Liège - Bastogne - Liège Part III

It is Saturday evening, close to midnight. I have not had enough time to
upload the pictures I accumulated throughout April. Tomorrow, 29th
April is the last Sunday. The crazily packed race watch schedule is almost
over. Almost, 1st of May I will go watch Rund um den Henninger Turm
in Frankfurt am Main. Then I can take it easy for a while. I will update 
my blog and post some pictures.

I had a flat on my front tire at the end of Amstel Gold Race. I fixed it
with "Tufo Sealant for Tubeless Tubular Tyres". It has been fixed and
seems to be OK. The white liquid seems to have sealed off the hole(s).
Or maybe the casuse of the flat was a loose valve core inside
the valve extension. In any case, the tire is OK.

Let's make some coffee, load up the car and take a shower before 
driving to Liège.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Part II

It is right around the corner. It is Saturday morning (00:00) as I write this.

I am planning to see the start (Liège), the first ravitalleiment (Bastogne), 
the second ravitalleiment (La Gleize - Stoumont) and the goal (Ans).

I have been to the first ravitalleiment. I was there in 2006. I met a couple, 
who I took a picture of and in return they did me. I met them only a week 
later at Giro d'Italia's prologue. There is a motorway connecting Liège and
Bastogne. So moving to Bastogne and coming back to Liège is easy.

In 2006, I think I arrived at the start around 05:00 in the morning. I
remember asking a couple who were walking down the street for
directions. They assured me that I had already arrived at the start.
I found a parking place (free on Sundays) and slept for a while. I took
out my bike and went to the start around 07:30, I guess. I waited for 
Team CSC bus and cars but somehow I missed them. The "equipes 
parking" was scattered around the start. It was not easy to find a
particular team bus or cars. By the time I found the bus, riders were
leaving, in fact, I saw only 3 or 4 riders coming out of the bus. No
autographs.

This year, I will do it better. Actually, I don't need to bother any 
riders for autographs. I have already had the participating riders
give their autograph for the saison 2007.

I am expecting to see some people, whom I have made the
acquaintance of through visiting race events. Anyway, I have to 
go to bed.

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré Part II

I consulted with Garmin MapSource (City Navigator Europe v9). I also
checked the official site of Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. The prologue
takes place in Grenoble. I was there once in 2006. I shopped at a
Decathlon shop, where I bought some camping equipment.

From my place, it is over 650km to Grenoble. I guess the prologue
starts sometime around noon since the prologue is a short ITT. If
I drive 8 hours and rest for 4 hours, I will be in Grenoble by noon.

The route suggested by the program leads to Grenoble by way of
Switzerland and only a short strech of highway through France. 
I like this idea since the vignette valid for one year (2007) in
Switzerland is only around 30 euro. If I take a route through 
France, where you pay the toll as you go, it would cost more.

The last stage ends in Annecy. From there, I have to drive
550km back home. It won't be that bad.

The official site has not posted the detailed info on the stages.
They have only a JPEG file showing the rough sketch of the
stages (as of 26th April 2007). I have to wait a little bit
and study the stages by the time the details come out. I have
to decide where to go watch the race and where to stay the nights.

It would be like a rehearsal for TdF.

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

All of a sudden, out of the blue, I hit on the idea of following this particular
stage race. I decided to use most of my vacations following TdF 2007
around September 2006. I talked to my employer and colleagues about
my intention. I secured my vacations early this year.

I had still a week left. I thought I could spend this leftover 
late September at World Championship in Stuttgart. Stuttgart is practically
on my turf. Some colleague wanted that week and I gave it away.

I found out that I could take a week in June since none of my colleagues
had planned anything in June. Then I took a look at the Team CSC
race calendar. Team CSC is participating in Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

If I burned some midnight oil on 10th and 17th, I could watch all of the 
stages. Is it feasible? I'll see. I will study the parcours of CdDL and
decide what to do( or more exactly how to do it).

By "burning the midnight oil", I mean driving to a distant location
without sleeping overnight. I do this a lot. I have to do this if I want
to visit a race held on Sunday.

I think by the end of April, I will have driven more than 4,000km 
(maybe close to 5,000km and that is only in April and only on weekend)

Who beside me did (or does) this crazy race watch?:
Critérium International, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Rund um Köln,
Paris - Roubaix, Amstel Gold Race and Liège - Bastogne - Liège

I don't just stay at one place.
I did (or do) the Start, Feedzone(s) and Goal watch. By the end of the
race day, I am as exhausted as the riders who ride the race. I know 
my exhaustion does not compare to that of the riders. 

Sometime I wonder why I am doing this. I don't know but only 
my passion for race watch keeps me going.

