter urging me to come to the new permit in person as it requires my photo. And several days later, I can pick the card up, I guess.

This long term permit is similar to a permit in the USA widely known (nicknamed) as "the green card." As with the American siblings, the actual card is in pink.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Everything SHOULD be OK]の続きを読む

1. 2015/09/04(金) 15:32:03|
2. Miscellaneous stuff
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4. | コメント：0

It is September. These pieces of equipment from Limits Technology (http://limits.technology/) is expected to be delivered starting this December. I only have to wait three more months. Hopefully I have to wait only three more months.

Every week or every other week they (Limits Technology) give us the updated info on the progress they are making. The latest one came Today. They start testing their equipment against competitors already widely available on the market. The picture showed the SRM, Garmin Vector pedals and the Stages crank. I guess they were thinking of installing their own Limits on top of all of the power meters on a single bike together. It is possible!

Technically speaking there is no difficulty at all. The SRM crank/spider arm is installed on the bike and the Stages left crank snuggly fits on the opposing end. On both of the cranks the Limits power meter installs naturally and the Garmin Vector pedals install on top of the whole setting.

Wow, you can test four power meters at the same type. I wonder if they had thought of buying the CycleOps rear wheel.

Anyway, Amazon.de (German branch of Amazon Europe, which is also based in Luxembourg and the German tax authorities are now happy that Amazon Europe now pays the tax on the profit made from German customers) sent me a notice by email that the Minoura trainer has been shipped to me. It is supposed to arrive this coming Saturday. I will probably miss the delivery man's visit and have to pick it up on Monday or so.



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ

[Limits power meter update]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. 2015/09/02(水) 23:58:25|
2. Bikes and related things
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4. | コメント：0

I ordered Minoura RDA2429R (I guess it means Rim Drive compatible with 24 inch rim to 29 inch rim but I don't know what A stands for and the last R could stand for Rim) from Germany. It was discounted by almost half. I don't know why but it seemed to be a good deal. It will be arriving this week.

Since it is a rim-drive resistance trainer, I don't have to worry about tire wear, about changing the tires or about needing a separate wheel.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Minoura rim-drive trainer purchased . . . again]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. 2015/09/01(火) 01:25:07|
2. Bikes and related things
3. | トラックバック：0
4. | コメント：0