欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

Gent - Wevelgem 2021

It is now 19:20 local time (European Central time - Paris / Amsterdam / etc.) and the official site (www.gent-wevelgem.be) has not updated the site yet. I don't have the final start list yet.

Who are riding? I was expecting it by now and it would have been nicer of them to let me know who were in earlier. I wanted to know the names earlier.

I demand the start list by Sunday morning by 08:00. I am going to leave early for my destination, Monteberg.

I am expecting to see the men's race passing twice before me and then women's race also twice. The two races would be over 17:00 for me. I don't have the time table of the races for 2021. According to the time table 2020, the last passage of women's race at Monteberg was around 16:50. I don't know if they have changed the starting time for women.

After the last passage, I will leave for home. It will take around 4 hours and 30 minutes to get home including the needed rests.


Dwars door Vlaanderen 2021

I am planning to come back here on Sunday if everything works out. I have not decided yet and I don't know if my work schedule allows it or not

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Gent - Wevelgem 2021 and Dwars door Vlaanderen 2021]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. 2021/03/27(土) 19:54:50|
2. Bike Races
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Sum up

I left for Hubo (Home and Garden DIY store) near my stay (town of Comines) and bought a bucket of water-based white indoor paint (4 litters). I drove to nearby LIDL in the same town and bought some food.

I started to head for Scherpenberg, 1st climb (in 2020's edition) of the race, and found that it was not an exciting place to watch the race so I moved to Vidaigneberg, 2nd climb (ditto) of the race, and decided to do some painting. It was around 10:30 by then. I saw FDJ-NA (women team) coming up.

This climb, Vidaigneberg, was for some reason covered with feces of some kind. I could not positively identify the one or ones who were responsible for them. They (feces) were all over the road and not only on the side of the road (grassy shoulders of the road). They appeared to have a lot of fiber contents rather than digested mush so I figured that they came from herbivorous animals. Who are they?

They are not from cows. They were too small to be from cows. Do local farmers let their smaller animals (not goats or sheep) of some unknown species go out at night? I doubt it.

Are there wild boars roaming the area at night? I have never positively observed the feces of them but it is a possibility. I did not think they were from dogs.

Then I moved to Baneberg. This tight narrow steep climb was not for painting anything for the surface of the road was too rough and not well maintained. There were ugly patches of asphalt or whatever they consist of and I painted only a couple of names there.

I then drove to Monteberg. It was a nice stretch of asphalt. There were 3 or 4 mobile homes in the parking belonging to a local cafe there halfway to the top. I stopped there and started painting. There were typical Belgian cycling fans camping there (retired Flemish people). They were friendly and soon I made a deal with an old man.

He wanted "Wout Van Aert" on the road in front of his mobile home and I asked for a cup of coffee. I painted for about 30 minutes and then moved to Kemmelberg.

Kemmelberg is a cobbled climb. I was there once. There were a fences on both sides of the climb all the way to the top. The cobbled stones pavement ends after the summit. I painted on the asphalt pavement some Beppu's name there.

I have decided to stay at Monteberg Tomorrow (Sunday, March 28) because the climb section has places to park the car and there were no fences along the way.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Summing up the activities of Saturday, March 27 2021]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. 2021/03/27(土) 15:32:24|
2. Bike Races
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Gent - Wevelgem 2021, Where and when?

Because of COVID-19, a lot of organizers had to ask the fans of cycling sport and other opportunistic spectators to stay home instead of showing up to cheer the riders. This, I know, will hurt the organizers because the sponsors want their names and brand names seen by the spectators. Those sponsors want entice the spectators by giving small free giveaways with their names and brand names printed on them.

Some organizers refrain from giving the detailed race information. They don't give us the map or time table so that the spectators have hard time following the actual race course.

I think this is also the case with Gent - Wevelgem this year. I don't know where they are riding. I can guess, though. Using the PDF publication distributed in 2020, I can guess where they will be riding.

The question is are the course 2020 and 2021 identical or close enough?

It is Saturday, March 27, 2021 morning now and in one hour I am leaving here (Airbnb accommodation room) to visit Hubo (home and garden DIY store) to buy some water-based indoor white paint and then visit nearby supermarket to get some food.

The climb section of the race (hilly area) is located within 10 minutes drive from the place I am staying. How convenient! I can spend all day there to do some painting and come back in the evening.