Race watch schedule for 2007 update

I have been to the following races:
4th March: Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne
11th March: Paris - Nice (Prologue)
1st April: Critérium International
8th April: Tour des Flandres
9th April: Rund um Köln
15th April: Paris-Roubaix
22nd April: Amstel Gold Race

I will go watch the following races:
29th April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège

1st May: Rund um den Henninger Turm (Frankfurt am Main)
10th-17th June: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ???????
24th June: Team Time Trial (Eindhoven)

1st July: National Championship (Germany)
7th-29th July: Tour de France (all stages)

4th August: Rund um die Hainleite (Erfurt)
12th August : Deutschland Tour (Stage 3)
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Hamburg)
26th August: Eneco Tour

23rd September: Drei Länder Tour (Germany)
27th September: World Championship, TT (Stuttgart)
30th September: World Championship (Stuttgart)

7th October: Züri Metzgete (Zurich) The race has been cancelled!!

Update on the autograph collection:
Lars Bak
Kasper Klostergaard
Martin Pedersen
Luke Roberts
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Kolobnev
Christian Vande Velde
David Zabriske
Frank Schleck
Bobby Julich
Chris Anker Sørensen
Juan José Haedo
Jens Voigt
Anders Lund
Volodymir Gustov
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Mathew Goss
Michael Blaudzun
Allan Johansen
Niki Sørensen
Karsten Kroon
and
Bjarne Riis

Total 21 riders and 1 owner of the team

On my bike I got one from
Gérard Vroomen (Co-founder of Cervélo)

Amstel Gold Race Part III

I had fun even though Team CSC could not defend the title. It 
does not matter. What matters is that Frank Schleck finished
the race with 10th place despite the crash (an impressive result)
and he seems to be OK, not seriously injured. We have to wait for
a confirmation on that subject. He has, no doubt, gone through
a medical diagnosis by a doctor by now. I hope that he has suffered
just slight bruises and cuts and nothing serious.

I was standing directly in front of his mother when it happened.
There was a big screen over the bridge about 200m before the
finish where Andy&Frack Schleck fanclub member had set up
their post. I won't not writing this if Frank had suffered
serious injuries. I saw his mother look under and put her hand
beside her face to screen the view from the big screen that 
showed her son down on his back. 

I will jot down the chronological account of AGR in Part IV
but for now I just wish Frank a quick recovery.

Amstel Gold Race Part II

As the weekend nears, so does Amstel Gold Race. And it is 00:00 on 
Sunday 22nd April 2007. I am leaving in about an hour for Maastricht. 

I have Garmin StreetPilot c510 with me and the route is relatively easy.
I have brand-new Team CSC team short sleeve jersey, bibshorts and
the glove for 2007 that arrived on 18th. Last year, I had 2006 team
wear and was on Cervelo soloist. Soon after the race course was cleared 
(the van with a broomstick had passed), I rode the last strech of Cauberg
on my bike. A lot of people cheered at me. Even the officials and 
the people in the press booth did the same. It was like being Frank Schleck.

I don't expect anything. Maybe Frank Schleck repeats what he did
last year, or maybe not. It does not matter. It does not make any
difference. I just want to be there for the team I love.

OK, I am going to make some coffee and load my car with the stuff
before taking a shower.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège Part I

I did Liège - Bastogne - Liège last year and will do this year, too. 
Liège is not too far away from my city.

The parcours is simple; it starts in Liège,  goes to Bastogne and then 
comes back to Liège. There is a highway connecting Liège and Bastogne
so the driving to Bastogne is quick.  I can easily visit the first
ravitalleiment. Then I would head to either the second ravitalleiment or
another place near the highway. In the end I will drive back to Ans to
see the finish. With the help of my Garmin StreetPilot C510 Deluxe, 
I can move quickly and effectively through the area I don't really
know much about.

There was a big screen before the goal where the course takes the last
turn and the last climb ends about 200m? before the finish. The 
weather was nice last year. It was hot. Ice cream vendors were
making a good profit in the goal area.

I arrived at the goal well before the race and could ride the last climb
freely. I thought to myself, "after riding so much in this hot weather
and riders have to rush up this climb? It's insane!" If you take a look 
at the picture of the finish which shows Alejandro Valverde who won,
you can see that look on other riders' faces in the back. They are
suffering.

Today, I received a delivery from Danmark. It was a package
containing Team CSC kit. I will wear these at Amstel Gold Race,
LBL and the rest of the season and have them autographed.

Amstel Gold Race Part I

I did Amstel Gold Race last year (2006). I saw Frank Schleck win. I am
planning to see the race this year, too. Maastricht is not that far from
where I live. It is about 330km to drive.

It rained last year in the morning. It cleared later, though. This year,
it is going to be fine all day. It is comfortable for spectators to stand
along the course but maybe it will be a little too hot for the riders.

