Paris-Roubaix 2008 Part II

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

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

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.

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part VII

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

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)

1. Stuart O'Grady
   
2. Karsten Kroon
   
3. Allan Johansen
   
4. Kurt-Asle Arvesen
   
5. Matthew Goss
   
6. Anders Lund
   
7. Matti Breschel
   
8. Marcus Ljungqvist
   
9. Lasse Bøchman
   
10. André Steensen
    

Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Report Part V

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

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

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