a Team Saxo Bank fan

Team Leopard? or not

2011-01-01T12:01:00.002+01:00

The new Luxembourg based professional cycling team will officially presented on Thursday, January 6th. 2011 in Luxembourg.

I will be there. I have four tickets.

I am so excited about the Team Presentation ceremony.

Ubuntu Linux installed!

2011-01-01T11:43:00.003+01:00

It has been a long time since,.... since I used Linux. I recently installed Ubuntu Linux on my notebook PC and I was really surprised. Nice suprise, of course.

I have been using Gate's OS for some time (simply because it was cheaper considering the prices of MacBook and other PC notebook).

My first "personal" computing experience was with Macintosh. I was living in USA back then. I played with Macintosh IIsi and Plus. I made a brief acquaintance with PC with Gate's OS 3.1 (W*nd*ws ver. 3.1).

After this I came back to Japan and started using Macintosh and PC with Linux (Slackware). Then I started using Gate's OS 95, 98, 2000 and etc.

I kept buying archaic Macintosh machines just because I loved them. I have (in Japan if they are not discarded by my mother) Plus, IIci, IIsi, Quadra 610, 630, Powerbook 140, 170, 550c, Portable and something more but I don't remember.

Anyway, Now I use less Gate's OS and more Linux.

Coming over here to Europe, I could not bring my Macintosh machines but I wish I had one or two of them with me now.

This was written using Ubuntu Linux.

Written on my iPhone

2010-11-02T17:34:00.001+01:00

I have been experimenting for quite some time to update this blog with my mobile devices while not home. This recently aquired iPhone and this BlogPress may be the way to go. Both of them I paid for, of course.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Allée des Présidents,Luxembourg,Luxembourg

Tour de France 2010: Team Presentation Part IV

2010-08-08T21:30:00.012+02:00

Team Presentation: Thursday, July 1stTeam Milram (Germany) features 141 Linus Gerdemann, 142 Gerald Ciolek, 143 Johannes Fröhlinger, 144 Roger Kluge, 145 Christian Knees, 146 Luke Roberts (AUS), 147 Thomas Rohregger (AUT), 148 Niki Terpestra (NED), 149 Fabian Wegmann.

Linus Gerdemann talked about the soccer games and was right about the German National team's game date. He may come on board to the new Luxembourg based team next year.

Christian Knees wore the German National Champion jersey. I guess his wife's (or girlfriend's) or dauther's name is Tenja. I noticed this tattoo on his right arm. Please notice that in German J is like Y, so this reads like Tanya.

Who is Tenja?

Gramin-Transitions (USA)
51 Christian Vande Velde, 52 Julian Dean (NZL), 53 Tyler Farrar, 54 Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), 55 Robbie Hunter (RSA), 56 Martijn Maaskant (NED), 57 David Millar (GBR), 58 Johan Van Summeren (BEL), 59 David Zabriskie.
Here are the gangs.

Christian Vande Velde was upbeat that day. Poor Christian, though. He eventually went out of the race due to injury.

Here Dave is relaxed sitting on the bike.

David Zabriskie got on the bike again.

Now he hangs on to the handle bar and pretends that he is focused (but not really).

Robert Hunter is gesturing and encouraging some audience to blow that annoying vuvuzela because he had hard time NOT falling asleep, I guess.

As you can see Tyler Farrar stayed pat all the time. He is an amazing guy.

BMC Racing Team (USA)
121 Cadel Evans (AUS), 122 Alessandro Ballan (ITA), 123 Brent Bookwalter, 124 Marcus Burghardt (GER), 125 Mathias Frank (SUI), 126 George Hincape, 127 Karsten Kroon (NED), 128 Steve Morabito (SUI), 129 Mauro Santambrogio (ITA).

Cadel Evans looked very relaxed.

He was all smiles.

George Hincape looked all-American in this Natinal Champion jersery.

Rabobank (Netheland)

191 Denis Menchov (RUS), 192 Lars Boom, 193 Oscar Freire (ESP), 194 Juan Manuel Garate (ESP), 195 Robert Gesink, 196 Koos Morenhout, 197 Rrischa Niermann (GER), 198 Bram Tankink, 199 Maarten Tjallingii.

Denis Menchov's mind is wondering off.

Denis Menchov looks like a monk contemplating on the boring aspect of life.

Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne (France)

171 Rein Taarame (EST), 172 Stéphane Augé, 173 Samuel Dumoulin, 174 Julien El Fares, 175 Christophe Kern, 176 Sébastien Minard, 177 Amaël Moinard, 178 Damien Monier, 179 Rémi Pauriol.

Team Sky (Great Britain)

31 Bradley Wiggins, 32 Michael Barry (CAN), 33 Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR), 34 Steven Cummings, 35 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP), 36 Simon Gerrans (AUS), 37 Thomas Löfkvist, 38 Serge Pauwels (BEL), 39 Geraint Thomas.

Team RadioShack (USA)

21 Lance Armstrong, 22 Janez Brajkovic (SLN), 23 Christopher Horner, 24 Andreas Klöden, 25 Levi Leipheimer, 26 Dmitiy Muravyev (KAZ), 27 Sergio Paulnho (POR), 28 Jaroslav Popovych (UKR), 29 Grégory Rast (SUI).

Team Saxo Bank (Denmark)

11 Andy Schleck (LUX), 12 Matti Breschel, 13 Fabian Cancellara (SUI), 14 Jakob Fuglsang, 15 Stuart O'Grady (AUS), 16 Fränk Schleck (LUX), 17 Chris Anker Sørensen, 18 Nicki Sørensen, 19 Jens Voigt (GER).

Astana (Kazakhstan)

1 Alberto Contador (ESP), 2 David De La Fuente (ESP), 3 Andriy Grivko (UKR), 4 Jésus Hernandez (ESP), 5 Maxim Iglinskiy, 6 Daniel Navarro (ESP), 7 Benjamin Noval (ESP), 8 Paolo Tiralongo (ITA), 9 Alexandre Vinokourov.

This was the end of a long very boring presentation

Tour de France 2010: Team Presentation Part III

2010-08-08T20:18:00.013+02:00

Team Presentation: Thursday, July 1st
After Euskaltel-Euskadi, Katusha Team (Russia) came on.

The one who got interviewed was Robbie McEwen. As seen and heard on TV, he spoke in perfect Flemish (or Dutch) and the interviewer kept speaking in English. It was funny.

Omega Pharma-Lotto (Belgium) was the next. Jurgen Van den Broeck spoke.

I don't remember which language they spoke in, Flemish?

Cervelo Test Team (Switzerland) followed. Carlos Sastre was interviewed.

The way MCs asked Sastre questions was a bit rude but Carlos managed it cool.

He even had occasional smiles during the interview.

Liquigas-Doimo (Italy) came on board and Ivan Basso was in the spotlight.

BBox Bouygues Telecom (France)
Thomas Voekler wore a plain generic French National Champion jersey, not a BBox design one. He could not get one by that day? He won a stage.

Yukiya Arashiro, the only Japanese rider this year.

Another talented rider Pierrick Fedrigo. He eventyally won a stage.

What will happen to the riders of BBox next year?

Tour de France 2010: Team Presentation Part II

2010-08-02T01:27:00.011+02:00

Team Presentation: Thursday, July 1st
Caisse d'Epargne (Spain) was the next team.
161 Luis Leon Sanchez, 162 Rui Costa (POR), 163 Imanol Erviti, 164 Ivan Gutierres, 165 Vasil Kiryienka (BLR), 166 Christophe Moreau (FRA), 167 Mathieu Perget (FRA), 168 Ruben Plaze and 169 Jose Joaquin Rojas.

I think it is Ruben Plaza doing the trick on his bike to entertain the audience. I saw riders doing their best NOT to be bored by the lackluster presentation and/or NOT to make the audience fall asleep by doing something like this. I don't know if Dave Zabriskie's performance was on the air. He was really fidgety.

Quick Step (Belgium) came on.
131 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA), 132 Carlos Barredo (ESP), 133 Kevin De Weert, 134 Dries Devenyns, 135 Jérôme Pineau (FRA), 136 Francesco Reda (ITA), 137 Kevin Seeldrayers, 138 Jurgen Van de Walle and 139 Maarten Wynants.

Euskaltel Euskadi (Spain) followed.
181 Samuel Sanchez, 182 Iñaki Isasi Flores, 183 Egoi Martinez, 184 Juan Jose Oroz, 185 Alan Pérez, 186 Ruben Pérez, 187 Amets Txurruka, 188 Ivan Velasco and 199 Gorka Verdugo.

Iñaki Isasi is here.

Samuel Sanchez was the one who had to say something.

Tour de France 2010: Team Presentation Part I

2010-07-27T23:33:00.012+02:00

Team Presentation: Thursday, July 1st
This presentation, in my opinion, really sucked. More waiting time and less presentation of any kind. What were the TV producers thinking? I admired the multi-language ability of the MC's but completely wasted because of the format.

The following pictures were taken by me (copyright notice) and the movie was also shot by me.

I was on a second row and there was a really tall Dutch guy (2 meters at least, no exaggeration) in front of me. I beat him by using my trusting mini step ladder, whose very usefulness I learned from my master (who also introduced me to a radio scanner, among others). And it shows. I could shoot pictures without any obstructions.

By the time the team presentation, or what was meant to be so, started, the place was packed. I had the bird's view here.

The first team was Team HTC-Columbia, followed by FDJ, Footon-Servetto, Lampre-Farmese Vini, Caisse D'Epargne, Quick Step, Euskaltel-Euskadi, AG2R-La Mondiale, Team Katusha, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Cervelo Test Team, Liquigas-Doimo, BBox Bouygues Telecom, Team Milram, Garmin-Transitions, BMC Racing Team, Rabobank, Cofidis, Sky Cycling Team, Team Radioshack, Team Saxo Bank and Astana.

Here is Team HTC-Columbia (USA) with 118 Michael Rogers (AUS), 111 Mark Cavendish (GBR), 112 Bernhard Eisel (AUT), 113 Bert Grabsch (GER), 114 Adam Hansen (AUS), 115 Tony Martin (GER), 116 Maxime Monfort (BEL), 117 Mark Renshaw (AUS) and 119 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (BLR).

La Française Des Jeux (France) with 62 Sandy Casar, 63 Rémy Di Gregorio, 64 Anthony Geslin, 65 Matthieu Ladagnous, 61 Christophe Le Mével, 66 Anthony Roux, 67 Jérémy Roy, 68 Wesley Sulzberger (AUS), 69 Benoît Vaugrenard.

Footon-Servette (ESP) was presented with;
211 Eros Capecchi (ITA), 212 Jose Alberto Benitez, 213 Manuel Cardodo (POR), 214 Arkaitz Duran, 215 Markus Eibegger (AUT), 216 Fabio Felline (ITA), 217 Iban Mayoz, 218 Aitor Pérez and 219 Rafael Valls.

I am sorry to say that I did not recognize most of them.

Lampre-Farnese Vini (ITA) consisted with 201 Damiano Cunego, 202 Grega Bole (SLO), 203 Maruo Da Dalto, 204 Francesco Gavazzi, 205 Danilo Hondo (GER), 206 Mirco Lorenzetto, 207 Adriano Malori, 208 Alessandro Petacchi, 209 Simon Spilak (SLO). I did not know Danilo Hondo too well. Of course I knew of him at that time when he was with Team Gerolsteiner. He proved to be very friendly guy when he came to us on Champs Elysee to give out his autograph.

Here Alessandro is being interviewed.

Tour de Suisse Part I

2010-06-21T21:46:00.003+02:00

This is a movie shot by me with my Nikon D90.
Converted to M4V to be smaller.

When Andy got off his bike to be dressed up for the race, he gives his headset to his brother Frank.

This is also experimental. I am experimenting with movies. Hope it works.

Tour de Luxembourg final podium

2010-06-07T16:50:00.002+02:00

This is a test posting.

Paris-Nice 2010 Part I

2010-03-10T15:28:00.006+01:00

It has been a long time since I made an entry here. I know for sure nobody visited since then.