The area called Valkenburg, where Cauberg is located, is the center of
the race course. Close to Valkenburg, there are cities like Heerlen or
Landgraaf, where I visited in 2006 to see the ITT stage of Eneco Tour.
It was not until I planned the visit to Heerlen and Landgraaf when I
was surprised to realize that Valkenburg was so closely located. 

At that time (Eneco Tour 2006), I did not have a GPS navigation
system on board my car and I had to rely on paper maps. I knew the 
start of ITT was close to a place called "snowworld" but did not
know what it was until I actually was there. I learned that it was an 
indoor snow ski facility with artificial snow built on a hill overlooking 
a strange oval track, where the ITT was to start and end. People 
were coming to ski or snowboard (I saw only snowboarders). This
was August 20th 2006. I remember it rained rather hard in the
morning. It turned to be a fair day by the time the ITT began.

I went to Maastricht to see the start. It was raining and a bit chilly.
After the departure, I drove to Cauberg. It took me a while before
arriving at Cauberg. I think about an hour. It was not easy to get
there. After getting lost for more than 30 minutes or so, I suddenly
realized that Cauberg was in Valkenburg. I saw a road sign pointing to
Valkenburg and followed them and eventually I got there.

That day I got a sacoche from Michael Blaudzun. It is my treasure. 
That day I saw Frank Schleck climb the last stretch of Cauberg to a
victory.

Here, I wrote about a man who kept watching the live TV coverage
of AGR even when the ACTUAL race swept by a couple of meters away
from his back. I would like to revisit the house where he lived (and, I 
think, still lives) and see what he is doing. This time it would be actually
an act of peeking. Don't tell the police, please!

Anyway, I will bring my LCD TV set with DVB-T tuner. I intend to
look up from TV set when the race comes. I just checked the DVB
situation in Netherlands and learned they only have DVB. They
turned off the analog terrestrial broadcasting at all.

Race watch schedule for 2007 update

I have been to the following races:
4th March: Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne
11th March: Paris - Nice (Prologue)
1st April: Critérium International
8th April: Tour des Flandres
9th April: Rund um Köln
15th April: Paris-Roubaix

I will go watch the following races:
22nd April: Amstel Gold Race
29th April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège

1st May: Rund um den Henninger Turm (Frankfurt am Main)
 
24th June: Team Time Trial (Eindhoven)

1st July: National Championship (Germany)
7th-29th July: Tour de France (all stages)

4th August: Rund um die Hainleite (Erfurt)
12th August : Deutschland Tour (Stage 3)
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Hamburg)
26th August: Eneco Tour

23rd September: Drei Länder Tour (Germany)
27th September: World Championship, TT (Stuttgart)
30th September: World Championship (Stuttgart)

7th October: Züri Metzgete (Zurich)

Update on the autograph collection:
Lars Bak
Kasper Klostergaard
Martin Pedersen
Luke Roberts
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Kolobnev
Christian Vande Velde
David Zabriske
Frank Schleck
Bobby Julich
Chris Anker Sørensen
Juan José Haedo
Jens Voigt
Anders Lund
Volodymir Gustov
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Mathew Goss
Michael Blaudzun
Allan Johansen
and
Bjarne Riis

Total 19 riders and 1 owner of the team

On my bike I got one from

Gérard Vroomen

Co-founder of Cervélo

Paris - Roubaix Part III

Goodbye, Lars Michaelsen and Congratulations, Stuey.

I am back from Paris - Roubaix. It is Monday morning. I had several stops
on the way back from Roubaix and slept in the car. I finally came home
now, 10:30.

This year's Paris - Roubaix was, I think, a very special edition for Team 
CSC. I mean, EVERYBODY was there. Bjarne Riis, B. S. Crhistiansen, 
Brian Nygaard, at least three DS's, (even Steffen Bach Larsen, Webshop
co-orinator, was there obviously from RVV- Hey, send my order as soon
as possible) and at least three mechanics and so many other people from
Denmark, an engineer from ZIPP, Gérard Vroomen (co-founder of Cervélo,
whose autograph I got later on my bike at the Goal in Roubaix),
at least three soigners and etc. It was much like Tour de France deployment
and concentration.

Of course, there were reasons for the team to be this much prepared. First,
it is Paris - Roubaix, the Queen of the classics. Second, Team CSC has a
defending rider. And third, Lars Michaelsen has made it his departing
race.

Natuarally, my biggest concern was to have him autograph my sweater,
which I could not. But it is OK. I have his autograph from last year. 


To be updated later ....

Paris - Roubaix Part II

It is Saturday at 01:50. In less than 24 hours, I will be leaving for
Compiègne. It is going to be a long drive.

My plan is simple. I will see the Start (meet the Team CSC riders and
staff) and then to the 2 feedzones. I will be at Sector 13 pavè
(cobblestones) because the section is after the feedzone II and I think
the riders will dispose of the sacoche there.

