Another day, another sale

Today is known as President's day. On this day Americans are invited to do their patriotic duty and abscond from work so they can shop until they drop. By now all of the items bought on Black Friday and Cyber-Monday have returned to their eternal resting place in the cosmic landfill, so everyone is reminded that it is high time to restock the shelves. By sheer coincidence or intelligent design, shoppers are about to find out that major retailers just happen to have one-time sales on this very day. Such are the miracles of the consumer society that we inhabit.

In other news, the world woke up to the shocking revelation that the Formula One Grand Prix of Bahrain scheduled for March 13 was canceled. Most American sports fan couldn't care less as they do not fall for this type of Eurotrash event, preferring instead to watch the opening of the Nascar season. Fortunately, the Daytona 500 did not disappoint. With 14 major crashes the event had all the excitement we have come to expect from an average Cat 4 race, but without the doping that is so rampant in cycling.

Speaking of cycling and doping, Alberto Contador was kicked off the podium in the Tour of Algarve, where German Tony Martin won the time trial and the overall classement (classement is Eurochic for classification).  In Oman, Robert Gesink walked away with the victory. As expected Sven Nys won the Gazet van Antwerpen (GvA) trophy in cyclocross, where Pauwels lost his second place spot to team mate Zdenek Stybar who did all he could to help the Belgian win.

But none of that matters in Flanders now where all attention is focused on the upcoming season opener. At this time, the cycling world is down to two riders. One of these is the unbeatable Fabian Cancellara who swept the classics in 2010, and the other is defeated Tom Boonen, who is said to be out for revenge. I have not seen the blood-thirsty Boonen poster that upset Eddy Merckx so much but it is sure to reappear later in the week.

Bring me Cancellara

Belgian networks sent reporters out to Oman last week, not to cover the racing, but instead to find the two favorites and ask them about the upcoming showdown.  Here is Tom, wearing the latest in fashion sun wear.

Tom Boonen in Oman

The reporters pulled out all the stops when they re-broadcast the infamous muur video with the enhanced Cancellara. The video purports to show Fabian activating his mechanic doping device to leave Tom in the dust. Tom was asked about it but he declined to comment other than to say he thought it was funny. For some reason it is hard to picture Mr. Nice Guy Tom as a blood thirsty cannibal eager for revenge; Or soft-spoken Fabian as the great destroyer.

Cancellara on the muur

Cancellara on the other hand called himself a "marked man" and said he feared Boonen and Haussler. He also stressed he was looking beyond the early classics, throwing out names such as Amstel Gold and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, that sounded like blasphemy to Flemish ears.

But the reporters were not impressed. They labeled Tom humiliated and out for revenge, and Cancellara thirsty for more.

Stay tuned as the showdown is about to begin.

Black Friday

For those of you who do not live in the US, you may wonder what Black Friday is all about. Although it sounds menacing, nothing ominous is intended. Black Friday was named by retailers to indicate the start of the Christmas shopping season, a season that will hopefully take them "into the black," i.e. make them profitable after a year of red.

In reality though, Black Friday is truly a dark day. It marks the beginning of a period of massive wasteful spending where people buy trinkets and gadgets that will soon end up in landfills all over the globe. The average life-span of an item bought in an American store is now well below six months. Within six months better 85% of what we buy ends up in the garbage.

Ecstatic consumers carting off stuff that will soon decorate the landfill

I will not be participating in this madness except maybe to sell some bike and computer related items that I no longer need. Christmas season is the best time of the year to do so because it is the time when everyone has to buy presents for their loved ones. So today, I will clean out the garage and find all those stems, handlebars, chainrings and other items I no longer need.

I will also be selling my new Easton EC90 (warranty replacement) crank. I have decided to stick to the tried and true -in this Campagnolo and forgo what may be well be the lightest crank around but is in reality a flawed design- at least for someone my size. I think this crank will work well for a lightweight individual so if you are under 150lbs and interested let me know. I have had issues with the crank before but Easton was kind enough to replace it with a new one after the axle partially detached from the spider. The detachment was not serious and invisible to the naked eye, but a persistent click with a small jerk while pedaling alerted me to its presence.