I have been to Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2010 and Paris-Nice2010 Prologue so far this year.

I post some pictures that I took at these events. Lately I bought Nikon D90, a digital reflex camera. It is good. It has 18mm-200mm zoom lens on it.

I arrived in Monfort-L'Amaury around 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, 7th. I took a walk and found these men setting up the start ramp.

This is a picture of the "Village" placed right next to the Team Parking. They are here to entertain the children. There was a Merry-go-round in the center which was powered by volunteering parents (I guess).

This is how this device is devised. The parents (or anyone who volunteers) have to pedal to make it go round.

continued...

TdF photos Part II (Verbier, Switzerland)

2009-09-10T14:28:00.011+02:00

Part II from photos from TdF 2009
This is the entrance of the hotel. "Welcome." How nice!

Just a short walk away from the hotel, there was a helicopter (model converted from a real one, I guess).

As you can see, 500 meters from the finish. The police officers are not concerned with the woman who is painting on the road. Usually in Switzerland, painting on the road is forbidden.

Looking up from the place where I took the picture above, I can see the devoted fans of Amets Txurruka displaying their banner proudly.

About 1km from the finish, there was this display on the wall of the tight corner. Entertaining! If you take a close look at it, you can amuse yourself even more.

Oops! There goes a crash! Ouch!

Ouch!

There is a chicken crossing the road. The man seems to be very annoyed but why?

What is this? Is this part of the display or someone added it later? A syringe is sticking out of his leg.

Steve Schleck came by on his bike.

I am online now so will start updating

2009-09-10T03:15:00.007+02:00

I admit I have been lazy. I am online now. I decided to pay to have internet access at home. I can stay online as long as I want.

So it it time to start updating this blog as frequently as possible. I will start posting photos that I made during this (almost past) season.

Looking at the photos I took, I deeply think that I need a better camera, like Cannon Eos 450 or Nikon D90 or something. My photos are sh*t. I will buy a better camera within my budget.

To start with, I will start posting pictures from Tour de France 2009. Here are some.

Verbier, Switzerland
Verbier, I was there.

Just a local view.

This is the hotel where Team Saxobank guys were staying.

At the foot of those flags (Luxemboug / Schleck fan club), there was Steve, the elder brother of the Schleck clans.

Here is someone that I don't particularly like but ...

Tour de Luxembourg

2009-06-09T13:08:00.001+02:00

So it has ended. It has been a very successful race for Saxo Bank, I think. Schleck brothers did make a huge impression on the public as expected. Other riders showed their form for the Tour (de France, of course). Bjarne Riis himself was also there to see them. Matti showed also an impressive performance.

The question on my mind now is:
Who are going to be in Monaco in a month?

I cannot be there but I'm planning to follow the last 9 or 10 stages to Paris.

I am alive (not dead yet)

2009-01-24T01:21:00.003+01:00

I am not dead. I have been busy and also lazy. The 2009 European road race season is just around the corner. This season, I will do the same (hopefully) as I did last year. Here is the rough Spring schedule for the upcoming season.

Date Event Country
March
01.03.2009 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne BEL
08.03.2009 Paris - Nice FRA
29.03.2009? Critérium International FRA

April
05.04.2009 Ronde van Vlaanderen BEL
(08.04.2009 Gent - Wevelgem BEL)
12.04.2009 Paris - Roubaix FRA
13.04.2009 Rund um Köln GER
19.04.2009 Amstel Gold Race NED
(22.04.2009 La Flèche Wallonne BEL)
26.04.2009 Liège - Bastogne - Liège BEL

May
01.05.2009 Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop GER

I will probably miss the race events in (....). I am not sure about May first event either. After these Spring races, I will try to visit as many events as possible. Tour de Luxembourg, Tour de Suisse, Tour de France and so on.

I will also try to post nice pictures of the events and as informative as possible.

Tour de Luxembourg at home

2008-12-14T20:03:00.002+01:00

Tour de Luxemourg finishes on a climb on Montée de Clausen. Before finishing there, the parcours makes loops. My new apartment is actually on the loop part of the parcours. That means that I can stay home or even stay in bed to watch the riders go multiple times. Of course, I won't be at home nor in bed when the race comes.

I will visiting Luxembourg tomorrow. I went there when I had a job interview late in November. I went there last week when I applied for the Birth Certificate at the Japanese Embassy. I also found, of course the kind help with my boss, this apartment.

I am planning to move my stuff during Christmas (24-25th). I will be moving there on New Year' Eve. By the time I am in Luxembourg, it will be already New Year's Day. No time to celebrate.

Race watch schedule 2009

2008-12-07T16:48:00.004+01:00

So the saison 2009 is just around the corner. I have no plan to visit Tour Down Under in Australia but as many races in Europe as humanly and financially possible. Here is the preliminary schedule for the upcoming season.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (Belgium) March 1st (Sun)
Paris-Nice Prologue (France) March 15th (Sun)
Critérium International (France) March 28 - 29th? (Sat - Sun)
Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium) April 5th (Sun)
Paris - Roubaix (France) April 12th (Sun)
Rund um Köln (Germany) April 13th (Mon)
Amstel Gold Race (Holland) April 19th (Sun)
Liège - Bastogne - Liège (Belgium) April 26th (Sun)
(Henninger Turm) (Germanry) May 1st (Fri)
~~Tour de Romandie (Switzerland) May 3rd (Sun)~~

ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) releases the detailed race plans only one or two weeks ahead of the events. I don't like it but I have to accept it. My concern is that the prologue venue in 2009 might not be near Paris since in 2008 it was too remote from Paris (Amilly) and I gave the race up.

The previously-called Rund um den Henninger Turm will be presented with another name in 2009 since the title sponsor Henninger Brewery is no more there. For that matter, Team Saxo Bank - IT Factory will be also presented under another name.

In 2008, I drove to Switzerland to see the last stage but I will have to be probably no show in 2009 since the schedule is too tight.

The schedule above is not yet set. If Team Saxo Bank does not participate in one of the above, I won't probably visit them.

I hope there is someone out there who reads this.

Luxembourg, here I come!

2008-11-29T00:49:00.004+01:00

Wow! I have not updated my blog for a looooong time!
Luxembourg has been, in my mind, the place where I wanted to live for the last
three years or so. Well, I am going to live and work (sometimes I think that
"work" is a four-lettered word) in Luxembourg next year.
I am going to update my blog more often next year.

Congratulations Frank.

2008-06-30T00:41:00.002+02:00

Frank Schleck won the Luxembourg National Championship. I was there to witness
his efforts. And Andy was working hard leading the peloton to catch the breakaway
during the race. Nice team work or brother work!

Later I heard at the "Frank & Andy Schleck Fan Club" hangout in Mondorf les Bains
that Nicki Sorensen and Kurt-Asle Arvesen won the Danish and Norwegian National
Championship respectively.

What a day! Congratulations guys! Now we have 3 guys with road race National
Champions and 1 time trial National Champions in our Team CSC SAXO Bank
team for the Tour de France.

I am sure that this great feat will make those Italian sewing masters busy
for the next couple of days. The deadline (when shipping and delivery takes
about two days or so) is Tuesday or earlier. Can all the three guys wear the
proper champion jersey at the team presentation? I am thrilled to witness that
in Brest on Thursday July 3rd.

Tour de Suisse 2008 Part II

2008-06-23T09:19:00.005+02:00

I am back from Switzerland. I will try to post some pictures and to comment
on them but Tour de Frace is just around the corner so I don't know if I can
find time to do so.

You see, I am following all the stages of TdF this year. I have to prepare for it.

It was a great race. Fabian Cancellara won two stages, Team CSC riders did
very well and showed that they were on form for the TdF. However, the most
important thing is that they finished the race. In other words, coming to the
finish safe and sound is the most important thing.

Frank had an extremely unbelievably huge mega luck to survive that crash
with only scratches, little cuts and a bit of pain in the back.

The day after the crash, at the start in Ambri, I asked him if he was really
really OK. He said, "... Yeah, I've seen better days but ..."

Anyway, I will try to update this blog before TdF.

Hi, Paul. I did not expect to see you on top of Klausenpass.

Tour de Luxebourg 2008 Part VI

2008-06-11T00:24:00.009+02:00

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 Part V

2008-06-11T00:13:00.012+02:00

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Just pictures and this will be edited later...

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 Part IV

2008-06-10T16:32:00.013+02:00

This Portuguese store is located just 70 meters from the Start. It was
June 8th Sunday. The day before that day (Saturday), the Portuguese national
team won a match against Turkey in European Championship (succor or football).
This store owner was happy, I guess. I saw Portuguese flags flying at several
places in Luxembourg. I had not known that there were Portuguese communities
in Luxembourg before that day.

They had flags and other items delicately displayed.

Well, back to the race.

Kurt-Alse Arvesen and Bobby Julich giving out their autographs to fans.

Ditto.

Andy is ready to go with a bunch of snack bars in his back pockets.

Frank Schleck giving out his autograph.

Fabian Cancellara going to the start line.

Team CSC cars.

Andy is being photographed.

The Start gate. Can you see those pink elephants?

Filippo Pozzato signing.

The race is about to start.

Volodymir Gustov just after the start.

Bobby Julich just after the start.

Team Saxo Bank in 2009

2008-06-10T16:22:00.003+02:00

Wow! Riis Cycling has made it known that it has found a new sponsor for
the three upcoming seasons.

Team CSC will be known as Team CSC/Saxo Bank effective immediately and
will be known as Team Saxo Bank starting 2009.

What will the UCI code be? SAX?

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 Part III

2008-06-10T02:31:00.011+02:00

The sky was blue and it was sunny.

What a beautiful place! This is just 50 meters down the Finish gate. I think this
ruined brick structure is called Casemates.

The ville de Luxembourg (the city of Luxembourg) has a dynamic landscape.
It has this deep valley just out side the city center.

The church peak just over the Finish gate is St. Michel.

Beautiful, isn't it?

This is the front view of University of Luxembourg, I think. This photo
was taken while I was driving to ville de Luxembourg from Mersch.

University of Luxembourg

Sure, it was a hot day in Luxembourg but they mean something else
by Hot City. The city of Luxembourg offers these Wifi hot spots.

You see that antenna up there.

Wifi zone, it says.

Calendar and Results (After June 8th)

2008-06-09T09:30:00.002+02:00

My plans for the next few months.

June 15th - 22nd: In Switzerland (Tour de Suisse, Stage 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9)
June 29th Sunday: National Championship (Bochum Germany or other country?)

July 5th - 27th: Tour de France (All the stages including the Team Presentation)

August 24th Sunday: Eneco Tour (Benelux)
August 31st Sunday: Deutschland Tour

September 1st Monday: Deutschland Tour
September 7th Sunday: Vattenfall Cyclassics (GER)

Autograph collection:

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen
Jens Voigt
Andy Schleck
Nicki Sørensen
Michael Bludzun
Alexndr Kolobnev
Kaper Klostergaard
Bobby Julich
Gustav Erik Larsson
Fränk Schleck
Carlos Sastre Candil
Chiris Anker Sørensen
Lars Bak
Volodymir Gustov
Jurgen Van Goolen
Juan José Haedo
Fabian Cancellara

Hopefully, I will get these men to give their autographs on my jersey.
27. Inigo Cuesta Lopez de Castro (during Tour de France, I think he will be there)
28. Bradley McGee (Eneco Tour?? or Deutschland Tour??)
29. Jason McCartney (Eneco Tour?? or Deutschland Tour??)

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 Part II

2008-06-08T21:38:00.015+02:00

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 (Stage 4 Mersch - Luxembourg) June 8th 2008.

I left for Mersch 07:00 in the morning and arrived 09:50. Around 10:40,
team cars began to arrive. While waiting for the Team CSC riders to come
out, I checked their bikes.

The O, Symetric chainring on Bobby Julich's spare bike. The bike has
Ultegra FD equipped on it.

Ultegra is visible.

Only Andy Schleck's bike had this Alpha Q's new GS-40 fork.

