Alexander Kristoff races to a stage win on the cobbled road

Marcel Kittel won stage 2 of the Three Days of De Panne

Three Days of De Panne leader Peter Sagan

Tom Boonen : I don't need to drop anyone in Tour of Flanders

You have to forget everything you've won before and try to race the best way you can," Boonen said. "It doesn't really matter how many races you have already won as it all depends on Sunday. We've got a good team which is ready to ride a good Ronde van Vlaanderen."

Although he won Paris-Roubaix in 2009, it's been a long six years since Boonen's last success in Belgium's most important race, De Ronde, and he underscored just how much victory means here to a native son.

"It's one of the two most important races of the season. I would really like to win," he said. "If you talk to the foreign guys they find it hard to understand why there’s that much attention, so much media coverage about one single race. It’s something that has been growing for the last hundred years. Every year it's a nice race."

Yet in the race's nearly 100 year history, no course has veered so drastically from the usual point-to-point, and three challenging circuits ending in Oudenaarde will change the tactics and the efforts for the riders, but Boonen said every year is different, and the key is to be flexible in your strategy.

"It can be a different style of racing every year on this course. If you have a strong guy or a strong team they will start racing pretty soon in the finale but it's also possible the good guys will be looking at each other in the finale and not much will change. It can happen on many spots, just like on the old course. It's a race where you have to be able to adapt and don't make too many plans in advance. Of course I know where the toughest spots are but that doesn't mean it'll happen there."

Boonen and every fan in Belgium knows that Radioshack-Nissan's Fabian Cancellara will be the rider that everyone is watching, but he said that it is hard to win the Tour of Flanders as a top favorite - something Cancellara found out the hard way in 2011.

"It doesn't really matter to me who's the favorite. [Cancellara] is a strong rider but I've never raced to beat someone specific except myself. Of course if he attacks in the finale and I see it's the decisive attack then I'll react but I'll certainly not mark every move he makes all day long."

This year, with the confidence of his bunch sprint win in Wevelgem on his side and the strength to tackle all the hellingen, Boonen knows he has an advantage that Cancellara does not have, as evidenced by Milan-San Remo: "He has to drop me because I've got the sprint as my weapon.

"Maybe he's got a slightly bigger engine but I'm a little bit faster. We're two different riders with the same objectives. If you look at it in a physical way then we're a level above the rest. with a really hard finale then we're the two riders who can decide the race although that doesn't want to say one of us will win. We've got the key to the race in our hands."

When asked about other rivals aside from Cancellara, the Belgian named his own teammate Sylvain Chavanel and Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vinni – Selle Italia). "Pozzato is good, [Peter] Sagan is not bad. There's a lot of guys in good shape right now.

"Everybody has been talking about me and Fabian. It's not true that we're the only guys who're able to win. To me Sylvain is one of the favorites for the win because I've seen the course and know that a strong rider will win here, just like before. If Chavanel goes and Cancellara doesn't react? Then Sylvain is very lucky. We're good friends and it's no problem to me if someone else of the team wins on Sunday.

"Sagan? He can get pretty far maybe even this year. Sagan is going to be on the podium in the next three to four years. Edvald Boasson Hagen? If he's there in the sprint you have to pay attention to him but I don't count him in as one of the big favorites."

Logically it's hard to predict what is going to happen, but Boonen did offer an insight on possible scenarios. "My strongest point right now is that I don't have to be afraid of coming to the finish line with anyone," Boonen said. "I don't need to drop anyone. That's my main strength.

