Grand Départ in Britain?I was reading an article covering the Tour de France 25 (just recently the stage layout was announced in Paris) and found something interesting. It was mentioned in the second paragraph.
This author (or collective authors?) mentions a possible or rumored grand départ of 2027 in the UK. Really? Where? How?
London hosted it in 2007 and Leeds in 2014. I was in Leeds (Yorkshire).
Wait a moment! As Barcelona, Spain hosts the grand d&eaucte:part in 2026, one can assume that in 2027 it usually kicks off in France. It is not a strict rule but this rule is loosely followed.
I know it all depends on what makes the world go around, of course. It can happen. London?
In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Tour de France 2025 and 2027]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
- 2024/10/31(木) 22:58:11|
- Tour de France
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Tour de France 2025 RoutesThey (men's and women's) have been announced. I can not be excited more.
Men's
Stage - Type ------ Date --- Start and Finish (Distance)
1. Flat Sat 07/05/2025 Lille Métropole > Lille Métropole (185 km)
2. Hilly Sun 07/06/2025 Lauwin-Planque > Boulogne-sur-Mer (212 km)
3. Flat Mon 07/07/2025 Valenciennes > Dunkerque (178 km)
4. Hilly Tue 07/08/2025 Amiens Métropole > Rouen (173 km)
5. ITT Wed 07/09/2025 Caen > Caen (33 km)
6. Hilly Thu 07/10/2025 Bayeux > Vire Normandie (201 km)
7. Hilly Fri 07/11/2025 Saint-Malo > Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan (194 km)
8. Flat Sat 07/12/2025 Saint-Méen-le-Grand > Laval Espace Mayenne (174 km)
9. Flat Sun 07/13/2025 Chinon > Châteauroux (170 km)
10. Mountain Mon 07/14/2025 Ennezat > Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy (163 km)
Rest Day 1 Tue 07/15/2025 Toulouse
11. Flat Wed 07/16/2025 Toulouse > Toulouse (154 km)
12. Mountain Thu 07/17/2025 Auch > Hautacam (181 km)
13. ITT Fri 07/18/2025 Loudenvielle > Peyragudes (11 km)
14. Mountain Sat 07/19/2025 Pau > Luchon-Superbagnères (183 km)
15. Hilly Sun 07/20/2025 Muret > Carcassonne (169 km)
Rest Day 2 Mon 07/21/2025 Montpellier
16. Mountain Tue 07/22/2025 Montpellier > Mont Ventoux (172 km)
17. Flat Wed 07/23/2025 Bollène > Valence (161 km)
18. Mountain Thu 07/24/2025 Vif > Courchevel Col de la Loze (171 km)
19. Mountain Fri 07/25/2025 Albertville > La Plagne (130 km)
20. Hilly Sat 07/26/2025 Nantua > Pontarlier (185 km)
21. Flat Sun 07/27/2025 Mantes-la-Ville > Paris Champs-Élysées (120 km)
I was right about this route would include Mont Ventoux. There are two ITT stages but they are short. The shorter one is only 11 kilometers long and even the longer one is 33 kilometers. 33 kilometer is not a short ITT stage but not a long one.
Stage 13 ITT:It looked like a very short and EASY stage at a glance. I was skeptical and suspected that it would not be so. An ITT consisting of ascending hills, maybe? I checked it. From the waypoints info on my Garmin BaseCamp previously plotted based on the previous TDF info, I now understood. In fact, I already know the course. This light green path is 11.4 km in length.
Loudenvielle (not spelt Loudenville) was featured in TDF2024 Stage 15 also as a start location.
Altitude difference (Peyraguedes - Loudenvielle)
1,645 - 982 = 663 meters
(image 01: A screenshot clip from my Garmin BaseCamp)
Stage 10 (Le Mont-Dore) - Rest Day 1 (Monday, 14 July) - Stage 11 (Toulouse)
Stage 15 (Carcassonne) - Rest Day 2 Montpellier (Monday, 21 July) - Stage 16 (Mont Ventoux)
In the 2025 edition, the rest days are very thoughtfully placed or at least mercifully scheduled. Why and what do I mean?
This year (2024) I had to forsake stages in order to drive ahead to the mountains (of the next stage) because of the road closures. In other words, when I wanted to watch a stage in the mountain, I had no choice but forsake before it to beat the time limit (around 16:00).
I forsook the satages before the Col du Tourmalet or others. It was a shame. I wanted to watch all the stages but I could not.