I am also guessing as I had already seen the course indicators posted on various places on the road for the race as early as Thursday that those indicators have been placed in the hilly areas. I can follow the 2020 course to see if they have changed.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Gent - Wevelgem 2021, Where are they riding?]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. 2021/03/27(土) 08:51:11|
2. Bike Races
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La Houppe and Eikenberg

E3 Harelbeke Saxo Bank Classic 2021 was successfully held and wrapped up. I enjoyed it and enjoyed myself.

As I have done most of the painting work the previous day, I was relaxed and stayed at the Airbnb place to sleep until 09:30 in the morning. I left for La Houppe, the second climb of the day. I was here before (maybe 2018?) and I knew what I would expect (where to find the parking spot and so on).

I arrived there around 11:00 and rested while. I started painting on the road around 13:30.

After watching the race to pass, I tried to drive to Boigneberg but ended up stopping at a place 100 meters from the top of Eikenberg.

Why? Why there?

Because I saw two guys (working for one of the teams with wheels) sitting on the ground in front of some small building (I don't know what the building was). I recognized one of the men. He has worked for many teams over the years as a soigneur. I first got to know him when he was working for Team CSC, the team that I started with.

He is now working for Uno - X Pro Cycling Team. I decided to stay there.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [E3 Harelbeke Saxo Bank Classic 2021 Part II]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. 2021/03/27(土) 00:49:50|
2. Bike Races
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E3 Harelbeke Saxo Bank Classic 2021

Now (Thursday, March 25, 2021) 21:30 (or 9:30 in the evening) I am sitting on the edge of the bed (not my bed but the bed in the room I am staying) and writing this and also thinking of the plan for Tomorrow.

The riders start pedaling at 12:15 but they are not allowed to go past the pace car. The race really begins around 12:30 when the race judge in the aforementioned car waves the flag.

So where would I be Tomorrow?

Today, Thursday I drove to some of the climbs of the race instead of driving to De Panne to watch the women's edition of Oxyclean Classic.

I just wanted to paint some names on the road after knowing that one of my favorite riders, my compatriot Fumiyuki Beppu, tweeted that he would participate in E3 and Gent-Wevelgem.

I had decided to use Thursday for painting as soon as I knew that he was coming to participate.

I woke up and found that it had rained the previous night. My water solution paint won't stick to the wet surfaces (of asphalt, cement or cobble stones). I checked the weather forecast and learned that it would be better and be sunny in the afternoon.

I left the Airbnb-found place to stay (Heuvelland) around 8:30 and arrived at Tiegemberg in Tiegem about one hour later. The roads were wet so I waited in the car. Later I drove to the local Delhaize to get some needed stuff (food).

I started the painting around noon. The road was still moist but I managed to do some painting. The road was open. The Tiegemberg was not a busy street but there were cars going up and down. Eventually I decided to try other climbs and drove to Oude Kwaremont for a change.

Oude Kwaremont is a short steep climb and its upper half section is paved with cobble stones. There are people living there but this small path is only used by local people and the traffic is very light if not almost none.
I met 20 to 30 bikers while I was there (one hour?) and saw 3 to 4 cars passing the climb. It was fun.

After conquering the cobble stone section, I drove to Paterberg. It is just like Oude Kwaremont a steep cobble stone clime. I could not conquer the climb as I was stopped by some one from the local commune who came in a VW. He asked if I had an authorisation from the Police. I think that the guy (property owner whom I had just saw before the incident) called the local commune.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [E3 Harelbeke Saxo Bank Classic 2021]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. 2021/03/25(木) 23:50:28|
2. Bike Races
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Kurt Asle Arvesen (Norway) and me

One of my favorite things that I do during the bike races waiting for the rider to pass is painting the names of the riders on the surface of the road. I have been doing this for some time and I have been on the local and major newspapers or on some social media here and there.

The thing is that to lift my mood for doing it or my motivation to do it needs something or some theme. If I have someone I really like, I will paint the name of that particular rider.

Riders come and go, I mean new young riders are coming and my favorite riders are retiring. For this reason, I could not find any names that I want to paint on the road for Oxyclean Classic, E3 Harelbeke Saxo Bank Classic. I was thinking of not painting them at all until I found something on one of the PDF files that carried participating riders names.