USA Cycling Jr Natl Championships W15-16

What is holding back a thriving bike culture in Arab

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Despite a relatively recent increase in activity of nascent cycling advocacy groups in Egypt, there seems to be a set of factors affecting a more evident shift in Egyptian perception on urban cycling. Elaboration on each and every factor to be considered is surly beyond the purpose of this article, which is to shed some light on what can be deemed to be the most important of these factors:

• Energetic but inconsistent advocacy efforts: Online social networking tools (most notably Facebook) made it amazingly easy for cycling advocacy groups (among many others) to build a loyal following, organize events and maintain communication. However, the active core of these groups is extremely small, and thus the sustainability of the activities and advocacy efforts of such groups largely depends on the involvement of those persistent few. Spin-offs must be encouraged, and advocacy efforts must begin to mature into more active engagement of related groups (such as those of environmental interests) and consistent activity.ent of those persistent few. Spin-offs must be encouraged, and advocacy efforts must begin to mature into more active engagement of related groups (such as those of environmental interests) and consistent activity.
  

• Lack of formal, legal recognition for cycling: The New Egyptian Traffic Law does not include any provisions related to cyclists. The present Transportation Law, and Law 4/1994 for the Protection of the Environment make no mention of any planned incorporation of cycling as a mode of transport into the urban planning and environmental agenda. Promoting cycling as a healthy and low-carbon mode of transport is therefore in its very early stages in Egypt if not missing altogether.

• Lack of cycling equipment providers/vendors: At the time of this writing, the number of known cycling equipment shops in Cairo (a city of 18 million residents) is about 5. This does not include shops that provide repair/welding/construction of cargo and utility bikes (which are used rather extensively in many areas in Cairo). The (lack of) quality and availability of cycling equipment is a main obstacle facing the latent interest in adoption of mass utilitarian urban cycling in Cairo specifically and Egypt generally.

• Pervasive social stigmas: Although female cyclists have evidently displayed active involvement in Egyptian cycling advocacy groups, the main impediment against a more enthusiastic adoption of urban cycling by female is conservative social stigmas, in addition to fear of harassment, which unfortunately plagues many densely populated areas in Cairo now.

There are other many factors which will not be addressed here in the interest of brevity. Also, many of those factors (including, arguably, some of those outlined above) are ones which cycling advocacy exists to work against (i.e. pollution, inclusion of cycling in urban planning frameworks, legal recognition and enforcement, etc).

San Francisco Spandex Racer Guy - with No Helmet

I end this web page collection of Amsterdam Bicycle Trends with a picture of a bicycle you MIGHT actually see in San Francisco.  Hidden in thousands of other riders, the guy below is riding a 10 speed curved under handlebar style bicycle, and wearing bicycle clothing (not dress clothes), and his shoes clip to the peddles.  He is not riding side saddle, and he does NOT have a dynamo human powered headlight on this bicycle.  No fenders on the bicycle (very San Francisco), and there is no gigantic unbreakable security chain to be seen.  The only thing that gives him away as a true Amsterdam bicyclist -> no bicycle helmet.  Very interesting, there must be a Amsterdam wide ban on bicycle helmets.

Small Wheels, Tall Seat Bicycles

There was one particular type of bicycle I'm not sure I understood why it was so popular, but really stood out as a trend.  These bicycles have smaller wheels than a typical bicycle, and a taller seat to compensate.  Below is a picture of one of them to show you what I mean.

Another one a few minutes later.

And another, you see what I mean?  What are the advantages of this design?  Also notice there only seems to be one bar reaching from the pedals/seat area forward to the handlebar and front wheel (instead of a traditional triangle of at least two bars).  That seems very specific to all these bicycles, I wonder if it helps the bicycle fit somewhere or fold up better?

Another.

And another.

Another bicycle in Amsterdam with small wheels and a tall seat to make up for it.

And another one.

I'm not sure this really counts, but it was interesting so I'll include it.  In the picture below, the wheels aren't any smaller, but the seat sure is taller, and I'm not sure I understand how this guy stops and puts his feet down.  He must have good visibility bicycling through Amsterdam.

Another guy on a bicycle with small wheels and tall seat to make up for the small wheels in Amsterdam.

Cell Phone Use on Bicycles

One Amsterdam Bicycle Trend was that many MANY people liked to chat on their cell phones as they zipped along the cobblestone streets on the bicycles in Amsterdam.  Below are some examples.

Woman in black talking on cell phone riding a bicycle in Amsterdam.