I will also be picking up the new Moots that Alistair will ride now that the Parlee is on its way back to the manufacturer for repairs.

Shopping

brood automaat

a machine that sells bread...

Shopping is where you will find the biggest and the most annoying differences between the US and Belgium. Although Belgium isn't nearly as bad as Germany or England, shopping hours are restricted and getting used to this requires good advance planning. This is especially true for people coming from the US where one hardly has to worry about shopping hours.

All Belgian shops are required to have one rest day a week. The rest day is easily the most annoying thing in Belgium and no matter how hard you try, the rest day always falls on the day you need the store the most.

Shops are also limited as to the total hours they can be open for business. It used to be business hours were restricted to regular work hours and most shops were closed on weekends. That is still true in Germany and England. Add to that a two hour lunch break and to go shopping one either had to take time off from work or move one's work schedule around on certain days.

Fortunately that is no longer the case in Belgium. These days you can find shops that are open nearly every day of the week and at all times during that day. But it does require some flexibility on your part.

First, remember that your favorite shop, be it a bakery or bike shop, has a rest day when it will be closed the entire day. If you plan to be in Belgium for an extended period of time, it is good to memorize that day. As a rule certain types of shops favor certain days. Bike stores for example tend to close on Sundays or Mondays. Bakeries on the other hand are nearly always open on Sundays. Grocery stores most often close midweek on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Second, nearly all stores will be closed between noon and 1PM for lunch break. Most will also close at 6PM in the evening, although supermarkets tend to stay open until 8PM. Except for bakeries, most stores won't open until 9 or 10. Sundays can be very problematic and it is not unusual to find all gas stations closed on Sunday afternoons.

Supermarkets won't bag your groceries for you, and since 2009, they won't give you free bags either. You are expected to bring your own bags, or buy re-usable bags in the store. Most stores will give you old boxes if they have them, but it is better to go to the store equipped with a set of good bags. But always remember to start bagging as soon as the clerk starts ringing up your stuff.

While it used to be impossible to buy anything after 8PM that has now changed with the introduction of "nachtwinkels" or night time shops. These shops are only open in the evening and at night and they are only found in bigger cities. Night time shops are an extended version of the sundries stores one finds in US hotels. Except that they always have a large selection of beer and alcoholic drinks.

Smaller cities often have vending machines instead of nachtwinkels and in some cases these vending machines have expanded to occupy an entire wall and become a virtual store. Simpler vending machines that sell bread only are popular at bakeries and you can find one in nearly every village or town in Flanders.

Gas stations have also found a workaround to restricted hours and most are equipped with a debit card reader. Unlike other such readers, the readers at gas stations rarely accept anything but local debit cards ("bancontact"). If you plan to stay in Belgium for an extended period of time, it pays to get a bank account with a local debit card. Note that the cash dispensers (ATMs) outside banks do tend to accept foreign debit cards and Americans should have no problem finding an ATM cash dispenser in most cities.

The use of credit cards is not popular in Belgium. Most shops will not accept cards and those that do may charge you an extra 3-5%. Nearly all shops have a minimum and in some cases that minimum is quite high.  Furthermore, you won't be able to buy sales items with the card. Buying on credit is something Belgians frown upon. The commonly accepted rule is that if you can't afford to pay for it, don't buy it.

Although some gas stations will accept credit cards, most don't, and neither will their automatons that operate after hours. If you forget to gas up before the weekend and you don't have a local debit card, you may be in serious trouble. Your only hope at that time is to find a freeway gas station or to drive into a big city like Gent, Antwerp or Brussels.

Sales periods are regulated by law and Sales can only be had and advertised at certain times during the year. When the store windows show a Sales sign, the sales are for real so you better hurry and take advantage. You won't see any sales signs unless there is an officially sanctioned sales period. Call it truth in advertising.