Kurt Asle Arvesen (Sports Director)

I liked him since the days when he rode for Team CSC. He was there. When the World Championship was held in Stuttgart, I was there and ran into his fan club members. We had a great time there and after the event, I was allowed to come to the fan club dinner party. I sat next to him, the one and only Kurt Asle Arvesen, and had a great time.

He later retired and join Team Sky.

Now I found him working for this cycling team and now I know what to do,

Watch out for "KURT ASLE ARVESEN (NOR)" on the road! If you find them, you know who has done it!


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [UNO - X PRO CYCLING TEAM and Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR)]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. 2021/03/23(火) 12:55:30|
2. Bike Races
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Paris - Roubaix in danger of no show?

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/paris-roubaix-could-come-under-threat-of-new-covid-19-lockdown/

"These confinement measures will not be a repeat of those we imposed in March and last November," he said, clarifying that schools will remain open. But the new restrictions limit non-essential trips and travel from locked down départements to other regions except for work-related trips and a 7 p.m. curfew.

It is ridiculous to do something like this! Last year it proved that no serious damages were done to the way of life of virtually everyone in the World by COVID-19. People die and we can not stop it (at least now). Old people are more likely to die from some disease than younger and healthier people and do we have to be alarmed by it?


I am going . . . to visit West Flanders to see some live actions


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [4 nights and 5 days of small car trip to Belgium]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. 2021/03/22(月) 21:20:16|
2. Bike Races
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Obvious change in Garmin's business style?

Now my Garmin Express on my MacBook Pro says that my devices (Lifetime LMT) have the latest map data and the map version is 2021.10. WTF?

It used to be usual behavior of Garmin that Garmin chose to name their map version (or time stamp) ahead of time. If the actual time (date) is 2020, the latest map version was one of 2021.10, 2021.20, 2021.30 or so.

It is Year 2021 and it is already March, which translates into 03 numerically. The latest map version should be 2020.10 by now! Have they changed their naming scheme? If so, I am fine with it but did they announce it in the past?

I remember updating the map on my devices and on my MacBook Pro where Gamin BaseCamp lives a while ago. It was a few months ago, I guess.

I hope that the map data I have now is really the latest.

Mazda Connect on my MX-5 and it map data

The data subscription has expired. It did a while ago and I did not choose to renew my subscription at that time as my main GPS device was and is Garmin GPS navigation devices.

I can still use the navigation on my MX-5 and it works but eventually the discrepancy between the map data and the real geographical information will widen. The subscription costs around 100 Euro, I seem to remember for Western Europe area. I don't intend to drive into Russia or Turkey in my Mazda MX-5.

I don't subscribe to Mazda Connect online information service (I don't remember its official name) either. It costs and all it provides is like weather forecast and gas price information as far as I can remember. There was a free trial period when I got the car and I tried it and decided it would not worth the subscription fees. The fees don't include the connection fees that I pay for my phone service. When I use my mobile phone to let Mazda Connect borrow its tethering, Mazda connect can connect to the Internet. Why do I have to pay for the subscription service fees just for displaying the non-essential info on that screen?

I can get the same information on my mobile phone anyway and it is cheaper.

Of course for those who can afford it, it won't be any substantial cost anyway.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [The dark side of our universe]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. 2021/03/18(木) 23:22:26|
2. GPS Navigation
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Calendar Season 2021

Wed. 3/17/2021 : Danilith Nokere Koerse men
Wed. 3/17/2021 : Danilith Nokere Koerse women

Fri. 3/19/2021 : Bredene Koksijde Classic


Wed. 3/24/2021 : AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne men
Thu. 3/25/2021 : AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne women

Fri. 3/26/2021 : E3 Saxo Bank Classic

Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields men
Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields women

Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres men
Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres women

Sun. 4/10/2021 : Paris-Roubaix
Sun. 4/11/2021 : Paris-Roubaix Femmes

Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race
Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition

Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [I am dreaming of bike races this year]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. 2021/03/17(水) 02:32:17|
2. Bike Races
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E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021 Saturday, March 26