Fabian Cancellara's Soloist has this sticker on it. You know by now what
Tony M. means or who it is if you are a Team CSC fan.

Tony's crank set is a bit suspicious.

I saw this similarly suspicious crank in 2007 in Kuurne (Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne) used
by Lars Bak. Back then, it had FSA sticker on it. You can clearly see the remnants
of the sticker.

The work place for the Team CSC boys. As far as I remember,
Tony M., Bobby Julich, Kurt-Asle Arvesen had SRM. Who else had one?
I think there were four bikes with SRM.

The race bike of Bobby's had this roughly machined O, Symetric chainring.
It is just machined but not refined. It does not even have the logo on it.

You can see the rough edges. The FD is a Dura-Ace model.

Voiture balai

This voiture balai had a programable LED board on board. It reads "TDL."

Calendar and Results 2008

2008-06-02T23:45:00.005+02:00

My plans for the next few months.

June 8th Sunday: Skoda Tour de Luxembourg
June 15th - 22nd: In Switzerland (Tour de Suisse, Stage 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9)
June 29th Sunday: National Championship (Bochum Germany or other country?)

July 5th - 27th: Tour de France (All the stages including the Team Presentation)

August 24th Sunday: Eneco Tour (Benelux)
August 31st Sunday: Deutschland Tour

September 1st Monday: Deutschland Tour
September 7th Sunday: Vattenfall Cyclassics (GER)

Autograph collection:

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen
Jens Voigt
Andy Schleck
Nicki Sørensen
Michael Bludzun
Alexndr Kolobnev
Kaper Klostergaard
Bobby Julich
Gustav Erik Larsson
Fränk Schleck
Carlos Sastre Candil
Chiris Anker Sørensen
Lars Bak
Volodymir Gustov
Jurgen Van Goolen

Hopefully, I will get these men to give their autographs on my jersey.
25. Juan José Haedo (at Td Luxembourg or Td Suisse)
26. Fabian Cancellara (ditto)
27. Inigo Cuesta Lopez de Castro (during Tour de France, I think he will be there)
28. Bradley McGee (Eneco Tour?? or Deutschland Tour??)
29. Jason McCartney (Eneco Tour?? or Deutschland Tour??)

Bayern-Rundfahrt 2008 Part II

2008-06-02T11:51:00.017+02:00

I predicted (or at least knew) where they were going to put up the sign
indicating the beginning of the feed zone. And they were exactly where I
thought they would be!

By taking a look at the document on the organizer's site and at the picture
from Google Earth, I predicted the point as "N49 52.237 E10 48.879". Here is
the actual photo of the signs.

As you can see it was a hot summer day down there. Around 9:00 the temperature
was already 24 degrees Celsius and in the afternoon it was over or close to
30 degrees Celsius.

The end of the feed zone was at the end (in the direction of the race) of the
village called Unteraurach. I thought the signs would be at the beginning
of the village. I missed them by 100 meters. Here is the photo. You are
looking at the village from the opposite direction of the race course.

Around 11:40?, the first team car arrived there. It was a Credit Agricole car. By 12:00,
most of the team cars were there.

Here are the team cars. You can see the rough location by looking at the
road sign.

Our Team CSC car was also there.　At the feed zone, I picked up three musettes
and two bidons. Three musettes were of Aqua & Sapone Caffe Mokambo, Topsport
Vlaanderen and Wiesenhof-Felt. Two bidons were of Thuringer Energie and
Team Gerolsteiner.

... Wait a minute! Wiesenhof-Felt? This team ceased to exist at the end of 2007.
Who used this musette?

At the finish.

There was still this small breakaway when the race arrived at the finish. They were to make one
more round.

So Team Milram had to keep the pace up for the race leader,
Christian Knees. They were to catch the breakaway in the following round.

Eventually, the race was won by Heinrich Haussler of Team Gerolsteiner.
I did not know he was participating in BRR, but the moment I saw a jumpy
feisty man in Gerolsteiner jersey at the finish line, his name came to my mind.

Team CSC riders. Lars Bak and Karsten Kroon after the finish.

Karsten Kroon

Marcus Ljungqvist receiving a bottle of some cold drink and the instructions how to get to
the cars where he could change and rest.

After this, I went to a bit remote place on foot where Team CSC cars parked and waiting for the riders to come home. They were friendly. I had fun hanging out there.

Bayern-Rundfahrt 2008 Part I

2008-05-26T12:55:00.003+02:00

Team CSC accepted the invitation at the last minute. Team CSC participates
2008 edition of Bayern-Rundfahrt.
According to

Bayern-Rundfahrt (planned) participants according to Team CSC official site.

Lars Bak
Matti Breschel
Lasse Bøchman
Karsten Kroon
Marcus Ljungqvist
Stuart O'Grady
André Steensen

And according to Cyclingnews.com, Bradley McGee is also participating.
We may have two Aussies with broken collarbones. If and when McGee is
there, I will get his autograph.

Team CSC announced that they would participate in BR on May 21st. Until
then I had no plan of going to see the race. I will go visit the riders on Sunday,
June 1st. The parcours is between Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale and Erlangen with
a feed zone somewhere between Mühlendorf and Unteraurach. I am planning to
see the start, feed zone and finish if possible.

Tour de Luxembourg (planned) participants according to Team CSC official site.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Fabian Cancellara
Volodymir Gustov
Juan José Haedo
Bobby Julich
Stuart O'Grady
Andy Schleck
Fränk Schleck

It will be the first time this season for me to see JJ Haedo. I will get his autograph.
And I will get one from Fabian Cancellara. I could get it at Roubaix but I held out
on it.

If I get McGee to autograph my jersey at BR and Haedo and Cancellara to do so
at TdL, my jersey will be loaded with 27 autographs. Two more to go then.

Iñigo Cuesta Lopez de Castro and Jason McCartney must give me their autograph.

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré participants according to Team CSC official site.

Lars Bak
Iñigo Cuesta Lopez de Castro
Alexandr Kolobnev
Karsten Kroon
Carlos Sastre Candil
Chris Anker Sørensen
Nicki Sørensen
Jurgen Van Goolen

Last year I was there to see all the stages. It was great! I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed
painting on the street.

Unfortunately this year I decided not to be there simply because the race is held in
a "too remote" region. Avignon is over 800km from my home. Instead, I decided to
see Tour de Suisse.

Tour de Swiss 2008 Part I

2008-05-12T11:44:00.004+02:00

The event is held 14th to 22nd of June this year. Last year I followed
all the stages of Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. It was fun! I intended
to do the same this year but it turned out the first couple of stages
would be held tooooo far away from my home in Germany. Shame!

So I switched to Tour de Swiss. Switzerland is not too far.

I intend to visit Switzerland between 15th and 22nd. I cannot follow
all the stages simply because I have to be careful about the money. Tour
de France is nearing and I know I spend a lot of dough in July.

My plan for the moment, I will ...

Stage 1:14th (Saturday) be working and will miss out on the stage
Stage 2:15th (Sunday) be in Langnau im Emmental
Stage 3:16th (Monday) be somewhere and training on my bike
Stage 4:17th (Tuesday) ditto
Stage 5:18th (Wednesday) be at Lukmanierpass
Stage 6:19th (Thursday) be in Ambri, I guess
Stage 7:20th (Friday) camp out at Klausenpass and be painting
Stage 8:21st (Saturday) be at Klausenpass
Stage 9:22nd (Sunday) be in Bern

This way, I will save some money while having fun and can train
myself to be fit for Tour de France.

Reference altitudes and longitudes

Langnau im Emmental (N46 56.397 E7 47.144) The Start of Stage 1 and 2
Altdorf (N46 52.964 E8 38.490) The Start of Stage 8 and 9. William Tell?
Bern Finish (N46 57.710 E7 27.946) The Finish of Stage 9
Klausenpass (N46 52.103 E8 51.379) The Finish of Mountain ITT, Stage 8
Mauensee (N47 10.025 E8 04.333) The ravitaillement of Stage 9
Lukmanierpass (N46 33.797 E8 48.068) A category 1 mountain top of Stage 5
Ambri (N46 30.851 E8 40.912) The start of Stage 6 and it is an airport

You can copy what is between ( ) above and paste it in "Fly to" in Google Earth.

Tour de Luxembourg 2008 Part I

2008-05-12T11:08:00.005+02:00

I had thought that this site
(http://www.tdl.lu/) was the official site of the organizer of
"Tour de Luxebourg". I recently found that I could have been wrong.

I found this site by Škoda Auto Luxembourg (http://www.skoda-auto.lu/).
You can follow the link from the menu above "Škoda Tour" to
"2008 edition". And additionally, this Škoda site
points to another site, which seems to be the official site of the
Tour. (http://toupatcri.googlepages.com/skoda-tourdeluxembourg)

I intend to visit Luxembourg Sunday June 8th to watch the last
stage of the event. I will join Schleck fan club people at "Côte de Clausen"
Côte de Clausen is the finish but before the race finished there, riders
pass that point several times. That would be a great place to sit and
enjoy.

If you use Google Earth, you can see how these places look
like from the sky.
I use Garmin MapSource (since I own a Garmin GPS navigation system)
and Google Earth to locate (more like to decipher the blunt descriptions
found on organizer's web site) the points I would like to be on the route.

Mersch (M49 45.000 E6 06.347) The Start
Stafelter (N4939.508 E6 10.540) The ravitaillement, I guess

You can copy what is between ( ) above and paste it in "Fly to" in Google Earth.

Calendar and Results 2008 (May 4th)

2008-05-07T10:01:00.005+02:00

Autograph collection after Rund um den Henninger-Turm (01. 05. 2008)
and Tour de Romandie (04. 05. 2008)

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen
Jens Voigt
Andy Schleck
Nicki Sørensen
Michael Bludzun
Alexndr Kolobnev
Kaper Klostergaard
Bobby Julich
Gustav Erik Larsson
Fränk Schleck
Carlos Sastre Candil
Chiris Anker Sørensen
Lars Bak
Volodymir Gustov
Jurgen Van Goolen

24 riders so far.

Next stop.
June 8th Tour de Luxembourg (last stage)
June (15th - 22nd) Tour de Swiss (several stages?)

July 5th - 27th Tour de France (all stages including the team presentation ceremony)

Rund um den Henninger-Turm Part II

2008-05-06T15:49:00.007+02:00

Shortly before the start, participating team were introduced. Our
Team CSC riders are here.

47th edition of Rund um den Henninger-Turm is on.

André Steensen notices that the glove on Matthew Goss's right hand
is different from the ones on sale for the general public in Team
CSC's webshop. Team riders' equipment (jerseys and etc.) are
specially made for the team and we (general public) can not get them.

Silence-Lotto.

Team Milram.
While the team presentation was on, Marco Velo had fun making fun of
a German photographer. He silently pantomimed comically that the
photographer directly in front of him should cut off the annoying
curly mustache(big Kaiser's mustache).

This is the famous German photographer.

Rund um den Henninger-Turm

2008-05-06T09:53:00.014+02:00

May 1st, traditionally known as May Day, I went to see Rund um den Henninger-Turm.
It was my third time to be there. I was there in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

I drove directly to the feed zone (ravitaillement) in the morning. I was there
around 3:00 in the morning! I took a brief nap and then started painting around
4:00 in the morning.

The bike of the winner in the morning. Tony had just checked out his bike.

At the brief team presentation, Karsten Kroon is being interviewed. The man
asked him what his tactics for the race would be that day. Karsten answered in
German (I did not get the exact words as my German is poor) that he would
try to finish in front of others at the finish. The audience laughed but who
had the last laugh? Karsten Kroon himself as he did it!!!

Andy's bike had the SRM transmitter. You could watch his output on TV
thanks to this equipment. You saw that "A. Schleck 400W" or something
on the screen, didn't you?

Karsten, Matthew and Andy preparing for the race.

For Karsten Kroon. The winner of the race. I hope he saw his name.

For Matthew Goss. My camera responds so slowly that I did not notice
at the time when I took this picture that a car was running over his
name. Maybe I need a better camera.

For Andy Schleck. Notice the "Ma" above? It is part of Ma-tthew.