I don't know much about the Vèlodrome. Free entry or with tickets?
Only VIPs? If I cannot get into this facility, I will be watching the race
at Sector 1 or 2 pavè. If Mr. and Mrs. Cancellara are there for their son, 
I want to see them again and say hello to them.

Let's see what happens.

Race watch schedule for 2007 update

I have been to the following races:
4th March: Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne
11th March: Paris - Nice (Prologue)
1st April: Critérium International
8th April: Tour des Flandres
9th April: Rund um Köln

I will go watch the following races:
15th April: Paris-Roubaix
22nd April: Amstel Gold Race
29th April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège

1st May: Rund um den Henninger Turm (Frankfurt am Main)

24th June: Tour de Suisse (ITT last stage, Bern) or
24th June: Team Time Trial (Eindhoven)

1st July: National Championship (Germany)
7th-29th July: Tour de France (all stages)

4th August: Rund um die Hainleite (Erfurt)
12th August : Deutschland Tour (Stage 3)
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Hamburg)
26th August: Eneco Tour

23rd September: Drei Länder Tour (Germany)
27th September: World Championship, TT (Stuttgart)
30th September: World Championship (Stuttgart)

7th October: Züri Metzgete (Zurich)

Update on the autograph collection:
Lars Bak
Kasper Klostergaard
Martin Pedersen
Luke Roberts
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Kolobnev
Christian Vande Velde
David Zabriske
Frank Schleck
Bobby Julich
Chris Anker Sørensen
Juan José Haedo
Jens Voigt
Anders Lund
Volodymir Gustov
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Mathew Goss
Michael Blaudzun
and
Bjarne Riis

Total 18 riders and 1 owner of the team

Rund um Köln Part I

This race is the first race I visited in Europe. It was 2004. 

I am writing the following just to remember what I did. I intend 
to use the record to improve my race watch the next time I visit the race.
After all, it is my diary. If someone is reading this, he or she will be bored
to death with the trifle details. Don't forget this is just my diary.

I left Ninove around 17:30 pm for Köln, actually I was heading for 
a camping site near Leverkusen which I found in one of my camping
guides. Rund um Köln starts in a city called Leverkusen.
The Sun was still high but I was so tired. I needed a rest. I parked the 
car somewhere in Belgium and slept. I woke up sometime in the 
evening and drove on. I took a wrong exit near Leverkusen but the
Garmin StreetPilot C510 Deluxe showed the rerouted way.

I arrived at the camping site around 21:45. It was located in a
woody area not far from the residential areas. A man pointed at the 
clock and said that it was a bit late as I told my intention to stay at his
site. He showed me the place I should put up my tent and told me that
I should pay the fee the next morning. It was 9 Euro.

The shower was not hot but warm. The water temperature was 
not adjustable by the shower takers. It was pre-set.

The bathroom was clean. There was a kitchen with 3 to 4 sinks
and 3 stoves that you drop some coins to make them operate for a
specified period of time.

There was a room next to the kitchen where you can use the Internet.
I did not take a look at the service fees. It would be convenient to
have access to the Net when you want to update your blog.

I put out the tent and began cooking as I was hungry. With a
gas cooker, I cooked a noodle thing. In Köln area, there were
11 DVB channels available. I watched "The Lord of the Ring", or
"Herr der Ringe" in German for a short while. Not really a fan of 
those stories.

I woke up around 07:00 and took a shower (as I had described,
a rather lukewarm shower) and then made some coffee. I paid what I
owed the man and left. I think I arrived at the "Sportpark Leverkusen"
around 09:30? There was a free parking back of the facility.

I took out my bike and looked for the Team CSC cars. They were
easily found. The "Sportpark" looked (I don't really know what it was)
like a stadium with a hotel integrated in it. The hotel is
"Lindner Hotel Bayarena". Later I saw either JJ Haedo or Mathew
Goss looking down from the balcony of the hotel room on the 6th( or 5th?)
floor. In Europe (as far as I know, most of Europe), 6th floor means 7th
floor in USA. They count the first floor as the ground floor, so the second 
floor is the first "1" floor. In Germany, it is shortened as "E", which means
Erdgeschoss.

There was no security measures around the team cars and buses.
I like this. After seeing the tight security mesures at RVV, I was very
pleased. I greeted the mechanics and soigneurs, who had been already
working. I saw Eddy Merckx being interviewed just a couple of meters 
away from us. He was invited as the official, as a kind of honorary race
director, last year and was there this year, too. Oh, Didi Senft was there, too. I did not actually see him but his car was there.

I was to get the autograph from Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Michael 
Blaudzun, Mathew Goss, Volodymir Gustov and Anders Lund.
I got what I wanted.

They came out around 10:30? They went into the motor caravan, which
I had seen on many occasions (like Tour de France 2005, 2006 etc.).

Michael Blaudzun came out of the caravan and stayed with mechanics
and soigneurs saying that there was no room left in the caravan and
everybody was on top of everybody.