13:00 / 28.2 Katteberg
14:15 / 74.6 FD
14:25 / 85.9 La Houppe
14:40 / 92.1 Kanarieberg
14:55 / 100 Oude Kruisberg
15:05 / 107.8 Knokteberg
15:10 / 111.7 Hotondberg
15:18 / 118.8 Kortekeer
15:25 / 123.5 Taaienberg
15:37 / 131.5 Berg Ten Stene
15:44 / 136.7 Boigneberg
15:50 / 141.1 Eikenberg
15:56 / 146.5 Stationberg
16:12 / 157.4 Kapelberg
16:17 / 161.5 Paterberg
16:23 / 164.3 Oude Kwaremont
16:35 / 172.2 Karnemelkbeekstraat
16:49 / 183.9 Tiegemberg

Danilith Nokere Koerse Wednesday, March 17

The organizer seems to be welcoming people.

Bredene Koksijde Classic 2021 Friday, March 19


(A screenshot clip from Bredene Koksijde Classic official site)

They don't want people to gather because of the "Phantom Menace (COVID-19)" .

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [I dream of bike races]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. 2021/03/13(土) 14:20:26|
2. Bike Races
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Wed. 3/17/2021 : Danilith Nokere Koerse

Wed. 3/24/2021 : AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne men
Thu. 3/25/2021 : AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne women

Fri. 3/26/2021 : E3 Saxo Bank Classic (Bel) 1.UWT

Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields men
Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields women

Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres men
Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres women

Sun. 4/10/2021 : Paris-Roubaix
Sun. 4/11/2021 : Paris-Roubaix Femmes

Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race
Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition

Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes




In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Road Bike Races in Flanders area and more]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. 2021/03/08(月) 20:56:43|
2. Bike Races
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Calendar

Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields men
Sun. 3/28/2021 : Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields women

Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres men
Sun. 4/4/2021 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres women

Sun. 4/10/2021 : Paris-Roubaix
Sun. 4/11/2021 : Paris-Roubaix Femmes

Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race
Sun. 4/18/2021 : Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition

Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Sun. 4/25/2021 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes


My moves

March 27 (Saturday)
March 28 (Sunday) Gent-Wevelgem

April 3 (Saturday) Oudenarde
April 4 (Sunday) De Ronde van Vlaanderen

Aprl 10 (Saturday) Denain
April 11 (Sunday) Paris-Roubaix

April 17 (Saturday0 la Redoute
Maastricht
April 18 (Sunday) Amstel Gold Race

April 24 (Saturday) la Redoute
Bastogne
April 25 (Sunday) Liège-Bastogne-Liège

"Ava (2020)"

A reprint of "In Bruges (2008)" or a "John Wick" spin-off?

I saw "Miss Sloan (2016)" several months ago and immediately recognized the actor who played the main character (Jessica Chastain). When I saw a character (played by Colin Farrell) who is the kingpin of an assassination organization, I immediately thought of "In Bruges" which I saw a year ago or a bit earlier.

Overall, the movie was entertaining.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [In Bruges (2008) and Ava (2020)]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. 2021/03/04(木) 22:23:30|
2. Bike Races
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MIA

I noticed a status update of part of the Amazon (Germany) order that it had been cancelled and would be reimbursed in the following days. WTF? MIA?

The order had been divided in three parts due to the fact that they (5 items) had three different shipping origins.

One of them had been cancelled because there was an error during the delivery. The last delivery agent is Luxembourg Post Office, or POST. They did something.

It happened before. It was delivered in the end but it was officially cancelled and reimbursed. I don't know what happened but someone at POST was nodding in sleep when he/she came to contact with the package.

Probably this time I will not be so lucky as I was last time and have to re-order them again later.


When it rains, it pours

I was out with Hannah in the woods but our excursion was briefly interrupted by a sudden rain mixed with slight sleet. I had to wipe off the mud on her paws after coming home. We were there only around 20 minutes but she was lucky to catch a mouse (gerbil of some kind) and enjoyed herself doing so.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [MIA or sloppy job by Luxembourg Post Office?]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

1. 2021/03/04(木) 15:27:54|
2. Diary
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Time has come!

"September 24 th 2020 - 16:30

-The inaugural edition of the Women's Paris–Roubaix will be held ahead of the men's race on Sunday 25 October. The peloton will roll out from Denain at 9:10 am and tackle a 116 km course featuring 29,2 kilometres of cobblestones divided in 17 sectors.
-A provisional live broadcast of the Paris Roubaix Femmes on both general interest channels with large audiences and on sports-dedicated channels in almost 130 territories on 5 continents.
-24 teams representing the world cycling elite have been invited to be part of this momentous event.