Lady with purse, white pants, on a pink bicycle talking on her cell phone while riding a bicycle through Amsterdam.

This woman has music headphones *AND* a cell phone while riding her bicycle through Amsterdam.

The woman pictured below is dressed well (high heels and all) while riding her bicycle through Amsterdam, and is talking on her cell phone while dodging pedestrians on her bicycle in Amsterdam.

This guy swerved around this van while talking on his cell phone and riding his bicycle in Amsterdam.

Another well dressed woman talking on her cell phone while riding her bicycle through Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Bicycle Decorations

A common Amsterdam Bicycle Theme is coloring the entire bicycle one color, or possibly a couple colors, but NEVER a good paint job, always hacked together.  The bicycle below is a good example as a solid red bicycle.  Notice the spray paint bled over the tires AND EVEN THE BICYCLE CHAIN also, so the person who painted this didn't even take the wheels off, or mask the tires, and the bicycle chain probably doesn't work quite right anymore.

Below is the same sort of thing but the highest quality paint job I saw in Amsterdam.  The wheels are chrome, so are some of the bolts, and there is some fine white detailing, so much care was taken to produce this day glow orange Amsterdam beater bike.

The bicycle below is decorated with flowers and streamers in Amsterdam.

The paint job on the bicycle below was clearly done at the same time, you can see both purple and blue on the rear wheel rim from spray paint bleed over.  And of course a massive Amsterdam bicycle chain securing the bicycle from theft.  Who would steal such a bike?

Industrial Work Buckets on the Front of Bicycles

One Amsterdam Bicycle Trend that would look pretty different in downtown San Francisco is that many Amsterdam bicycles are outfitted with these large, industrial looking work buckets mounted on the front of all shapes.  Below is a picture of one variation - bicycling through Amsterdam.

Below is another type of industrial work bucket front loader thingy on the front of an Amsterdam bicycle.  This one with a child mounted in the suicide position on the bicycle.

The picture below shows another custom work bucket mounted on a bicycle in Amsterdam.  This one has a blue tarp covering it.

Here is another big box freight container on a bicycle.  This one required that the "bicycle" become a "tricycle", the locker on the front of the bicycle is mounted between two bicycle wheels.

This is a good time to bring up a previous photo (this is the only duplicate in this collection).  In the picture below again is a great example of multiple Amsterdam Bicycle Trends, including a large metal work basket welded on the front of a bicycle.

 

Spectacular Gigantic Unbreakable Security Chains

The most beat-up, crappy, worthless bicycles in Amsterdam are secured to bicycle racks with these INSANELY gigantic hardened steel security chains and locks as big as the bicycle seat made of solid metal.  Even if theft is a big problem in Amsterdam, I think these chains are overkill.  I think you could cut the BICYCLE FRAME faster than cutting through one of these heavy duty chains.  For example, look at the two pictures below.  The second picture is a close up from the first picture.

Check out this Amsterdam bicycle security chain and industrial grade Amsterdam bicycle lock below.  That chain looks like it could lift a railroad boxcar full of lead weights without breaking!  I have this image in my mind of a bike thief with an acetylene cutting torch and welder's mask sitting out in the open on the street in Amsterdam for 2 hours trying to cut through one of these chains to steal a bicycle worth $15.  :-)  Amsterdam bicycle thieves have to be starving to death in the face of such industrial grade theft protection.

The guy who owns this bicycle is truly a security nut-case.  Look at the picture below, and tell me how two GIGANTIC REDUNDANT Amsterdam chains and locks are helping security on this $15 bicycle?  And my goodness, could those padlocks be any more gigantic or secure or solid? 

On the bicycle below seen sitting in a public place in Amsterdam, you can see the large security chain locking the back wheel, and then for added protection the circular sliding O-lock lock to *ALSO* lock the rear wheel on this bicycle in Amsterdam.  The O-lock circular sliding wheel locks were also popular.  I had one of these when I was 10 years old, but my friends could easily walk away with my bicycle so I got a different lock.