There was a "jedermann Rennen" before the "Profi-Start". Jedermann
means everybody or anybody and Rennen is race. Profi means Professional
or Elite and Start is start, only it is read "Sh-tart".

I watched the neutralized start and the real start. I left for the feedzone.

Ronde van Vlaanderen Part VII

I gave up the hope of having Team CSC riders autograph my sweater
and decided to move on to the next watch spot, feedzone. It was close
to the start time. As I was coming back to my car, I managed to take
pictures of some of Team CSC riders riding that connecting path.

I think I left the parking just around the starting time. There were
many cars rashing to the exit. Most likely those people were also
trying to go to other places to watch the race.

I pulled up at the first gas station on the highway on my way to the
first feedzone. There were team busses of Credit Agricole, Liquigas, 
and one other team (I don't remember but I think it was FDJ). 
Some other team cars were also there to fill up. I think there
were Quickstep cars and others.

I was about to fill up when a Team CSC van queued up after 
me. The dirver came out and we shook hands as he knew
immediately that I was Team CSC fan as I had Team CSC podium
cap and Team CSC retro sweater. After paying for the gas, I said
"See you later" and left. We actually saw each other later at the 
feedzone.

Oh, at the cashier, the French speaking woman (who also spoke
English, of course) gave me a small egg-shaped chocolate and said,
"Happy Easter".

At the first feedzone, I had a pleasant meeting with Team CSC
staff and one of Skil-Shimano soigeurs. I first met this Skil-Shimano
soigeur at Giro Bochum in 2006. I talked to him because that day
some Japanese riders were there and I wanted to ask about them.
(Have I ever mention that I am Japanese?) Anyway, since then
we kept seeing each other and exchanging news. He was at
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, too.

I took out my bike and took a ride. It was sunny and warm if not hot
by then. I like showing off my bike. I like talking to other people at 
race events. And the bike (almost like Team CSC issue) and the
Team CSC jersey make it easier for other people to talk to me.

That day, I had a pleasant talk with many people. One man wanted
to take a ride on my bike and did. This man also told me that moving
to one place to another in this area was not so easy as the police would
cut the traffic unexpectedly when the race came to pass. He and his
friends were to go to Oude Kwaremont after Feedzone 1 but had to 
take a long diversion not to be stuck on their way there in time.

In fact, I was stuck along with hundreds of cars for about 40 minutes
or so on my way to the Feedzone 2 near Oudenaarde as the race
came to pass that section. I took out my portable LCD TV (DVB-T) 
and watched the race with other people.

I arrived at the Feedzone 2 perhaps 40 minutes before the ETA. 
I was standing at a couple of hundred meters before Mariaborrestraat, 
to where the race would take a turn. I got a sacoche from Skil Shimano
and Chocolade Jacques. There were some leftovers in the bag, most of
which I ate on my way to Ninove.

I rode on to Ninove immediately after the road was cleared. I managed
to arrive at the Ninove ahead of the race but had trouble finding the 
place to park. By the time I reached the crowded finish area, the race
was over. Well, it did not go as planned.

Driving to Ninove, I ran into the road brocades and had to make detours.
Garmin StreetPilot knew, somewhat to my surprise, those narrow paths
cutting through the Belgian countyside.

I was riding back to my car (on my bike) when I saw Nicole Cooke
walking with a bottle of Champaigne, half empty, accompanied by a man,
supposedly a soigneur, in a white jersey signifying her World Cup standing.
I congratulated her and she said, "Well, thank you".

It did not go well as planned. The security was too tight around the riders.
I should have planned to watch the race at some climbs with cobblestones.

If I was to return to Ronde van Vlaanderen next year, I would plan
something other than what I did this year. I will probably, most likely
not drive to Brugge, where you can see nothing special.

Ronde van Vlaanderen Part VI

Chronological account of the event.

I left home for Brugge around 01:00 am Sunday morning 8th April. The
weather was much nicer than it was the previous Sunday. The traffic was 
smooth on the motorway, meaning almost empty at this time of the day.

I knew I had to hurry. I drove on without stopping for a rest.
It was around 05:30 (still dark) when I needed a rest as I got so tired.
I pulled up in a paking along the motorway somewhere either in
Netherland or Belgium (I don't remember it now)
but probably in Belgium.

It was a simple parking, about 200m long with 40 to 50 lots, with no
restrooms. The parking was separated with some trees from the
motorway. There were two or three tall lamps lighting the place. I parked
almost in the middle under the lamp for some security so that I could 
see what was around. There were other cars, parked closey, three or four
near the exit.