For Andre Steensen.

For Lasse Bochman

For Lars Bak.

And the CSC logo.

to be continued......

Tour de Romandie 2008 Part I

2008-05-05T16:14:00.006+02:00

I will start updating my blog this week. It has been an up-hill
battle since March 24th when I went to 24th Rund um Köln. Since
this Monday I have been to so many races on weekends.

Now I have some time to organize this blog and sort out the
pictures I took.

Come back in a week; sometime late May and you will see the results.
To begin with, I upload two photos I took at TdR.

I picked up two musettes from Team CSC at the Ravitaillement. Who
discareded those musettes? I know from the pictures below that
Volodymir Gustov and Kasper Klostergaard passed by me with the bags.
This fact eliminates these two riders since I found the bags about 200
meters before the point where I was. And the picture of Jens Voigt without
the bag may suggest that he dropped one of them.

Jens Voigt without the bag.

Two Team CSC riders with the bags.

Calendar and results 2008

2008-04-14T23:28:00.004+02:00

Autograph collection after Critérium International (30. 03. 08)
and after Paris-Roubaix (13. 04. 08)

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen
Jens Voigt
Andy Schleck
Nicki Sorensen
Michael Bludzun
Alexndr Kolobnev
Kaper Klostergaard
Bobby Julich
Gustav Erik Larsson
Fränk Schleck

I could ask Fabian Cancellara to give his autograph after the finish at Roubaix but
decided that I should wait until sometime later this season. He did not show it but
he was deeply downhearted. It was not the right moment. I missed Lars Bak, too.
I will get him soon.

The next schedule: Amstel Gold race and Liège - Bastogne - Liège

I will have Jurgen Van Goolen and Carlos Sastre autograph my jersey!

At the first ravitaillement (Paris-Roubaix 2008). Tom Boonen is there!

Paris-Roubaix 2008 Part II

2008-04-14T15:47:00.008+02:00

The cobblestones.

The three leading riders are passing over those special stones.

In 2005, Tom Boonen won.

In 2006, Fabian Cancellara won.

In 2007, Stuart O'Grady won. Look, the sand around the stone is relatively new and
no grass!

Ronde van Vlaanderen 2008 Part I

2008-04-14T14:53:00.004+02:00

I will put up some more pictures later.

The world champion (women) Martha Bastianelli. 200 meters after the start.

Tom Boonen passing the top of Koppenberg before anybody else.

Paris-Roubaix 2008 Part I

2008-04-14T14:42:00.010+02:00

I will put up more pictures later.

Tony M.'s bike at Roubaix, who came in the second.

Actually, it is Fabian's bike. An article on cyclngnews.com says
it is from Tony Montana in the movie Scarface.

Obviously, Fabian likes the Tony Montana's 'The world is yours' so much
he's got this on the top tube.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen at about 200 meters after the neutralized start. He
spotted me and greeted me. This says it all. He is genuinely a nice guy, I can
tell you.

This is Fabian Cancellara doing the same to me. He is great, too.

This is 10 meters before the last turn (before entering the velodrome).
Fabian is about to discard his bidon. And I got this bidon!! I also got his
musette at the second ravitaillement. Lucky me!

And this is the very bidon that Fabian Cancellara threw away. As you
can see, the bidon is well scratched (or abraded) due to the dirt
on the bottlecage and the vibration while riding on the cobblestones.
It landed on the grass before being picked up by me so it does not
have scratches from rolling on the surface of the road.

Critérium International 2008 Part I

2008-04-04T23:46:00.015+02:00

The 2008 edition of Critérium International was held on 29th-30th
March. I visited the last two stages on Sunday.

This young man of Skil-Shimno recently gained a lot of attention
when he made his mark on the climb of Paris-Nice. Clément Lhôtellerie
is his name. Here he was being interviewed.

The interviewer is a friendly guy. I met him in 2007 at Paris-Nice (Paris),
Critérium International, Dauphiné Libéré and possibly at other race events.

Laurens Ten Dam. He was wearing the yellow leader jersey. I think his
bar tape was freshly taped for this occasion courtesy of Rabobank mechanic.
Unfortunately he had to give the jersey up to Jens Voigt.

A Française des Jeux rider and a bunch of Cofidis riders heading to the start.

Another Française des Jeux rider.

What is the significance of the photo? Can you tell me? The answer is
shown all the way down this entry. I give you possible answers that you
can choose from.

The woman walking ahead of me is Naomi Campbell.
You can see a mysterious creature on the lake, like "Nessie".
Bouygues Telecom rider is making the final preparation before the race.

The start. You can see Ten Dam.

I think the man sticking upper torso from the official car is Christian Prudhomme.
I saw him later at the finish.

There he is! The winner-to-be, Jens Voigt.

Immediately after the finish, Jens Voigt congratulated Gerrans.

Gerrans happy and being congratulated by the team staff.

The Anwer: 3

A rider was called by the nature and had to go before the start.

Calendar and results 2008

2008-03-27T01:24:00.002+01:00

Autograph collection after RuK (24.03.08)

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen
Jens Voigt
Andy Schleck
Nicki Sorensen
Michael Bludzun
Alexndr Kolobnev
Kaper Klostergaard

Critérium International (30. 03. 08)
I will try to get these men's autograph.

Bobby Julich
Gustav Erik Larsson
Fränk Schleck

Rund um Köln 2008 Part III

2008-03-27T01:06:00.006+01:00

Monday, 24th March 2008. Still drizzling and chilly.

Chronological notes: (to be completed later)
I left the camping site around 7:10 in the morning. I arrived at the
"Sportpark Leverkusen" around 7:30. It was coudy and chilly morning.

I had barely slept the previous night so I needed a short nap in the
parking lot just behind the Sportpark Leverkusen. As I lay back, I
noticed that it started to SNOW. This did it!

to be continued...

Team Gerolsteiner's mechanics making an instant fender (mudguard)
out of a cut mineral water bottle (very possibly Gerolsteiner mineral water).
Unfortunately, these devices were to be dismounted soon.

Erik Zabel's bike. I saw his devoted wife with that dog. I saw her father, too.

Milram bikes.

I think this is the bike of Gerald Ciolek's. It has a Zipp 404 wheel set insted of
Shimano Dura-Ace. Of course the stickers are stripped.

Andy Schleck giving his autograph.

Jens Voigt giving his autograph.

Nicki Sørensen and Michael Blaudzun relaxed.

Red, white and blue signifies the Luxembourg's national flag.

Andy Schleck's supporter, I guess. Check out the URL!

Rund um Köln 2008 Part II

2008-03-26T23:52:00.007+01:00

Sunday, 23rd March 2008. Temperature around 3 to 4 degrees Celsius and
sunny /partly clouded.

40 meter before the finish. This street is with in an commercial or
industrial complex. As you can see, Schwalbe and Milram are the
main contributors to the race.

40 meters behind this barricade, there is a finish line.

I walked along the street and then saw the Milram trailer arrive.
This trailer has been spotted at the finish of various races (as far as I
remember, Bayern Rundfahrt, Drei Lander Tour and Rund um Köln)
Inside this trailor, there are promotional gadgets for Milram products
and Team Milram.

Monday, 24th March 2008. It was cloudy and chilly in the morning.

I arrived at the Stadium (soccer) around 7:30 and it started to snow!

It snowed and snowed until ...

One hour later, there was 3 cm of snowfall in the area.

This is the parking lot in front of the hotel. Bike racing, anyone?

Dan Dryer. At the McDonald's I took this picture. This Dan Dryer
is popular in Germany. I see them a lot. It is a Danish product.

Check it out and find about it.

Mechanics of Silence-Lotto used this Honda power generator to fire up the
air compressor.

It is nice to have a power generator while you go on a camping trip.

This is the men's room of Linderhotel, where most of the participants were
staying. Why did I take the picture of the men's room?

So this is what we aim at. It makes us, men, feel compelled to aim
our cannon at this annoying fly. It is a psychologically compulsive
habit for us. Men are natural fire fighters, gunslingers or something.

This ploy makes men use the john clean as it induces less sprinkles.
OK, this is a man thing.

to be continued ...

Rund um Köln 2008 Part I

2008-03-24T17:19:00.004+01:00

This photo was taken just a block away from the start. This says it all.

Abgesagt! In other words, cancelled. Cancelled because of snow!

Nothing happened!

It was around 2:30 PM Sunday March 23rd, one day before the race.
I was driving on the Autobahn. As you can see, the sky was cloudy
and there were patches of snow along the way. The road is dry.

It started to snow a bit. The road is wet.

Suddenly, it was fine. This was around 3:00 PM. Urbacher Wald.

I recently purchased a set of roof carrier and a roof box. That day,
I saw so many cars with roof boxes. You can see three cars with boxes
in this picture.

Horses or ponies.

This is one of 4 CSC logos I painted at the feedzone. Look the sky is
blue and although the temperature was around 3 or 4 Celsius, it was
warm under the sun.

The yellow sign is the "feedzone start" sign presented by Schwalbe. Last
year, there was a big screen TV (satellite) and one or two "Wurst"
and drink stands there for the audience. Some team stuff members were
there and enjoyed the festivities.

One of my efforts. No riders were to see my efforts. Pity!

to be continued...

Camping (cooking, eating and etc.)

2008-03-12T01:49:00.002+01:00

It is necessary to eat. We live to eat or eat to live. While away from
home camping, eating is fun. Even cooking is fun at times.

In 2007 I bought a cooker set from Trangia. It is a set of 2 pans, a frypan
and the alcohol burner with a windshield. It worked fine. I used it
during Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and Tour de France in 2007.

This distilled alcohol (Spiritus or Brennspiritus in German, Alcool a bruler in French)
is easy to locate (at supermarkets) and not expensive.

Cooking at camping sites beside the tent was fun. I could prepare my lunch
while waiting for the race to pass at the feed zone. I prepared a meal on top
of le Mont Ventoux. Even under that extreme condition (that incessant strong wind),
Trangia worked perfectly. I am now convinced that Trangia is the right choice.

Trangia works fine. It is, however, not optimal if you just want to drink a cup of hot
coffee because of the assembly hustle. I obtained the JetBoil personal cooking system.
In 2008, this item will accompany me along with the Trangia.

On the other hand, shopping for food was not so much fun. I was always
pressed for time. Following a stage race is a stop and go situation. Occasional
shopping was necessary, of course. Shopping is time consuming.

It has something to do with the l'autoroute (motorway, highway) in France.
It is a toll way and you have to pay as you go.

In Germany driving on the highway (Autobahn) is free, at least you
don't pay at the toll gate each time. In Switzerland you purchase a vignette,
a sticker that shows that you have paid the yearly toll. In Austria
I always bought a vignette valid for 10 days.

Since driving on the highway costs, I avoided the l'autoroute in France when
possible.

There are huge supermarket chains in France like Carrefour, Géant or E.Leclerc.
They call those supermarkets "hypermarché". I realized that finding
these supermarkets as quickly as possible was essential. So this year
I already plotted those supermarkets along the TdF 2008 parcours
as waypoints in my Garmin StreetPilot.

Ma Voiture (Mercedez-Benz A-Class)

2008-03-10T13:11:00.003+01:00

My automobile has now a roof carrier and a roof box on it. I bought and installed
the Thule Atlantis 200 and Atera Signo. Here is the photo. The box is big enough
for my wheel set and other stuff so that while on a race watch trip my A-Class is
less cluttered inside.

The only problem is that I have to be really careful where I go. In other words,
some underground parking lots have a height limit of 2 m and 20 cm or so. My
A-Class now is almost 220cm tall.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part VII

2008-03-09T22:11:00.008+01:00

Other picutres from Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2008

Team Milram uses Garmin GPS equipment on their bikes. This equipment
is expensive, thus well protected. The bikes are set aside the bus without them and
the riders come with them and set the equipment on their bikes.

Some Skil-Shimano riders had these brakes on their bikes. I think they
are prototype of Shimano brakes. It is CNC machined prototype. From the
way they looked, the main objective of this new brakes is "lightweight".