Their time has come. The world's top female cyclists have long watched their male counterparts do battle and get rattled on the cobbled sectors of Paris–Roubaix with a mix of jealousy and awe. Now, their first foray into the Hell of the North is approaching fast. The town of Denain, in the Nord department, will host the start of the race. The "fun" starts after 20-odd kilometres, especially when the riders get to Hornaing, where the courses of the two races converge. At that point, 86 kilometres and two sectors with the maximum difficulty rating will stand between them and glory: Mons-en-Pévèle and the Carrefour de l'Arbre, which have witnessed numerous make-or-break moments for cobble-gobblers over the generations. This year, the ladies will also know how it feels to go head to head on such hellish terrain, which only makes the entrance to Roubaix Velodrome that much sweeter."

(It is a quote from www.paris-roubaix.fr. So if there is some spelling issues, it is not my fault.)

I did not know until I looked for some information this evening that there was a women's version of Paris-Roubaix this year.

Time has come for me too to start planning for the race watch trips!

Screenshot clips from Gamin BaseCamp on my MacBook Pro. I am a proud owner (of a lot of Garmin GPS products like 4 automobile navigation devices and Edge 800 and GLO) and user (of BaseCamp and its predecessor software) since around 2005.


(1: The yellow bold line is a simple automobile route between Denain and the velodrome in Roubaix around 53 km)


(2: The green bold line is a simple automobile route between my place and Denain around 280 km)


(3: 2018's version of Paris-Roubaix cobblestone sections close to Roubaix)


(4: 2018's version of Paris-Roubaix cobblestone sections down South from above)


(5: 2018's version of Paris-Roubaix cobblestone sections down South from above)


(6: 2018's version of Paris-Roubaix cobblestone sections down South from above)


(7: 2018's version of Paris-Roubaix cobblestone sections begin here)

The red cube (waypoint symbol) signifies the cobblestone section. The skull and bones symbols are detour points. One can not trespass the race course nor can one cross them. One must make necessary detours to avoid doing so at all costs.

When ASO (or above URL) puts up the detailed race course information, I make the modifications to my precious waypoints and update them for the 2021 version.

I am thinking of traveling to Denain on Saturday and stay there with Hannah. I don't have to go to Compiègne to see the men's start. The real action or "fun" according to the quote above starts after the cobblestone sections, which is where Denain is.

4/4/21 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres men
4/4/21 : Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres women
I will be there to see them.

3/28/21 : Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields men
3/28/21 : Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields women
I will be there to see them.

4/18/21 : Amstel Gold Race
4/18/21 : Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition
I will be there to see them.

4/21/21 : La Flèche Wallonne
4/21/21 : La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
I won't be there to see them.

4/25/21 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège
4/25/21 : Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes
I will be there to see them.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Spring Classics and Hell of the North]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. 2021/03/04(木) 01:17:20|
2. Bike Races
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Holidays in August or September

I don't know when exactly I can take one. If and when I take them, I think I can spend around 2 weeks in August or early September based on this calendar, Luxembourg School Holidays 2021.


(Click on it to magnify)
I would like to spend my holidays during late June and July to follow (by car) the stages of the Tour de France but it won't be possible. So I have to come up with something else. Naturally I took a look at the UCI calendar.

During the suspected holiday window, I saw Deutschland Tour, BinckBank Tour and La Vuelta ciclista a España. Except for the BinckBank Tour, I don't really think that I will be able to follow them. BinckBank Tour stages are held in Belgium and the Netherlands, so they are within my reach. First I will see if my holidays overlap these dates.

8/14/21 to 9/5/21 : La Vuelta ciclista a España

8/26/21 to 8/29/21 : Deutschland Tour

8/30/21 to 9/5/21 : BinckBank Tour

I also remembered that the biggest bike show in Europe takes place during the same time.

EUROBIKE in Friedrichshafen

EUROBIKE (https://www.eurobike.com/en/)

"The City

Around 60,000 “Häfler”, as the locals call themselves, live here, and some 700,000 guests flock to Messe Friedrichshafen on the lake every year. This Baden-Württemberg city is located at the point where three countries converge – Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Liechtenstein is only a 1 ½ -hour drive away as well."