I tried to sleep about half an hour and set the alarm when a man got
off his car and began to take a walk. OK, so he needed to stretch his legs,
I thought. He came from my back, then came in front of my car and 
peered into my car, seemingly trying to take a look at me. Now, this was 
a little disturbing. When he came back to his car, another car came beside 
me and the two men inside began staring at me! Now, this was more
than disturbing. When the car went away to the exit area to join other 
cars, another car, that had been already there, began to move
backwards toward me and stopped near my car. 

I knew by then that they were doing something other than parking
and resting. It was so obvious. Could they be dealing something,
possibly some drugs? Did they think that I was a potential customer or
that I was undercover police officer? Whatever they were doing there,
I did not want to have anything with it so I drove on. I was there for
less than 10 miniutes. I wasted my precious time. Why didn't 
they put up a sign at the entrance of that parking, "Drugs being
handled"?

I found a parking with a gas station not far from that suspicious
parking and slept for 30 minutes or so. The alarm went off. It was
around 07:30 in the morning when I left for Brugge.

It was foggy in the area. No wonder my GPS navigation system kept
showing a blue line along the motorway quite a long time. It was a canal.
It was obvious that the moisture in the air was from that canal.

I think I arrived at the underground parking around 08:30 in Brugge.
I found out soon that the underground parking was DIRECTLY under
the square, where all the team busses and cars were to come to park.
It was a bit chilly and misty morning (about 2.5 or 3 degrees C). The Sun
showed up later and the temperature began to rise. I think the parking 
was "Centrum 't Zand". The parking was almost full as so many people 
were coming in. It was highly unusual for a typical Sunday morning, I
guess but this was not a typical Sunday morning. One of the biggest
bicycle race in Belgium was going to unfold.

There was no team in the square. I waited for them to show up.
Tinkoff Credit Systems was the first team to arrive. 

From the Equipe parking, riders go on a bike to the start by way
of Zuidzandstraat and Steenstraat. I think these were the connecting
streets to the Markt. I did not check the street names. I am reasoning 
this now as I have the map in front of me. The official tourism office of
Brugge web site has a good map of the city in PDF format.

I checked out the area. A lot of people were already there. The start
was located in the square called "Markt" about 400m or 500m from
the designated Equipe parking.

The problem was obvious. The Equipe parking was well protected.
In other words, the teams were caged in. Only those with VIP passes
had access inside. No one without the VIP pass could get in that caged 
area. The connecing path to the Markt also had that steel barriers all the way.

It was the tightest security measure I had ever seen at a bicycle racing
event.

Ronde van Vlaanderen Part V

Who would do such a crazy thing? At the Feedzone (Rund um Köln)
I displayed the flags (Argentine, Australia, Ukraine, Denmark, 
Luxembourg and Norway).

I am back from Ronde van Vlaanderen and Rund um Köln. Exhausted. 
Exhausted from driving so long but satisfied with what I have done and
seen.

Team CSC fan club was holding a chat event with Karsten Kroon at
20:00 on Monday, the day I was coming back. That was why I drove
straight home without a break from Köln. I came home and turned on
the computer around 20:10 but Kroon was not there. He was late.
He (and his staff) was having a technical problem, which was good, I
mean, not good for other fans.

JJ. did it. He won the first European win at Rund um Köln. I am tired 
now and I am going to update the blog tomorrow.

Paris - Roubaix Part I

I will go and see Paris - Roubaix. It will be the first time ever to be there.
I am planning to drive first to Compiègne to see the start, then
somewhere in the middle to them in action and then to Roubaix to 
see the goal.

The Ravitalleiment is between Beuvry-la-Forêt and Tilloy-Lez-Marchiennes.
It is about 150km from Compiègne using A1, A2 and A26. I can do it in
2 hours including the time to find the parking. Without the use of
motorway, which costs in France,  it will take 3 hours or so. The race will
pass the ravitalleiment in 4 hours after the start so that means that I can
also be somewhere to see the riders struggle through the cobblestone sections. 

Should I try to get to some cobblestone sections before the ravitalleiment?

After the ravitalleiment, I will directly drive to Vélodrome in Roubaix
to see the "finale". That is all I have planned so far. I have to study the
parcour.

It is going to be a very tough day for me. I will have to drive more than
1,100km in about 30 hours.

Ronde van Vlaanderen Part IV

So the weekend is coming. I am preparing for the weekend. I changed the
oil of my car. I think I will be riding over 4,000km in April.

The  preparation for this extended weekend race watch is somewhat
complicated. Driving to one place to another and staying ahead of the race,
finding the place to park quickly and staying overnight economically and
comfortably.

I will drive to Brugge, the start of RVV, and then to Ninove by way of
two feedzones (ravitalleiment in French, bevoorrading in Dutch).
I might manage to see one of those notorious climbs.
To do that, I have to plan well. Using Garmin's MapSource, I can 
simulate the driving to see if my plan is feasible. I am devising a
way to see the FD1,  Oude Kwaremont and FD2 before driving to
the goal.