Look at the way the aluminum alloy is shaved and carved.

I heard the new release of Shimano Dura Ace is coming. The
new Dura Ace series goes lightweight this time?

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part VI

2008-03-09T10:10:00.000+01:00

The weather had held up. It was impossible to take good pictures with
my small digital camera.

His mustache has given him a great popularity. Steven Cozza has
inspired his colleague, ex-Team CSC man, Dave Zabriskie. I can't
wait to see Dave with his version of Cozza impersonation.

This is, I believe, Anders Lund.

This is, I believe, Marcus Ljungqvist. He crashed but survived it and
finished the race.

This is Tom Boonen after the finish, heading to the bus.
He looks depleted and a bit disappointed.

This is Leif Hoste after the finish, heading to the bus. Look at the
poor little boy with his autograph book. This little boy recognized
Hoste and started running along him begging for his autograph.

I think the boy said something like, "Hoste, please give me your
autograph, please." (of course in Flemish or something) Leif,
however, refused to stop and take a moment to do so. I don't
want to imagine what had become of this heartbroken little boy
afterwards.

Matti Breschel and Anders Lund??? after the finish, heading to the bus.

I met this cat at an autobahn rest area in Belgium. On my way home I had
to fill the car up. After filling up, I wanted to rest (and sleep) a
while in the parking lot in the back of the gas station.

This seemingly less-than-one-year-old cat was looking for food, I thought.
It (he or she), I believe, was a homeless cat living in this area.

I gave what I had: sliced smoked pork meat and some cheese.

Autograph collection after KBK (02.03.08)

Stuart O'Grady
Karsten Kroon
Allan Johansen
Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Matthew Goss
Anders Lund
Matti Breschel
Marcus Ljungqvist
Lasse Bøchman
André Steensen

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part V

2008-03-08T00:11:00.001+01:00

The publicity caravan.

Cargo vans running amok.

Ditto.

Cargo trucks running amok.

Fuel transport trucks running amok.

This car ran ahead of the race with a funny music, "Rodania".
What is Rodania? It seems that it is a watch manufacturing firm.

These are the riders who came first at the feed zone.

Lasse Bochman came a bit after the break group.

After the feed zone. Karsten Kroon is looking at me or looking at
the general area where I was.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part IV

2008-03-06T09:57:00.011+01:00

This is the street where riders pass directly after the start. People
are waiting for the race to start.

People are waiting.

Horses. I know horses.

A typical sleepy countryside village in Belgium.

The road is broad and separate bicycle lane is also there. I wish all the
streets are like this. I understand in Belgium or Netherlands bicycle lanes
are very common and bikers are well respected.

I thought I had a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere before realizing
what was ahead of me in the distance.

See the riders?

You see the team cars passing the roundabout.

This is the roundabout where some rider crashed and I had
to wait while the race passed. They came on N8.

The riders are not part of the race. This stretch of road are actual
race course. I saw quite a lot of road racers along the course.

These motorhomes are there for the race. They were already on the
move when I passed. I saw another motorhome with a big logo
of "Jimmy Casper Fan Club" on it. People are really enjoying the race
in Belgium.

It is an electrical technician shop (equipment installation work, I guess).
The name Bruneel looked similar to Bruyneel as Johan Bruyneel of
Astana. It must be a common name in Belgium.

Once again. I kept seeing this name of beer again and again.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part III

2008-03-04T23:55:00.016+01:00

While waiting for the riders to come out of the bus, I usually say
hello to the staff members and take pictures of the equipment.

Here are the bikes, Cervélo R3 2008 white with Zipp wheels, 3T
stems and dropbars, FSA crank sets, Alpha Q forks and Prologo saddles.

Some of the bikes had this Cervélo logo stem caps. How can I get this?
Are they sold somewhere?

The spare bikes on the roof of the team cars are also R3's.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen are giving out his autograph.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen won't stiff his fans the autograph.

I don't have any pictures of other riders because my hands were holding
on to the pens and not the camera.

I got all of them autograph my Team CSC 2008 jersey, which I got the
preceding Friday from the Team CSC webshop.

Arvesen recognized the new jersey and said, "Hey, you've got the new jersey!"

Here are their bikes.

51 Stuart O'Grady

52 Karsten Kroon

53 Allan Johansen

54 Kurt-Asle Arvesen

55 Matthew Harley Goss

56 Anders Lund

57 Matti Breschel

58 Marcus Ljungqvist

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part II

2008-03-04T00:28:00.005+01:00

I am not sure if I should write this but I just have to.

Here is something I found while driving to and back from the
Ravitaillement. I saw a beer brewery called "Roman" nearby so
I guess the Roman brewery produces this brand of beer.

Under the dark cloudy sky, a small pub drew my attention.

I am sorry? What does the sign say?

I could not help reading this beer's name as ENEMA.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kruune Report Part I

2008-03-03T11:08:00.010+01:00

Here is what I did. It is drawn by me at the Ravitallement.

I left for Kuurne (from Germany, where I live) around 01:00 Sunday
morning and arrived in Kuurne around 7:45 in the morning. I took a
nap in the car and then walked to the Start around 9:30.

There were some activities already going on at the Start. Last year
I did not look around the area so I did not know what the building
at the Start was. This year I had to go (nature's call) so I asked a
very friendly family (a father and his son, obviously avid cycling
fans, being there so early in the morning!!) and went for a walk around
the buidling where my destination was. I was surprised to realize that
there was a dirt horse race track behind the buidling.
(No wonder the winner's trophy looks like a horse head!
Actually, I learned it was a donkey head but close enough.)

The sign board was set before the small stands where, usually,
a bunch of horse race fans sit. There were also some carts drawn by
horses training in the crispy chilly moring air at the track.

There is a horse racing track behind this stage.

This sign says you must not smoke while answering the nature's call.
Rook obviously means smoking in English and Rauch in German.
Verbod in Flemish?? means forbidden in English and verboten (adj or pp)
and Verbot (noun) in German. How hard could it be to guess what the
sign says?

This sign says you may smoke here.

Here you go, the "Hippodroom - Kuurne".

Droom is, I guess, same as drome as in Velodrome in Roubaix, where
Fabian Cancellara in 2006 and Stuart O'Grady in 2007 won the Paris-Roubaix.

In the background, you can see a tiny "two-wheel one-horse-carriage".

Tom Boonen and others at Hippodroom.

Bram Tankink in a Tank.

Evans and some sprinters at the Hippodroom.

This was the only Frank V.D.B that day. He did not take part in KBK.

I had a chat with a local man and he told me that Frank lived only
30km from Kuurne. Obviously he needs to be "red-carpeted" in.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, here I come!

2008-02-25T16:11:00.005+01:00

Please click on the banner above and sign in! Let Levi Ride!

Race watch schedule of 2008 update. A lot of Germany races fell due
to lack of sponsors.

The first race I will watch is Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in Belgium
on Sunday, Marth 2nd. The organizer hurriedly updated the
participants list. "Hurriedly" because they misspelled a lot of names
and were wrong about their nationalities. Who is "Arvesen Kurt-Atle"
from "(DEN)" Denmark? Who is "Lungqvist Marcus" from "(NOR)" Norway?
Take a look at the official site!

I am happy because:

I can see Team CSC riders and staff.
I can see other riders, staff and people.

I am not sure if:

I can get Team CSC jersey and other items by Saturday from here.
I can get "HARDEN THE F*@K UP" wrist bands by Saturday from here.
the weather will be fine. The forecast says it will be a rainy day.

My schedule now looks like this.

March
2nd Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne (BEL)
24th Rund um Köln (GER)
30th Critérium International (FRA)

April
6th Ronde van Vlaanderen (BEL)
13th Paris - Roubaix (FRA)
20th Amstel Gold Race (NED)
27th Liège - Bastogne - Liège (BEL)

May
1st Rund um den Henninger Turm (GER)
4th Tour de Romandie (SUI) Le Bouveret - Lausanne

June
8th Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg (LUX)
8-15th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (FRA) or W.C. in September
22nd Tour de Suisse (SUI)
29th National Championship (GER) in Bochum

July
5-27th Tour de France (FRA)

August
3rd Sparkassen Giro Bochum (GER)
24th Eneco Tour (LUX) ???
31st Deutschland Tour (GER) ???

September
7th Vattenfall Cyclassics (GER)
24th World Championship ITT (ITA) ???
28th World Championship (ITA) ???

A.S.O. (Let Levi Ride!) announced more details of TdF 2008 Parcours.
Now I am planning where I will be in each stage.

Let Levi Ride!

2008-02-17T23:34:00.004+01:00

Let Levi Ride! I knew about this when I read an article at cyclingnews.com.

I support Levi. He does not ride for Team CSC but I met his family at
Tour de France 2007. They are nice people. I wrote about our
chance meeting somewhere in this blog.

Anyway, what matters is that I support this movement.

Here are some banners that you can download from letLeviRide.com.

I am planning of (only planning because I don't know exactly how
much those T-Shirt, Hat and Sticker cost including the shipping charges)
getting those items from this site and wearing at race events,
like Critérium International, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège
since they are held by A.S.O.

If possible (if I had the time to do so), I will paint letLeviRide.com
on the road somewhere along the parcours to let people know about the
movement.

TdF 2007: Les petits cadeaux Part V

2008-01-31T23:38:00.000+01:00

Les petits cadeaux Part V

Item number: 015

The Panach' caravan.

A key ring with its miniature model product

It comes in a plastic bag and a folded coupon.

You get a discount price for this coupon.

Item number: 021
A key ring

21. Etap hotel caravan.

(the front view pic will be added here)

The back.

Item number: 020
A lanyard

20. The roadsign caravan.

It comes like this (in a plastic bag)

Inside, you find this.

Item number: 002-1
The LCL bag

2. The LCL caravan.

Item number: 002-2
The LCL cap
This is the one I did not get. OK in 2008.

Item number: 014
A reflection band

14. The Kleber caravan.

(picture will be added)

In this picture the one below is the band from Kleber. The one above is
from Festina.

TdF 2007: Les petits cadeaux Part IV

2008-01-30T16:37:00.001+01:00

Les petits cadeaux Part IV

Item number: 044-1
RMC megaphone

44. The RMC caravan.

Just like the huge brother on the caravan pickup.

Item number: 044-2
RMC Haribo sweets

Something to eat is alway welcome.

Item number: 005-1
Douche Soin Yogurt with Aloe Vera

5. The Gel Douche Fa caravan.

The front

The back

I did not know that Fa is a brand by Schwarzkopf. On the back of
the product, "Schwarzkopf & Henkel" is clearly written.

It was not before I came to live in Germany that I understood
what "Schwarzkopf" really meant. Black head as it logo suggests.

Item number: 005-2
Douche Soin Yoghurt with Coconut

The front

The back

Item number: 006-1
The ubiquitous Skoda hat

6. The Skoda caravan.

Item number: 006-2
A Skoda Fabia miniature car

Item number: 035
A Caisse d'Epargne mascot squirrel

35. The Caisse d'Epargne caravan.

The back.

Item number: 022-1
Cochonou mini salami

22. The Cochonou caravan.

Yummy! No doubt that this was one of the most sought after
items. It simply tastes damn gooood!

Item number: 022-2
Cochonou car front shield shade (I guess)

This item is, I think, extremely rare. Everyday one way or another
I kept watching the publicity caravan go by but I have seen the Cochonou
caravan give out this shade only once and that was when I got this.

TdF 2007: Les petits cadeaux Part III

2008-01-29T00:55:00.001+01:00

Les petits cadeaux Part III

Item number: 009-1
9. The T-Mobile caravan.

Item number 009-2
T-Mobile T-shirt shape inflatable

Item number: 025
25. The Tele 7 Jours caravan.

Playing cards.

Item number: 041
41. The Sapeurs-Pompiers caravan.

Firefighters' organization?

Item number: 024-1
(the small hand)
24. The PMU caravan.

Item number: 024-2
(the big hand, to be uploaded)

Item number: 018-1
18. The Antargaz caravan.

Item number 018-2
A key ring

Item number: 045-1
45. The Festina caravan.