I know they have a temporary camp grounds near the venue and there are also private camping sites around. I have been to Austria and Lichtenstein before. I know there is a nice camping site and climb in Lichtenstein. I was once there.

Anyway, I have to see if I can make it there.

UCI 2021 Road World Championships Flanders

(https://www.flanders2021.com/en/)

I did not know that this year 2021 the Championships take place in Flanders. How lucky I am! I can easily get there. Antwerp and Leuven are also places that I have been several times.


"Greyhound (2020)"

An OK movie.



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [How to spend my paid holidays in August or September]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. 2021/03/02(火) 21:14:14|
2. Bike Races
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Garuda Linux

It is like Ubuntu but based on Arch Linux distribution. Ubuntu is based on Debian distribution.

I have never used Arch Linux before.

As Ubuntu, Garuda Linux has many flavors, in other words, Garuda has many different looks using various desktop environment sets. Gnome, KDE, Xfce and others.

I took a look at its official site and understood that it would be easy to install Japanese Input Method (like mozc, I hope) because there was a screen shot where I saw "あ" (a Japanese letter -one of many phonetic letters that translates into "A" in most Western languages).

This distribution's suggested system requirments are a bit higher except for some of its variant where lightweight desktop envirnment sets are used, of course.

Its policy says the unused RAM is wasted RAM. It is true in a sense. Garuda Linux uses a bit extra RAM to cache more in the RAM to make the desktop operations snappier.

Should I give it a try in near future?

It is appealing but it is only my curiosity that I have never used any of Arch Linux distributions. Or is it because some of the desktop screen shots look so appealing? I have to remind myself that looks are deceiving.

Ding Ding Pai or DDPAI dash cams

Currently I am using VIOFO WR1 so some time. It has served me well and it really saved my life once when I successfully recorded a BMW 1 series model and its driver who hit my MX-5 and ran away. I went to the local (French Police where the accident took place) and filed a report and submitted the video. The recording did not actually include the incident as I had killed the engine before it happened as we were sitting in a total standstill where the roads were still closed after a stage (Tour de France). The recording showed the license plate as I had followed her car for a while before we both entered a roundabout where the traffic got to a total standstill.

I could not have caught her without the recording as I had never paid any attention to the license plate nor had I memorized it even if I wanted in a flash of moment when she attempted to flee.

I am currently looking for another one as a second backup camera or a rear view recording camera.

It has to be inexpensive to begin with. Eventually I found these dash cams from DDPAI.

First I thought I would opt for it basic "mini" but its prices (from various sellers) were a bit unstable (inexpensive seller's stock went out as expensive seller's price is more than other dash cams with more features). This model entered the market around 3 to 4 years ago as some of ther review videos on YouTube are as old.

Then I found DDPAI Mola N3 model. It must be relatively new (reason ditto). A GPS module is available. It is relatively small and the price is also not so high.

It does not have a LCD display built in so all the operations (like changing settings or viewing and managing the footage) are done on a smartphone or tablet with an dedicated app (iOS or Android) like my old VIOFO WR1.

The "mini" model was much smaller and one of its features (not many) that I liked was it ability to rotate its camera so that it can record front or rear without messing with the adhesive foot on the windshield.

The Mola N3 can not rotate but flip. The foot (which includes the GPS module) connects to the camera body with USB C style plug. As the USB C plug does not have sides, the camera body can flip (turn around).

I was thinking of installing one on the wind deflector which is located in the back of my right shoulder.

When the roof is covered on my Mazda MX-5, the rear view is really limited. When it rains, you can forget about recording the rear view through the glass pane as it does not have a wiper.

Currently the WR1 is neatly tucked behind the rear view mirror in my point of view. I don't see it in action. I wanted it that way. No obstruction, no distraction. I wonder the Mola N3 can be as discretely coy as WR1. If it is I may install Mola N3 in front.

VIOFO WR1 can be used on the wind deflector but it may require some kind modification as most dash cams are designed to stick to a windshield that has about 45 to 60 degrees of slant angle.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Garuda Linux and dash cams]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

1. 2021/03/02(火) 00:25:15|
2. Linux
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