Later that day, I will be in Leverkusen near Köln (Cologne), where
the start of Rund um Köln is located. The camping site I have found is
"Camping Waldbad". The place is open around the year. All I want is
to take a hot shower and have a sound sleep.

Moving from Leverkusen to Rösrath (FD is near this city) is not a
problem. MapSource suggests a route with Autobahn A3. I have to
be at the FD early enough not to see any police officers closing the
streets.

9th April, in the evening there is a Team CSC fan club event. Karsten
Kroon will be in the chat with the fans. I have to drive home real fast 
to join this event. This chat event was planned by someone
who had no idea that some fan would have trouble coming home 
after watching Rund um Köln in time for the chat.

Race watch schedule for 2007 update

The following is the provisional schedule for this year. The highlight
is, of course, le Tour de France. The races I actually watched are
written in bold type. 

4th March: Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne
11th March: Paris - Nice (Prologue)
1st April: Critérium International

8th April: Tour des Flandres
9th April: Rund um Köln
15th April: Paris-Roubaix
22nd April: Amstel Gold Race
29th April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège

1st May: Rund um den Henninger Turm (Frankfurt am Main)

24th June: Tour de Suisse (ITT last stage, Bern) or
24th June: Team Time Trial (Eindhoven)

1st July: National Championship (Germany)
7th-29th July: Tour de France (all stages)

4th August: Rund um die Hainleite (Erfurt)
12th August : Deutschland Tour (Stage 3)
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Hamburg)
26th August: Eneco Tour

23rd September: Drei Länder Tour (Germany)
27th September: World Championship, TT (Stuttgart)
30th September: World Championship (Stuttgart)

7th October: Züri Metzgete (Zurich)

Update on the autograph collection:
Lars Bak
Kasper Klostergaard
Martin Pedersen
Luke Roberts
Andy Schleck
Alexandr Kolobnev
Christian Vande Velde
David Zabriske
Frank Schleck
Bobby Julich
Chris Anker Sørensen
Juan José Haedo
Jens Voigt
Anders Lund
and
Bjarne Riis

Total 14 riders and 1 owner of the team

Criterium International Part V

They had flown to Luxembourg Friday and drove here in a rental car.
They saw the opening stage the previous day. Unfortunately it rained
on Saturday and they got soaked. That was what they told me.

They had already started setting up their banner and the flags  just in
front of the podium, about 15m after the finish. I also had some items,
namely, the national flags of Germany, Argentine, Luxembourg, 
Denmark and USA.

Sometime later, I noticed a group of people standing behind us with that
much coveted "the red lion" flags, big ones and small ones. I immediately
knew they were Schleck fan club members, I mean, who else? Some of 
them had a polo shirt (it looked like) with the "Andy & Frank Schleck 
fan club" logo.

I greeted them and they looked at the decoration we made. I asked the
gentleman where I could get one of those flags. I told him that I had
been looking for those and all I could get was the normal national flag
of Luxembourg. I pointed at the big national flags of mine. Then he
suggested I could have one of the small flags. Wow!! I got the red lion
flag from Schleck brothers' fan club members. I thanked him. Then
he said to us that the lady standing behind him was Schleck brothers'
mother. Wow!! We shook hands.

The race went on. When Alexandre Vinokourov finished with an
impressive time, I thought he would take this stage. When our Bobby
Julich renewed the record, I thought he would win. The last 15 (or so)
riders really excited the spectators. They were flying and the suspense
was definitely there. Andreas Klöden was also good and I was a bit
worried that something bad like a flat might take Jens' victory away.
When Sylvain Chavanel came in with an awesome time the French
spectators were overwhelmingly elated. But not for long. Alejandro
Valverde and Thomas Lövkvist came in with a smashing time.

And finally our Jens Voigt came home with a comfortable lead enough
to secure his overall victory. I think that I was the only one who came 
with the German flag.

So ended my race watch day. I had 370km to drive home from
Charleville-Mézières.

During the ITT, we noticed that JJ Haedo abandoned the final ITT.
He crashed the previous day and we guessed he could do away with
the small stage to prepare for the bigger win like Rund um Köln on
Easter Monday. I will be there so I wish you a quick recovery, JJ.

The pictures will be posted sometime later. My priority is to plan for
the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Rund um Köln.

Lastly, I thank "Andy & Frank Schleck fan club" for their generosity
to give me the flag. I will take that red lion anywhere I go to see the
Schleck brothers.

Criterium International Part IV

Monthermé was not far from the start and my Garmin StreetPilot C510
knew where to go. The race was to pass the town to go to nearby hills to 
come back to the climbing goal. When they came, I saw Jens Voigt 
in the break. I thought, "Wow! He is looking good. He can win this."

Other race fans on a bike, a lot of them, seemed to move to a mountain
point to see the race. They were locals and they knew what to do next.
I thought of following them but abandoned the chase. I had not
slept a second since Saturday morning.