Item number 045-2
(to be uploaded) A safety reflection band

Kleber also distributed a similar band. Did I say similar? I meant
almost identical.

Item number: 019
19. The Cofidis caravan.

This, I think, can be used to hold you small change.

Item number: 011
11. The Supermarche Champion caravan.

This requires no explanations if you know TdF.

TdF 2007: Les petits cadeaux Part II

2008-01-28T23:47:00.000+01:00

Les petits cadeaux Part II

Item number: 003
3. The SeaFrance caravan.

The ballpoint pen was protected like this.

You find this inside.

You can pull their message out.

Item number: 032-1
32. The Bouygues Telecom caravan.

The front design is like this. It was really hard to get this T-shirt.
I got it at the feed zone of Stage 11. Isn't this cool? The item is rare and
was really sought after.

This is the back side of the T-shirt.

Item number: 032-2
The CD "Tout partout où on passe"

They threw this CD a lot. Everybody had more than needed.

Item number: 036-1
36. The Aujourd'hui caravan.

They throw this small tote bag and you find their newspaper inside it.

Item number: 036-2

This small package contains a kind of frisbee inside.

This is a frisbee, I think. Anyway, it is a toy that you can
play with by throwing and catching it.

Item number: 012
12. The Ancel Bretzels caravan by Dr. Oetker.

This makes us thirsty because it is a bit salty. And then the thirst can be
quenched by the Aquarel mineral water. Perfect combination!

TdF 2007: Les petits cadeaux Part I

2008-01-28T14:36:00.000+01:00

OK, finally I start uploading the pictures and their smple descriptions.
It is going to take some time to get them right. So be patient!

In the picutres you will also see a one Euro coin. It is there to show
the size of the petits cadeaux. Of course, you already know what
petits cadeaux mean, right? Les petits cadeaux mean the little
gifts or presents (a.k.a freebies).

By the way, one Euro coin measures 23 mm (about an inch) in
diameter.

Item number: 033
33. The Grand Mere caravan.

I got a lot of these sample coffee packages. They are ground coffee beans
and each package contains 40 grams of tasty stuff.

I would like to buy them (not the sample version but regular marchandise)
in Germany but Grand Mere are not available. I bought a big package of
Grand Mere in France and kept drinking it during the TdF. It tastes
really good, honestly. Alas, Grand Mere coffee is not available in Germany.

I can describe the taste as "deep roasted and less sour".

Item number: 028
Item number: 037
28. The Eurotyre caravan.
37. The Faillitaire caravan. The devil caravan.

They are shopping cart tokens. In France (as far as I know, and in
Germany, Austria and so on), you put a one Euro coin or this kind
of token to use a shopping cart at super markets and other stores.

Naturally, they look identical to the sample one Euro coin in size.

The plastic bags beside them are the bags in which they came. The
bag contains a coupon usually. With this Eurotyre freebie, you get a
coupon. You get a discount price on having your tires checked by
their affiliate shops.

Item number: 031
31. The Vision Plus caravan.

It is a very practical stuff if you use a pair of glasses or shades or cameras.
It is a piece of soft cloth that you can wipe them with.

It comes with a coupon.

Tour de France 2007: Petits cadeaux

2008-01-27T23:30:00.000+01:00

This is the T-shirt I got from the Mountain Jersey sponsor Champions.
I got this while waiting for the race on top of Col de Galibier (Stage 9).

It is not a Publicity Caravan item. They (Champion) give out hats and caps
from the caravan cars. These T-shirts are distributed only in the
mountains like on top of mountains where the mountain points are set.

This is a test version.

Race Watch Schedule for 2008 Part I

2008-01-06T13:33:00.000+01:00

Now that the official Team CSC site has updated its calendar for 2008, I think
it is time for me to update my schedule.

March
2nd Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne (BEL)
~~9th Paris - Nice (FRA)~~ because the stage is not in Paris!
24th Rund um Köln (GER)
30th Critérium International (FRA)

April
6th Ronde van Vlaanderen (BEL)
13th Paris - Roubaix (FRA)
20th Amstel Gold Race (NED)
27th Liège - Bastogne - Liège (BEL)

May
1st Rund um den Henninger Turm (GER)
4th Tour de Romandie (SUI) Le Bouveret - Lausanne

June
8th Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg (LUX) ???
8-15th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (FRA) ???
22nd Tour de Suisse (SUI) or the TTT in Netherlands
22nd Team Time Trial (NED)
29th National Championship (GER) in Bochum

July
5-27th Tour de France (FRA)

August
2nd Radklassiker Hainleite (GER) ???
3rd Sparkassen Giro Bochum (GER)
24th Eneco Tour (LUX) ???
31st Deutschland Tour (GER) ???

September
7 th Vattenfall Cyclassics (GER)
21st Drei Länder Tour (GER) ???
24th World Championship ITT (ITA) ???
28th World Championship (ITA) ???

The race events with ??? are, of course, those I want to visit but
I am not sure I can make it there now.

I went to the following races for the season 2006:
I travelled thousands of miles and I had 30 race days.
2006 Paris-Nice (Prologue)
2006 Amstel Gold Race
2006 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
2006 Rund um den Henninger Turm
2006 Giro d'Italia (All Belgium stages)
2006 Tour de Suisse Stage 9 (ITT)
2006 Tour de France: in Strasbourg, in the Alps and in Paris. (Total 10 stages)
2006 Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg
2006 Deutschland Tour (Stage 5 - 8)
2006 Hainleite (Erfurt)
2006 Giro Bochum
2006 Eneco Tour (Stage 4)
2006 Hessen Rundfahrt (Stage 5)
2006 World Championship, RR in Salzburg
2006 Züri Metzgete

Yet another surprise, Rund um Köln

2007-11-21T16:44:00.000+01:00

Rund um Köln's organizer has announced that 2008's edition would be different
from the previous years' editions.

First of all, it would be held on Sunday, March 23rd 2008. RuK has been
traditionally held on Easter Monday, which will be March 24th in 2008.

The main sponsor of the race, T-Mobile, has not yet been committed to give the
money that once pledged. The race may lose its main sponsor.

If the race organizer can not find the sponsor(s) that will fulfill the obligations
(a lot of money), the race will be held without ProTour teams. And if Team CSC
doesn't participate, there is no reason for me to get there and watch it.

Let's see what will happen.

Surprise, surprise Paris-Nice

2007-11-15T15:02:00.000+01:00

The very tentative plan already needs a change.

March
9th. Sunday: Paris - Nice (Fra) -- Prologue in Paris

24th. Easter Monday: Rund um Köln (Ger) -- in Cologne

30th. Sunday: Critérium International (Fra) -- last 2 stages

This was the plan for the upcoming March but ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation)
announced that the traditional Prologue in Paris would not materialize
in 2008 but there would be a short ITT in a city called Amilly south of Paris.

I already have hard time reaching Paris in time. Amilly, wherever it is (3 cities
with the same name exist south of Paris), is not closer to me than Paris.

Amilly is found in (three Prefectures) 28, 45 and 61. In any case it is far from
Paris. Possibly by Amilly they mean Amilly (45). I have drive almost 600km
to get there. I give up! I will not drive to Paris on March 9th.

Maybe I will drive to Kuurne to watch Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne instead.

2nd. Sunday Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne (Bel)

Waypoints aquired during 2007 race watch

2007-11-11T21:07:00.000+01:00

I was traveling with my Garmin StreetPilot (a navigation system) during
the 2007 season. I eventually accumulated useful waypoints.

For example, camping sites, supermarkets (or they call those bigger than normal
supermarkets "hypermarché" in France), and others.

These are common supermarkets I visited during TdF and Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.
These supermarkets have their web sites, which enable you to look for
their affiliates in your neighborhood. If, only if, I was going to follow
TdF in 2008, I would search for their affiliates along the course and plot
them in my StreetPilot to make it easy to shop.

Tentative plan for race watch 2008

2007-10-30T01:51:00.000+01:00

This is a very tentative plan.

March
9th. Sunday: Paris - Nice (Fra) -- Prologue in Paris

24th. Easter Monday: Rund um Köln (Ger) -- in Cologne

30th. Sunday: Critérium International (Fra) -- last 2 stages

April
6th. Sunday: Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres (Bel)

13th. Sunday: Paris - Roubaix (Fra)

20th. Sunday: Amstel Gold Race (Ned)

27th. Sunday: Liège - Bastogne - Liège (Bel)

It would be nice if I could watch La Flèche Wallonne (Bel) but ...

May
1st. Thursday: Rund um den Henninger Turm Frankfurt (Ger) -- in Frankfurt am Main

4th. Sunday: Tour de Romandie (Swi) -- but where?

June
1st. Sunday: Bayern-Rundfahrt (Ger) -- the last stage but where?

8th. Sunday: Skoda-Tour de Luxembourg (Lux) -- if Team CSC participates

22nd. Sunday: Tour de Suisse (Swi)
or
22nd. Sunday:Team Time Trial(Ned)

It would be so nice if I could watch Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Fra).

July
5th - 27th. : Tour de France (Fra)

Of course, it would be great if I could follow all the stages. I am not yet sure if
I can do it.

August
3rd. Sunday: Sparkassen Giro Bochum (Ger) -- in Bochum

24th. Sunday: Eneco Tour (Lux) -- if the stage is held somewhere nearby

31st. Sunday: Deutschland Tour (Ger) -- if possible

September
7th. Sunday: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Ger)

14th Sunday: Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt (Ger) -- if Team CSC participates

21th. Sunday: 3-Länder-Tour der Sparkassen Versicherung (Hessen RF) (Ger) -- where?

24th - 28th: UCI World Championships (Ita) -- Varese

October
5th. Sunday: ProTour Finale (???) -- where? and what?

Saison 2007 and Team CSC 2008

2007-10-21T17:50:00.000+02:00

Saison 2007 is almost over and Saison 2008 is being formulated. There will be
more confusions in 2008 than in 2007, namely the uncertain future of Pro Tour and
the dark dogging shadows of doping cases.

As far as I am concerned, I will remain a Team CSC fan and follow them around
whenever I can. I will also keep an eye on Team Astana because Allain Gallopin
is there in 2008 and because Levi Leipheimer is (not yet confirmed) there. I don't
know Levi personally but I know his family and they were nice people. I also
keep watching Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie although they don't
belong to Team CSC anymore. I want to stress that this does not mean I become
less truthful to Team CSC.

This is the sum up of Saison 2007.

I went 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
29th April: Liège - Bastogne - Liège
1st May: Rund um den Henninger Turm (Frankfurt am Main)
3rd June: Bayern Rundfahrt (Stage 5)
10th-17th June: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré -- 7 race days
24th June: Team Time Trial (Eindhoven)
1st July: National Championship (Germany)
7th-29th July: Tour de France (all the stages except UK stages -- 19 race days)
5th August: Sparkasse Giro in Bochum
12th August : Deutschland Tour (Stage 3)
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Hamburg)
23rd September: Drei Länder Tour (Germany)
27th September: World Championship, ITT (Stuttgart)
30th September: World Championship (Stuttgart)

Team CSC related race events: 44 race days in 20 race events (not including the
non Team CSC races). Gasoline and other expenditure (highway toll, camping
site tariff, the paint and etc.) cost me more than 4,000 euro (most possibly more?).
This figure does not include those other things I paid for. Things like camping goods
or flags that I can use next year. The money just disappeared in the air. The
gasoline literally evaporated in the air, you know.

*****************
(Team CSC non-participating races)
17th & 18th May: Rheinland-Pfalz-Rad-Rundfahrt (Stage 2&3)
7th June: Tour de Luxembourg (Stage 1)

3 race days in 2 race events.
*****************

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
Stuart O'Grady
Carlos Sastre
Inigo Cuesta
Macus Ljungqvist
Fabian Cancellara
Matti Breschel
Bjarne Riis

27 riders and the team owner. I missed Lars Michaelsen's autograph.

World Championship in Stuttgart Part VIII

2007-10-12T00:28:00.000+02:00

Thursday September 27th 2007, Stuttgart, Germany

Benoît Vaugrenard (France)

Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium)

Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) -- if I am not mistaken.

Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukraine)

Knut Anders Fostervold (Norway)

Kristjan Fajt (Slovenia)

Dan Craven (Namibia)

Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)

Lars Ytting Bak (Denmark)

Lars Ytting Bak (Denmark)

Brian Vandborg (Denmark)

Marco Pinotti (Italy)

Bert Grabsch (Germany)

Bert Grabsch (Germany)

Joost Posthuma (Netherlands)

Gustav Larsson (Sweden)

Gustav Larsson (Sweden)

Sebastian Lang (Germany)

Cameron Wurf (Australia)

David Millar (Great Britain)

Vladimir Karpets (Russian Federation)

Dominique Cornu (Belgium)

Dominique Cornu (Belgium)

Jason Mccartney (USA)

Jason Mccartney (USA)

José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)

José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)

Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)

David Zabriskie (USA)

Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

World Championship in Stuttgart Part VII

2007-10-05T02:43:00.000+02:00

Thursday September 27th 2007. Stuttgart, Germany

My automobile.

It was raining. I drove to Stuttgart, 130km away, and arrived at Herdweg
around 4:00 AM (in the morning!). I wanted to paint there on the street. I had
to give up the hope of painting since it was raining rather heavily. By noon it was
getting to drizzle.

The first rider is getting geared up. It was still raining and the road was wet.

Benoît Vaugrenard (France)

Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium)

Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)

Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukraine)

Knut Anders Fostervold (Norway)

Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)

Lars Ytting Bak (Denmark)

Brian Vandborg (Denmark)
Has he already got a new contract? He finished at 4th place last year.
Why did he get this starting order? He deserved a better place, did not he?

Marco Pinotti (Italy)

World Championship in Stuttgart Part VI

2007-10-05T01:42:00.001+02:00

Sunday September 30th 2007. Stuttgart, Germany

Christian Vande Velde climbing Herdweg.

At one point Thor Hushovd attacked and surprised the spectators. Norwegian
fans were cool, though.

The only picture of Carlos Sastre (with his compatriots).

Dutch team worked hard to tack in the initial breakaway.

Matti Breschel.

Alexandr Kolobnev. Everybody remembers his brave attack.

Jens Voigt.

Juan José Haedo.

Philippe Gilbert. I was supposed to paint his name on Herdweg. I am
sorry that I could not.

Fabian Cancellara.

Bobby Julich.

Lars Bak.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Andy Schleck.

World Championship in Varese Italy 2008

2007-10-04T02:39:00.000+02:00

The life goes on and the World Championship 2008 (http://www.varese2008.org/)
is already on its way.

From my place Varese is about 530km to drive. It is as close or far as Paris is from
my place. I have been to Paris several times. Twice I drove there on weekend.
I left for Paris Saturday night (actually 1:00 AM Sunday) and watched the
Prologue of Paris-Nice and drove back home arriving home early Monday
morning and then went to work. A really crazy weekend trip.

Who is coming to Varese 2008?

World Championship in Stuttgart Part V

2007-10-03T15:52:00.001+02:00

Sunday September 30th 2007. Stuttgart, Germany

Bernard Kohl and a lot of riders.

Erik Zabel takes a look at his devoted wife as he passes by. You can also
see Fabian Cancellara.

Christian Vande Velde and (I think) Marcus Ljungqvist. I think I was
going to pick up Marcus's musette later. He is raising his left hand and
(I guess he was going to discard his musette) doing something.
The man who is fishing the T-Mobile musette could be Dave Zabriskie.

Can you tell which woman is the wife of Erik Zabel? I was there briefly while waiting to
collect something from the riders after the feed zone. Jens Voigt passed by and
shouted something to Mrs. Zabel.

Norwegian flags and banners and the works.

Matti Breschel? Lars Bak? Chris Anker Sorensen? Whoever it is, he is looking
at Christian Vande Velde (I think).

Fabian Wegmann, Micheal Boogerd and Davide Rebellin.

94 Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen surrounded by his fans.

This is sometime near the last round. I think Samuel Sanchez attacked and
other riders are trying to react to it (or at least so it seems). Bettini and Schumacher
are on the lookout. The Belgium rider, I think, is Philippe Gilbert.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen is leading the break. You can also see Jens Voigt and Bobby
Julich. This was around 10th or 11th round.

World Championship in Stuttgart Part IV

2007-10-03T00:32:00.000+02:00

First part of pictures are the road painting.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen. I painted "Arvesen". I did not know when I painted this
(between 3:00 - 5:00 AM) that this section was going to be the crossing
path. People just walked over him. This was not intended.

Chris Anker Sorensen. I painted "C.A. Sorensen".

Andy and Frank Schleck. I painted "Andy" and "Fränk" and then "Schleck".
I also painted "CSC" here.

"Schleck". You can guess why those Luxembourg fans are stationed here.

Matti Breschel. I painted "Breschel".

Here, I painted "Cancellara".

Fabian Cancellara. I painted "Fabian" and then "Cancellara".

Christian Vande Velde. I painted "Vande Velde".

Bobby Julich. I painted "Bobby".

Dave Zabriskie. I painted "Zabriskie"

Juan Jose Haedo. I painted "J.J. Haedo". It is not easy to read but it is not my
fault. You can also see "Schleck" and "Arvesen" here. As you can see, people
are crossing the street here.

Karsten Kroon and Lars Ytting Bak. I painted "Karsten" and "L.Y. Bak".

Carlos Sastre Candil. I painted "Sastre".

Marcus Ljungqvist. I painted "Ljungqvist".

I later picked up his musette and gave it to a Swedish family,
who are also Arvesen Fan Club members. Don't you think it is so strange that
the only thing that I picked up that day was Marcus's musette and I met these
wonderful people from Norway and Sweden? It is not an accident that I got
that musette but was a fate.

I made this man happy. This musette was obtained by me first then it was
transferred to him.

Alexandr Kolobnev. I painted "Kolobnev".

He came so close to becoming the World Champion. Notice
the Norwegian flag underneath? Under the orange street light, the flag was
almost invisible but I tried to avoid any object already drawn before my
efforts. I unintendedly painted over the Norwegian flags but those flags
were impossible to notice. Sorry guys.

I did not paint for Jens Voigt. Why? Because his name was already there painted
by German fans. Sorry Jens.

I kinda party-crashed the Kurt-Alse Arvesen fan club dinner on Sunday.
I was kindly invited by the members but I was (am) not a fan club member.

My Goooooooooood! I had a dinner with Kurt! Not only was I in the same
banquet room with other fans but I sat with him and his family!

Check out his site. (http://www.kurtalsearvesen.com/)

I repeatedly wrote in my blog that Arvesen was one of the most friendly
guys. I knew from my own experience that he really CARES about his fans.
And now I know that he has so many very dedicated fans and he cares about
all of them.

World Championship in Stuttgart Part III

2007-09-27T00:01:00.000+02:00

Where am I going to stand and watch the individual time trial on
Thursday, 27th September 2007?

Several candidates. First I would like to be relatively alone so that Team
CSC riders can recognize me. (My big ego, I know but can't help...)

I have a plan for the TT. I don't know if the place where I would like to stay
is open to the public. I have to get there and find out.

Bad news is that the weather is not going to be fine. It is forcast that it
is going to rain all day. I will certainly bring something to keep me dry and
warm.

It is past midnight. It is already 27th. I will leave for Stuttgart in an hour or so.

3 Länder Tour (Germany) Part III

2007-09-24T00:25:00.000+02:00

So, I was on top of Weilstetten (Cat. 1 summit) around 4 A.M. in the morning.

It was a starry night and there was nothing around me. It was pitch dark!
Falling leaves made a distinct and enormous sound. Occasionally cars passed
but otherwise it was quiet and nothing distracted me except for the sound of
the gigantic falling leaves and some eerie cries of unknown animals.

I am quite used to being at pitch dark desolate places.

I painted only a little bit, namely I mean literally namely,
BOBBY, FRANK, JENS, KURT, LARS, LUKE and three CSC logos. I slept when
I was done. I think it was around 5:00 in the morning. I wake up around 8:00
and moved to Schoemberg, where Feed zone was. I slept again until noon.

And then the usual, team cars gathered and I greeted Team CSC staff, Sabine
and Thomas, the German pair.

I wanted to go to the finish but after realizing that I would not make it before
the race came. I came home.

Anyway, these are the pictures. At the feed zone I picked up two bidons
(Rabobank and ?) and three bags. Kurt-Alse Arvesen, as usual, smiled at me.

He is on the Norwegian National team for the World. I will definitely paint his
name at Herdweg. They have to go up that climb 14 times! They have to notice
something on the road even if they are not paying attentions. Team CSC riders
may appreciate my efforts (I haven't done yet) to keep their mind off the
hard climb.

The lunch was given out along the route between these two villages;

Weilen unter den Rinnen and Schoemberg.

Attentions Riders! Lunch Ahead!

This is the spot I was standing and waiting for the race to arrive. His (always

upper case letter) clothes (a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist)

was very shiny. It was gold.

This breakaway group included Luke Roberts.

The peloton was being controlled by Rabobank as its leader, Thomas Dekker,

was wearing the yellow jersey. They had to watch out NOT to let the

breakaway go too far.

As far as I can tell, Jens Voigt and Kurt-Asle Arvesen are having lunch and

the the third rider is Bobby Julich (or Lars Bak or Frank Schleck???).

I think I heard a Team CSC rider shout back at me (Frank Schleck?) but it
could have been another rider from another team. Someone definitely
shouted as he passed me. I was alone standing there. The nearest person was
more than 30 meters away. So I am very sure that someone wanted to
say something to me or make fun of me.

One thing is sure: the shouter was not Arvesen as his mouth was holding
on to a piece of sweets as you can see in the photo above.

I hope they noticed my painting 10 km before the ravitaillement.

3 Länder Tour (Germany) Part II

2007-09-21T02:55:00.000+02:00

There has been a change in the selection of the participating members.
Fabian Cancellara is out and Bobby Julich is in. Fabian preferred to prepare
his form before World Championship elsewhere, maybe.

Anyway, there is no change in my plan. I will be there for them 23rd of September.

I will drive to and arrive at Weilstetten (1st Category hill) and do something.
Then I will move to Weilen Unter den Rinnen and sleep. The race will pass
there sometime before 15:00. Then I will drive to the Finish if possible.

On Saturday they will have the ITT. This ITT is, I think, decisive. Perhaps,
there will be no changing of jerseys on Sunday as many (or most?) of
stage races do not change the general classification order on the last day.

2006, I went to watch the last stage of 3-Laender Tour (Mannheim -
Frankfurt am Main). I saw the start and the finish. After the finish, Jens
Voigt got a birthday cake and we (spectators and riders) sang "A Happy
Birthday to you,..." for him.

(all pictures taken in 2006)

Jens Voigt receiving the cake with two sticks of firework on it.

Singing.

Karsten Kroon took a second stage win that day. Frank Schleck also kept the
red jersey.

Karsten Kroon with two pretty girls whose eyes never met. Do you know what
I mean? These two girls' eyes never met that day. There were absolutely no
eye contacts between them. It seemed like there was a competition between
these two girls. If I remember correctly (and it is not likely that I do but)
one girl was the podium girl that the race organizer selected and the other
was, as clearly recognizable, Queen Maritim (Hotel), who provided the
accommodation for the race organizers, team staff and riders etc..

The final podium.

Frank Schleck being applauded.

Smile! Girls!

One note: Before the start of the last stage, Sebastian Lang, in yellow jersery,
visited Team CSC bus for a few minutes. The reason for his visit is unknown.

Sebastian Lang knocking on the Team CSC bus door.

Before the start, a representative from Bauhaus, the red jersey sponsor,
came to see Frank Schleck.

Tour de France 2007: Stage 13

2007-09-13T01:53:00.001+02:00

Stage 13 (Albi-Albi)

Before the race, it was sunny and OK, I mean the weather. In fact, I had only
short-sleeve jersey in the morning.