In this respect, I can easily cover the big transfer between Le Mont-Dore to Toulouse. This transfer is around 350 km long. I can enjoy Stage 15, which ends in Carcassonne and leisurely rest at nearby camping site. I would wake up the next morning and drive to Mont Ventoux to beat the probable road closure time around 16:00 as the transfer is around 310 km long.
The last stage takes place in Paris as usual and the transfer from Pontarlier to Paris is around 470 km long. That is not too much of a problem.
Women's
Stage Type Date Start and Finish Distance
1. Hilly Sat 07/26/2025 Vannes > Plumelec (79 km)
2. Flat Sun 07/27/2025 Brest > Quimper (110 km)
3. Flat Mon 07/28/2025 La Gacilly > Angers (162 km)
4. Flat Tue 07/29/2025 Saumur > Poitiers (128 km)
5. Med. Mtn Wed 07/30/2025 Jaunay-Marigny Futuroscope > Guéret (166 km)
6. Mountain Thu 07/31/2025 Clermont-Ferrand > Ambert (124 km)
7. Hilly Fri 08/01/2025 Bourg-en-Bresse > Chambéry (160 km)
8. Mountain Sat 08/02/2025 Chambéry > St. François Longchamp - Col de la Madeleine (112 km)
9. Mountain Sun 08/03/2025 Praz-sur-Arly > Châtel (124 km)
It starts in Vannes and ends in Châtel. I don't know Châtel. I have been to Brest and to this area.
There is not time-trial stage nor a rest day.
The timing is a bit pity as the Women's Tour de France begins before the Men's edition finishes. If I want to continue to watch Women's edition, I can only join from Monday, 28th of July.
What is "Fleek"?I was solving a "NYT Games (Android app)" one day, I encountered a clue like this;
"On _____ (super styleish, in 2008 slang)"
For me it is
styleish (sic) but ...
The answer turned out to be "FLEEK". I did not know this word.
I checked it on the "WordWeb (Android app)" and got this word. I was curious because the definition gave me not direct but indirect definitions. They were either in "off fleek" or "on fleek" forms.
And "in 2008 slang"? Why 2008? What happened then? Who spread it? I was intrigued and had to investigate it.
I got it now. It seems that it is a modern day invention. The word "fleek" itself was not an established word in 2003 but it had made an entry then.
The phrase "on fleek", however, made a splash when it appeared on Vine in 2014. Since then people started using the phrase.
WordWeb shows its antonym phrase "off fleek", too.
Now I am confused, what does "2008 in slang" mean? I thought this phrase got popular in 2008 instead of 2014. Were there any 2008 incidents involving the phrase on fleek?
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Tour de France 2025]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
- 2024/10/30(水) 01:31:48|
- Tour de France
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Me and my Fiats experiencesI bought two (2) items on eBay. Both of them are bound paper pieces. They are one of those so-called service manuals. One mechanical and the other electrical.
Which vehicles am I talking about? I am talking about the
Fiat X1/9.
I like it. I have liked it since I was a kid.
It would be very nice if I could get one of them. Those manuals would come in very handy if I want to repair it. That is why I bought them.
The first time I ever touched a Fiat (automobile) was back in 1991 or so while I was living in Chatsworth (in so-called the Sanfernando Valley area in so-called Greater Los Angeles) California, U.S.A..
I had a friend whom I met at a private English school in (then) Woodland Hillls (ditto). He was a Swiss guy.
One day he purchased a Fiat and it was a well-battered Fiat 124 Spider. By well-battered I mean it had a hole in the floor around the area where the dirver's right foot heel rested while pushing the accelerator pedal.
When it was time for him to leave for home, he asked me if I was interested in it. We agreed on the price and I drove that Fiat for about an year.
Fiat 124 Spier (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_124_Sport_Spider)
Back to the future (now, really), I am driving a Mazda MX-5 ND, which belongs to the same category to which my first Fiat belongs. It (my Mazda) is the third vehicle of the three vehicles that I owned whose passenger capacity is ony two. (1. Fiat 124 Spider, 2. Smart - bach in 2002 it was NOT named Fortwo, 3. Mazda MX-5)
My other Fiat experience is Fiat Pintos that I rented on various occasions when I was living in Germany. I did not liked them. I did not choose them consciously. I just booked cars in a compact/mini category vehicle to save some money and sometimes I got Fiats.
