Paris-Nice 2010 Part I

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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.