I was busy painting. I was almost done with painting when riders came
to check the course. Earlier Fabian Cancellara came and waved at me.
He is a tremendously nice guy.

Anyway, some riders, who were interested in doing well that day, came.

It began to rain by the time the race began. I had to borrow some thick
warm jacket from a Luxembourger. It kept raining almost to the end. I
did not take almost any pictures. When Team CSC riders came, I only
shouted. I could not risk destroying my digital camera by using it in the rain.

Alexandre Vinokourov with my painting efforts, Andy and Frank. Andy
Schleck is not a Tour participant but that day I felt like drawing his name.

Andrey Kashechkin.

Frank Schleck.

Carlos Sastre Candil.

Mateo Tosatto.

Mickael Delage.

I was near this motor home. This belongs to a Luxembourger, who supports

Frank Schleck and Kim Kirchen.

Tour de France 2007: Stage 14

2007-09-12T16:43:00.001+02:00

Stage 14 (Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille)

Dave Leipheimer and a fellow American are pumped up and ready to go.

Antonio Colom Mas, I think. He was leading the race at this point.

Dave gave his brother Levi a bottle of water.

The man with "GO LEVI" T-shirt is the father of Levi Leipheimer. Dave in front.

Are these riders Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin?

This Euskadi rider can be Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau. Astarloza was also destined
to see his name on the road in 200 meters if he was paying attentions. In any
case, he and his teammate, Zubeldia was going to be passionately welcomed
by their fan in orange T-shirt soon, which fact I am very sure of.

Michael Boorgerd and Haimar Zubeldia Agirre or Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau.

Bernard Kohl, Oscar Pereiro Sio and Alejandro Valvelde Belmonte, I think.

Amets Txurruka? or ???

He could be Haimar Zubeldia Agirre. If so, he was going to see his name painted
on the road just 200 meters later. Why? Because I painted his name on the
road in exchange for some sweets at the request of some Basque fans.

Denis Menchov. He came before Jens but finished almost 5 minutes after Jens.
He was not having a good day.

Jens Voigt and Vladirmir Karpets.

Thomas Dekker and Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga, I think.

Christian Vande Velde and Kim Kirchen, Charles Wegelius, Chris Horner,
Iban Mayo Diez, Carlos Barredo Llamazales, I think but I am not sure.

After the race was all over and I was on my way down on my bike along with
other cyclists, Christian came from behind and shouted at me, "Watch out,
watch out" and passed me. As he passed me, he turned to me and smiled.

Why do I, a Team CSC fan, NOT have a single good picture of Team CSC
riders? You may be wondering by now.

I tell you why. Because I am not looking at the Team CSC riders through
finder or LCD monitor on the back of the digital camera but directly at them
with my own eyes. I am shouting their names or something. That is why.

I don't have a picutre of Inigo Cuesta here at Stage 14. What happened with
Cuesta that day was, I caught him climbing almost alone. He recognized me
as I shouted his name and said, "Thank you" to me. These two words are
at least one thousand times valuable to me than a well focused photo of him.

Paolo Savoldelli and others.

George Hincapie came. The man running along him is NOT Levi's brother.
I met them again later. The last time I met them, they told me they had
a wonderful dinner with the Leipheimers and the Hincapies on the eve of
Champs-Élysées finish. See you guys next year!

Sylvain Chavanel and Alexandre Botcharov, I think.

Markus Fothen came.

This small group includes Frank Schleck. Christian Knees, Egoi Martinez De Esteban,
David De La Fuente Rasilla, Johan Van Summeren, Iker Camano Ortuzar
and Ludovic Turpin.

German Champion Fabian Wegmann came before David Millar but finished
after Millar.

David Millar and "LEVI" on the road painted by me. I think he did not take the bottle.

Alexandre Vinokourov was being protected by his teammates,
Daniel Navarro Garcia and Serguei Ivanov.

Francisco Perez Sanchez, and Nicolas Portal of Caisse d'Epargne were there.

Marcus Burghardt came. The man wanted Marcus to take his bottle of water.
Instead, Marcus gave him his bidon for his efforts. Or he just wanted to get
rid of this annoying man.

Then the peloton came. You can see Fabian Cancellara in front.

When you see this car, 'Voiture Balai (Broom stick car)', you know the race is
going to end soon.

Is it "Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux"? He finished at 165th and was
the last person to finish.

3 Länder Tour (Germany)

2007-09-10T15:52:00.001+02:00

"3 laender" means three states in South Germany, namely, Hessen,

Baden-Württemberg and Thüringen. Some people have problems
reading some of these alphabets, so maybe I should write them as 'Hessen,
Baden-Wuerttemberg and Thueringen'.

I am going to visit the last and the final stage on 23rd of September.
The stage starts in Nürtingen and finishes in Bad Dürrheim.

Team CSC has posted the list of participating riders. Good members!
Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Lars Bak, Fabian Cancellara, Luke Roberts,
Fränk Schleck and Jens Voigt.

Thursday of that week, 27th of September, Fabian Cancellara will be riding
ITT to defned his World Champion title in Stuttgart. And of course, I will
be there for him and other Team CSC riders.

Anyway, my plan for 23rd is to get there early in the morning (3 a.m.?)
I am not yet sure where to go first. I have to study the parcours. They
don't have the course profile on their official site. I want to be at
"Weilen Unter den Rinnen", where the feed zone is when the race comes.

I think I am going to drive, first, to Weilstetten, where the Mountain Point is
set (892 meters above sea level). Weilstetten is not far from Weilen UdR.

After the race passes, I will probably drive to the finish. I have to study the
course to see if it is possible.

These photos were taken at Stage 14 of TdF 2007.

When Levi Leipheimer came with Carlos Sastre and others, Levi's family and
other Americans ran up along them. The man in the foreground wearing a
T-shirt with '3' is out of breath because he had also run.

The man with "Go Levi" logo on his back is Levi's father and the man in front
of him is Levi's brother Dave. On the road, you can see something is drawn.
It reads, "From Montana with Love" and something that I painted for the
Leipheimers. For that efforts, I got water, beer and sandwich from the
Leipheimers. I look forward to seeing them again next year!

Why are these pictures posted here? It has something to do
with what I am planning to do on 23rd of September at Weilstetten.

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part XII

2007-09-08T17:45:00.000+02:00

Part XII

41. The Sapeurs-Pompiers caravan. Fire fighters?

Sapeures-Pompiers goods: (pictures will be added)

42. The Motorhome Rent caravan.

Motorhome Rent goods: (ditto, leaflets, I think)

43. The Française des Jeux caravan.
Française des Jeux goods: (ditto, I got 'Sandy Casar' lanyard. Could be
other lanyard with other names)

44. The RMC caravan.

RMC goods: (ditto, megaphones and Haribo stuff)

Is this car part of caravan? I don't remember this car well.

This car was part of the caravan but it does not appear in the official list.
This car was there everyday, so it has to be part of it.

Take a look at this CSC and Carlos painting. I did it! A PMU green hand is
on the ground. I am not sure but the blurry objects in the air are two
helicopters. They were hovering the area. One from Police Nationale I think.

45. The Festina caravan.

This car has a Spanish license number?

Here you can see an object in the air. It is a helicopter.

Rain or shine, people say. Look! This girl is smiling when it was chilly or sunny.

Festina goods: (ditto, reflective bands)

These cars (there were other cars following the caravan) were doing the
dirty job. When a automobile had a trouble, these cars would pick it up
and safely carried it to the finish.
So that is it. I will upload the pictures of the goods and comment on them later.

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part XI

2007-09-08T10:39:00.000+02:00

Part XI

37. The Faillitaire caravan. The devil caravan.
Notice that these two vehicles had a different seat arrangement. One
girl sitting on the right and the other left. That means that the front
girl was throwing the "cadeaux" at the people standing on the left of
the road.

The arrangement mentioned above applies to these two cars, too.

Faillitaire goods: (pictures will be added, caps and shopping cart tokens)

38. The Euskaltel Euskadi caravan.

They gave out Basque region travel promotion leaflets with balloons. I often
saw them give, seemingly, their compatriots those leaflets. But did they
need the leaflets?

Euskaltel Euskadi goods: (ditto, sightseeing promotion leaflets and balloons)

39. La Vache qui rit caravan. The smiling cow caravan.
Most of these small parade vehicles were "Smart" underneath.

La Vache qui rit goods: (ditto, fridge magnets and the cheese)

40. The Eco-Emballages caravan.

I find this picture very beautiful.

Eco-Emballages goods: (None, since their message was NOT to litter the
street. How disappointing but appropriate!)

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part X

2007-09-08T01:16:00.000+02:00

Part X

34. The Gendarmarie Nationale caravan. They are the officers who were taking
care of the traffic detours and everything.

Notice that the cars are arriving in their license number order, 778, 779, 780
and 781. Remember this.

The message they were promoting, "Passe ton Permis Pieton avec Gendy".
Please refer to (http://www.permispieton.com/).

Police Nationale goods: (pictures will be added)

35. The Caisse d'Epargne caravan. ?These two cars arrived in the reverse
order of their license number, 3873 and then 3872.

Caisse d'Epargne goods: (ditto, the squirrels)

36. Aujourd'hui caravan.

Aujourd'hui goods: (ditto, their paper)

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part IX

2007-09-07T15:57:00.000+02:00

Part IX

According to "L'Eaufficiel de la Caravane", There are 200 (more or less)
vehicles in the publicity caravan. Here is the list.

(L'Eaufficiel de la Caravane by Aquarel)

ASO
LCL
SeaFrance
Journal de Mickey
Gel Douche Fa
Skoda
Les Cadets Juniors
Dr. Oetker - Ristorante
T-Mobile
Les Simpsons (Here, it is spelled with 's' in the end.)
Supermarche Champion
Ancel
La Nouvelle vie Ouvrière
Kleber
Panach'
CFTC
Haribo
Antargaz
Cofidis
Roadsign
Etap Hotel
Cochonou
Prefectures
PMU
Tele 7 Jours
Police Nationale
Xtra Minidou
Eurotyre
Force Ouvrière
Nestle Aquarel
Vision Plus
Bouygues Telecom
Cafe Grand Mere
Gendarmarie Nationale
Caisse d'Epargne
Aujourd'Hui en France
Le Faillitaire
Euskatel Euskadi
La Vache qui rit
Eco-Emballages
Sapeurs-Pompiers
Motorhome Rent
Française des Jeux
RMC
Festina

31. The Vision Plus caravan.

Quite off the topic but the man in the foreground in profile is one of the
three men of my tent-neighbors. They said that they came from the same
town as Inigo Cuesta. They were happy that I painted his name.

Vision Plus goods: (pictures will be added, cloth to wipe your glasses with)

32. The Bouygues Telecom caravan. They threw T-shirts sparingly and I got
one.

Bouygues Telecom goods: (ditto, CDs and T-shirt)

33. The Grand Mere caravan.

Teapot-mobile.

Grand mere goods: (ditto, ground coffee beans, of course)

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part VIII

2007-09-05T15:40:00.001+02:00

Part VIII

30. The Nestle Aquarel caravan. It featured a crazy doctor (or mad scientist?),
a nurse, a priest of some sort and other costumed characters.

They were plugging their product and I really really appreciated them.
Bottles of water I got from them.
Isn't this Aquarel buggy cool? I think it is not street legal because it misses
lights or other safety features.

0 (zero) % calorie. But wait! I have heard 0 (zero) calorie but not 0%.
What does 100% calorie mean, then?

I could see this nurse getting darker and darker everyday. She was
tanning gradually.

100% family? Does that mean 100% family-oriented? Does that mean that
all the family member (a baby to adults) can drink?

100% natural, maybe so.

People are reaching out for something. That something is a bottle of water.

Prix Familial? What does that mean? Family price? Does that mean
that the price of the bottled water is affordable?

This clown girl did not say a word. Why?

100% lightness or 100% mildness? I think it means that gentle on your
stomach, anyway.

The fire fighter sprays people and people love it when it is really hot.

100% freshness or coolness? Anyway, maybe freshness.

Aquarel goods: (pictures will be added; bottled water, of course)