My other pseudo-experience is my Ford Ka for 5 years. Why? Isn't it a Ford? Yes, but this Ford Ka was a product of Ford-Fiat experimental cooperation. My Ford Ka was made in Poland in a Fiat factory. It was equipped with a diesel engine.
For some reasons, I have driven a bunch of Fiats.
My dream carsIf I name my dream cars that I want to own and drive, I will name these.
1. Porsche 550 Spyder (because of James Dean)
2. Lancia Stratos HF
The first one belongs to museums or rich people's private collections. I will no way own one, never ever. The only hope that I have is getting one of those replicas.
The second one is also very expensive because the original ones are very rare. Its replicas are not too expensive but they are expensive anyway.
If I had (mind the verb tense!) enough money, I would like to get their replicas. If I had, I would but I don't so I won't.
Before deciding to purchase them, I searched on the Internet to see if parts were available. You see, what happens if I actually got my hand on one of them (X1/9) and wanted to do some reparing with the help of the service manuals but could not obtain the parts?
I wanted to make sure that paying for the manuals would actually pay off (if I could get a X1/9).
To my surprise, there are a lot of dealers and their inventory was diverse and vast. Then I decided to pay for the two items in my cart for several days.
New York CityI have been to New York City.
I visited there when I was like around 22 or 23 years old. I did not plan to visit USA on my own then.
I was asked by a man who I worked with back then if I could accompany him as a kind of translater as he could not speak English (in this case America English) but wanted to visit there.
I agreed and we flew there. He planned the travel and I think (bacause I don't remember now) I paid my fairs (maybe not?). He was generous to pay for the meals or something. Anyway, the trip involed visiting New York City, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Las Vegas in a little more than a week (maybe 8 or 9 days?).
It was my first time acquiring my passport and traveling abroad. I enjoyed it. It was around 1990 or so.
A few years later, I got to live in the States for almost 3 year or so. During this period, I saw Bill Clinton sworn in (on TV), had at least one curfew and riots (because of the Rodney King trial vericts), was (out i.e. sleeping and rudely woken up) within several miles from the epicenter of Northridge (-Reseda) Earthquake and watched the O.J. trial progress live on TV. It was a very exciting period.
OK, the conclusion of the day, here.
I don't think I will ever visit New York again. In that matter I don't think I will visit Los Angeles in any future, either.
Watching a movie of a story taking place in NYC (Manhattan), I felt that I would not visit there again. It looked so dangerous and the story was so depressing.
The movie I watched was "Asphalt City 2023".
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Fiat X1/9 one of the Gandini's brain children]の続きを読む
テーマ:自動車の整備&修理 - ジャンル:車・バイク
- 2024/10/24(木) 17:36:08|
- Diary
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The Fourth Protocol 1987It is a movie based on a novel with the same title by Frederick Forsyth. The movie came out obviously 1987 during so-called the Cold War.
The movie stars Pierce Brosnan and Sir Michael Caine. It is a spy movie just like OO7 movies in which years later Pierce Brosnan get the main role (starting 1994). By then (1994) the Cold War was over and the World had seen a new world order (or World Order).
In this movie a rogue element (?) of KGB personnel (KGB director) attempt to stir up a conflict by smuggling a nuclear weapon into the UK. In the novel this part (who orchestrated the operation) may be described in details but in the movie I did not get the scheme.
Anyway, the most intriguing part (at least to me) that caught my attention and curiosity was the English news broadcast by Radio Moscow. I have no doubt that in those days this broadcasting was mocked and called the Russian propaganda. This radio program has a very important role in the drama. The operator (perpetrator or simply spy played by future MI6 operative, Pierce Brosnan) was told that when he heard the Libyan leader Colonel Qaddafi's name mentioned it was the go sign to detonate the bomb.
So the man listens to the radio program and the we listen to it. The new at that particular evening was about the Russian Army fighting the war waged by the guerrillas supported by the CIA. Later on when we hear the Libyan leader's name then the man knew what to do.
I wondered if this part (English news broadcasting as the means of transmitting the secret order from Moscow) was was also in the novel. Was it only for the movie? If the novel has the same plot, what was the contents of the news? Was Colonel Qaddafi also the secret code?
Intriguing isn't it?
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Some movies]の続きを読む
テーマ:映画感想 - ジャンル:映画
- 2024/10/20(日) 21:07:32|
- Diary
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Streamlight Excaliber (or Excalibur?)I was looking for something on eBay, namely the Clipmate. I had one but it broke during my summer vacation last July. A small piece of metal (contact point) broke off. I wanted to repair or replace it if I could find cheap parts or the Clipmate itself.