I slowly but cheerfully climbed the last climb of 4km to the goal where
Team buses were already waiting for the riders. It was warm and
rather sunny by then. I stood about 220m before the goal.

And it happened. I knew Jens were still ahead of the peloton because the 
French voice from the loud speakers announced his name at time.
From what I understood, with my poor French, the voice was telling
things like "the best placed French rider is whoever-so and he is 
with whoever-so from Lampre in a group of ..." I could not see
who was leading. I had noticed this earlier that the French must 
stress French names no matter what the race situation was.
I remember listening to French radio chasing the race in my car, Tour
de France 2006, and I could not understand what was happening
as I only kept hearing French riders' names.

Anyway, Jens Voigt came all alone with a rather big lead. Andreas
Kloden passed me next only to be passed by Valverde before the
goal. They were with in 1m from me. I tactically stood on the side
of the road where I knew riders would pass. I shouted, "Jens!!" but
I don't know if he heard it.

Jens Voigt, or shold I say, "Yents Voit", looked great in yellow and 
green. With the lead he had, he could win the race unless he had a
flat during the short ITT.

I had my car parked in the town. I went back to it and consulted with
my GPS. I wanted drive to Charleville-Mézières. First my GPS told
me to pass the goal, where I had been earlier, to get to Charleville-Mézières
but the workers were still busy dismounting the podium and the
barricade when I got there. Police officers told me gently that 
I could not get through that road and suggested kindly that I should
take the route along the river. 

So I drove back down the hill. I drove along the river, La Meuse, but 
my GPS insisted repeatedly that I turn round until finally, when I got 
closer to Charleville-Mézières, it agreed with me and showed me the
way.

I found the place. Some Team buses were already there. It was
that typical European mid-size city center, a square with a fountain, 
cafés and those pigeons if not doves. I guess I saw almost exactly the
same square in Mons in Belgium, 2006 Giro d'Italia stage 2 start.

I found them by the fountain two Danish nationals eating lunch, one 
more to join a moment later-picking up the lunch at nearby café, whom
I last saw in Paris 2006. They are also Team CSC fans, of course.

Criterium International Part III

Jens Voigt did it again, for the third time in his career to win the maillot
jaune. The French call him "Yents Voit" (as Jon Voight, the well-known
actor, "The Champ" 1979 among others), whereas the German call him 
"Yents Folk-t" (completely ignoring "L" phonetically). I can not 
describe it accurately but please guess.

Come to think of it, Voight could be an alternative spelling of Voigt. Does
Mr. Voight somehow have German trait in his family?

Saturday, 30th March, it rained most of that part of Europe so the air
was really damp and the road surface was still wet. As soon as I hit the
hilly highway (Autobahn in German), I was annoyed by the thick
fog. It was sometimes so thick that I can not see beyond 20m or 30m
and the highway signs. I had GPS navigation system in my car and it
helped. I think I could have never made it to Les Vieilles Forges in 
time or I could have turned round without it.

My car can show the outside temperature and I noticed that the
temperature varied from 3.5 to 8.0 rather rapidly within a few
kilometers. When the temperature dropped below 6.5, I ran into
the fog. The foggy area was on and off all the way to Les Vieilles
Forges except for the short strech in Belgium.

I stopped at the "Aire de Berchem" in Luxembourg. It is a parking
facility with a gas station, restaurants, restrooms and a shop. My
plan was to look for that flag. According to Wikipedia, "the red lion is
the official ensign for ships registered in Luxembourg." I could not
get one and I drove on.

It was my first time ever to go to Criterium Inernational. I could not
see the opening stage on Saturday as I had work. I left early Sunday
(around 01:00 past midnight) only to get to Les Vieilles Forges around
06:30 in the morning. I had thought that the race start was somewhere
in the village but it turned out the start was at the lakeside swimming, 
camping, kayaking and resort facilities. "Equipe Parking"
sign was there. There were already 10 cars or so waiting in the parking
lot on the side of the road where the Equipe parking was. I saw French
and Luxembourg license numbers but not German ones.

Who in the right frame of mind would drive to this little French
resort village all the way from Germany? It was still dark.

I knew they were coming soon or later. And it did. Around 06:45, 
EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI bus and team cars came. I was trying to 
get some sleep in my car but decided that I had no time to doze off.
It was still dark!

By 07:30, all the team gathered and the mechanics were busy
unloading the bikes and the soigneurs were putting the bidons
on the bikes. It is unusual for a race to take place this early in the
morning. They had two stages that Sunday.

Anyway, I got JJ Haedo, Jens Voigt, Anders Lund and Chris Anker
Sorensen autograph my Team CSC retro sweater and I could not be
happier. I saw the start and left for Monthermé, the goal of the second
stage.