The picture below is of the same bicycle, just zoomed out to see the whole bicycle.  Now a note about the solid orange color -> I have two theories why Amsterdam bicycles are painted such bright and unique aftermarket colors: either 1) it is so their owners can find them when piled high in other bicycles in Amsterdam bicycle racks, or 2) as a security measure, so that if somebody steals their bicycle the thief would be worried it is too easily recognizable.

The picture below is annotated in red to show some classic Amsterdam Bicycle Trends.  One I haven't pointed out before is marked "A", and is a type of bicycle fender that also has covers on the side of the wheel.  This is VERY common, scroll around and look at most other bicycles which have this same side covered Amsterdam bicycle fender.  Next is "B", a type of bicycle stand that rotates under the back wheel, also very common in Amsterdam and is visible in many other pictures on this page.  Next is the dynamo human powered bicycle head light marked "C" in the picture below.  Finally is "D" the circular bicycle wheel lock or O-lock found on many Amsterdam bicycles.

Below shows a picture of one of the massive steel chains that are standard for Amsterdam bicycle locks.

Intermixed big locks on bicycles in Amsterdam.

Notice the red circles on the picture below.  That's a Kryptonite style U-lock, plus a circular O-lock rear wheel lock, all to lock up this bicycle, which I estimate to be worth less than $10 if you tried to sell it.

A honking big Amsterdam bicycle chain secures this rear wheel.

The picture below shows how Amsterdam bicyclists carry these gigantic chains when underway.  The blonde Amsterdam woman in the picture below wraps the gigantic chain around the handlebars and lugs it along until her next stop.

The picture below shows a big thick special high security cable on the front wheel, and a back wheel circular bicycle lock O-lock rear wheel bicycle lock thing on the rear wheel, on one flower power printed cheap multi-color bicycle in Amsterdam.

A double wrap on this gigantic huge chain securing this bicycle in the picture below.  And nice padlock too, the padlock alone is worth as much as the bicycle it is securing here in Amsterdam.

I like the picture below because it shows both a nice hefty Amsterdam bicycle lock chain, plus the dynamo from a human powered bicycle light.

Human Powered Generator Dynamo Bicycle Headlight

EVERY bicycle in Amsterdam is outfitted with a dynamo powered headlamp, where the rider has to pump the pedals extra super hard and the head lamp shines dimly.  If you are younger than 35 years old, you probably have never seen one of these in the USA, so here are some close ups.  You can also look at any of the OTHER pictures on this page to see more examples.  The first picture shows the system which is the big green painted headlight has a squiggly electric line down to the "dynamo" which pushes up against the front wheel of the bicycle.  This puts a HUGE drag on the rider of the bicycle (maybe doubles the effort of pedaling) so during the daylight hours there is a hinge to tilt the dynamo away from the bicycle wheel (which turns off the headlight).  There are several important implications of this horrible system, the most dangerous drawback is that when you stop at a stop sign your head light goes off.  The most annoying part of the system is that it tires out the poor slob peddling the bicycle.  See the picture below.

Below were three parked bicycles in Amsterdam showing three dynamos.

A close-up of the dynamo on one particular Amsterdam bicycle.  The dynamo powers the head light on the bicycle through human pedal power.

Amsterdam bicyclists seem to take their furry pooch canine dog friends along on bicycle rides

.  Remember, I was only standing at one street corner in Nieuw Markt, Amsterdam, and I only stood there for 73 minutes, yet I saw these riders with dogs (and more I just wasn't fast enough on the camera or taking another photo at the time).  Below is a pooch on the bicycle freight rack - bicycling through Amsterdam.

The dog in the picture below is going for a bicycle ride through Amsterdam in the basket on the front of the bicycle.

The unfortunate dog in the picture below has to motor along under his own power, but his owner holds the leash - while bicycling through Amsterdam.

The dog in the picture below is riding in style in his own outdoor roving kennel - pulled behind a bicycle in Amsterdam.