During my search, I found several old Streamlight flashlights and one or two of them got my interest.
This black anodized flashlight did not have any model name. I wanted to know about it.
It turned out that it could be the Streamlight Excaliber. It is an evolution (cost-saving) continuation of Kel-Lite industries/Streamlight inc. (in 1983 Kel-Lite was purchased by Streamlight)
(This image is taken from the site above-mentioned)
First I have to quote some paragraphs from this excellent site.
From (http://otherflashlights.blogspot.com/2017/06/3rd-generation-kel-lites-and.html)
"The changeover to Excalibur was likely around KD"
"The C cells didn't carry a letter prefix. The D cells carried a KA, KB, KC, KD, KE (possibly) or KF. I have a bunch of these lights, only one C cell though, they are pretty rare. The D cells started at KA000001 and when they hit KA999999 they rolled over to KB000001 and so on and so forth. Unlike the Maglites they didn't give any designation to cell size in the serial. When they made a batch of 4 cells they picked up where last batch of 3 or 2 cells left off. When they changed to the Excalibur with the one piece head the numbering scheme continued because the barrels were identical. The latest one I have is KF318849.
I think, but am not sure, that Streamlight switched over to Excalibur in 1986 or 87 when they gave the Kel-Lite name to Nordic. Nordic was a company Don Keller was a part of to produce small, AA and AAA professional lights. The Excalibur continued until 1990 or so. So all in all at least 6,000,000 lights were made from 1983 until about 1990 (F is the 6th letter in the alphabet and 318,849 is the latest serial I have). I've never seen a KE serial though and I'm thinking they may have skipped E so it could be 5,000,000. Interestingly enough this is on par with the Maglite D cell sales. "
The Excaliber came into production around 1986/1987 and according to the line above ("The changeover ...") they had KD serial numbers.
This black supposedly Excalibur has serial number "SG361026" on it (at least it so seems to me). I thought (and I think in hindsight mis-thought) that the Excalibur had serial numbers like SA (S = Streamlight?), SB, SC, SD, ... SG000000 and so on.
I now think that after a couple of years after switching from Kel-Lite/Streamlight Series II (= 3rd generation) to Excaliber, they might have changed the serial number style, too.
I think that after KF, SG came in. Am I right or wrong?
The other one that got my eyes was this camo Kel-Lite/Streamlight Series II. It comes with the original box. It is not too expensive considering the conditions but I am not buying it.
This image is from supposedly 2nd generation Kel-Lite flashlight on eBay. I took this image and put here because I don't know how the bulbs inside the 3rd generation Kel-Lite or Excalibur are fixed. I guess that similar mechanism is used.
(This image and others are taken from eBay)
Streamlight JR™ (Incandescent)Images will be added soon.
It took a long time, not too long but, for this tiny flashlight to come all the way from Texas, USA to me, Luxembourg. It took around 3 weeks but in the end, it was OK. I did not too much for the shipping.
Possibly this is the first generation product. I am almost sure of it (the fact that it is so). I have looked for the information on this product line and got some but the information (mostly from the pictures of the products) was not so conclusive.
All I can say is that there are at least three versions or generations.
1. Mine (incandescent): conical reflector shape (like that o Mini Maglite): (image a)
2. Incandescent: (image b)
3. LED: (image c)
Anyway, it does not matter. Here is what it looks like. Did it work? The following are the actual photo of my own flashlight.
Verdict: Alas! It did not turn on. How was it?
(images 01: The bulb size of a rice grain was broken)
(images 02: The bulb holder? A copper cap was OK)
(images 03: The positive terminal was OK)
(images 04: The tail cap/switch seemed to be OK)
(images 05: The bulb/terminal/holder assembled)
Overall condition of the item was OK. The coating (black anodizing finish) still holds. There are only very minor scratches.
It had "STREAMLIGHT JR™ Norristown Pa" on the body.
Simply as I had hoped and expected, it was complete (all the parts were there). Thank God for it.
Only the bulb was broken. The glass dome was shuttered and obviously the filament was destroyed. Other than the damage that this tiny bulb suffered, everyting seemed OK.
I later found that there could be a tiny thin, very think crack on the reflector. I am not sure but it looks like there is one.
I suspect that a new bulb would simply solve the problem if I could get one. Yes, I can get one (a bulb) from some sellers from the United States of America on eBay but they (the package holds two bulbs) cost me. The price of the product itself and equally the shipping charges. Should I get one?
Addendum:
1. The inner side of the barrel (body) seems equally well coated but it is tight, very tight. I first tried to fit two AA rechargeable cells but they did not go in.
I knew most rechargeable cells are a bit thicker than normal cells. I then tried another one whose wrapping film had been peeled off. They could fit in.
2. The reflector does not come off. It turns just like the reflectors on flashlights like Maglites, Stingers and others. It stops and won't come off. I don't know if this is intended or made so. I have seen not seen the reflector detached so I guess this is normal.
In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Streamlight Excalibur (or Excaliber)?]の続きを読む
テーマ:アウトドア - ジャンル:趣味・実用
- 2024/10/13(日) 20:30:07|
- Flashlights
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So sprach Zarathustra (Thus spoke Zarathustra)I like him. I don't know him personally. Zarathustra is known to be the founder of Zoroastrianism (after his name, obviously).
He is an ancient figure so there are a lot of mythical stories attached to his name. So much so, many Western scholars associated him with the images of a wise man (free from Judeo-Christianism?). He was idolized. So did Friedrich Wilhelm Nietsche.
I watched some YouTube videos where some similarities surrounding the "supposed" birth stories belonging to some figures in history. There was yet another figure in these YouTube videos (some ancient Mesopotamian god or goddess).
I can name yet another similar figure and his name is Anakin Skywalker. Now you know exactly what I am talking about.
Anyway, I looked it up on the Internet. On the first or second try, I did not find the corresponding collaborating sources. After I found (at least two sites) some.
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[ Magdeleine and Tiberius]の続きを読む
テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記
- 2024/10/08(火) 20:58:04|
- Diary
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I should have done this earlier. Now, only now I am reading the transcript of this famous interview.
I was reading the English version. It was not so easy to understand. I was wondering why. Mind you most of the part was spoken in Russia originally and was translated into English by whomever (including the possibility of Machine Translation) it was. Maybe this was why it was not so easy to understand the content.
By sheer interest, I sought Japanese transcript and read it. Amazing! Whoever translated it (most likely and the transcript, I thought, was accompanied by some translation software name or something) had some malicious intentions. No doubt. Some words, expressions and even sentences were completely gone. It was just like a magic where some big objects disappeared.
In the end, one would get the opposite impressions that President Putin would have liked the audience to have. If this were not a propaganda, I don't know what would qualify for a propaganda.
In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Now President Putin and Tucker Carlson Interview transcript]の続きを読む
テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記
- 2024/10/06(日) 15:30:22|
- Diary
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Was it a friendly fire?A few days after I came home from Zurich, Switzerland. I read a brief article about the then on-going criticism among (mainly?) Dutch media. The tactics of the Female Dutch team was the subject of the criticism.
I understood that the Dutch people were very sour and disappointed by the outcome. They had a very strong team and the race course (including climbs) seemed to favor their aces (Demi Vollering, Marianna Vos etc.) rather than Belgium ace, Lotte Kopecky.
Well, the climb was not so steep and the steep section was not so decisive.
The article that I read was about those other articles criticizing the seemingly friendly fire attack within the Dutch team. So I did not get the details.
Just recently I watched the video that Chiris Horner explained the situations above-mentioned.
OK, it seemed like a friendly fire situation, indeed but can people blame some individuals involved?
I don't think it is fair. Those who are pointing their fingers did not compete, right?
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Friendly fire or not?]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
- 2024/10/04(金) 14:07:18|
- Bike Races in Switzerland
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Revealing Ukraine 2019I watched it and thought about the current crises in the world.
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Revealing Ukraine 2019]の続きを読む
テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記
- 2024/10/02(水) 21:29:35|
- Diary
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Iran launched missiles at IsraelIt was reported that it finally so happened. We knew it was going to happen and we did not know when exactly. Or narrowly predicted before or after November 5th (US President Election day) or before or after January 29th 2025 (Inauguration day).
It happened just after Trump - Zelensky meeting or days after Israel - Hesbollah conflict intensified.
Iran (and Iran-backed Hesbollah in Lebanon) - Israel conflict
Hamas (also Iran-backed) - Israel conflict
Ukraine (backed by many Western countries like the US and many NATO nations) - Russia conflict
Are we seeing the burning fuse of the WW III? or just smoke?
In Japanese:続きをどうぞ
[Conflicts and more conflicts]の続きを読む
テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記
- 2024/10/01(火) 20:17:21|
- Diary
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