| It's official: RAGBRAI route to end in LeClaire
Hey RAGBRAI, welcome back to Scott County.The 2008 route for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will end July 26 in LeClaire, where riders will dip their bike tires in the Mississippi as the traditional completion of the ride. The route also includes Tipton as an overnight stop before riders roll into LeClaire, the ride’s organizers announced today.RAGBRAI last ended in Scott County in Davenport in 1982.The Quad-Cities Convention and Tourism Bureau sought a resolution from Scott County in support of seeking LeClaire as the endpoint. RAGBRAI’s executive director visited LeClaire last summer during Tugfest to see how the river town handles a large influx of visitors.The 417-mile route will begin in Missouri Valley, with overnight stops in Harlan, Jefferson, Ames, Tama-Toledo, North Liberty and Tipton.
On Show 2004
The last four months of every year are jam-packed full of the latest cycling bikes, frames, parts and widgets, all rolled out and shown off at the main trade-shows of the year. Eurobike, EICMA, and especially Interbike, all attract the cycling world like bees to a honey-pot, with the major companies keeping their next-year's products tightly under wraps until at least one of these shows. As we do every year, Cyclingnews will have our reporters scouring the aisles of the shows on the lookout for the newest, best, shiniest and silliest products on display. Photographs, reports, and even a few interviews are in store, so keep your eyes peeled, and your bank-managers at the ready, as we go On Show for 2004. Show dates Eurobike Friedrichshafen: Sept 2-5
EICMA Milano: Sept 17-20
International Cycle Show UK: Sept 23-26
Interbike Las Vegas: Oct 4-8
Bicycling Australia show: Oct 20-24
Japan International Cycle Show: Nov 19-21 back to top .
Fill 'er up : Arnie Armstrong has owned his gas station, tire shop for ...
Arnie Armstrong, right, talks with Ernie Wallen recently at Arnie's Gas and Tire Center in Ronan, the business that Armstrong has owned for 55 years. At 81, Armstrong is still involved in running the business that he started in 1952.
TOM BAUER/Missoulian .
Blizzard of '78 memories?
Five days after the Blizzard of '78, cars were still abandoned on Route 128 near the Dedham/Westwood town line. As we prepare our 30th anniversary coverage of the storm, we want to hear from you. We want your stories of the kindness of strangers, friendships or romances that you struck up during the storm and its aftermath. How would Boston fare today if a Blizzard of '78 hit again? Please e-mail your thoughts to howe@globe.com .
The plea of a dying breed: Don't kill the bike messengers
Bike messengers have a reputation for being surly misfits, with a penchant for lane-splitting and light-running. But many say they're misunderstood. On a recent chilly morning, a gaggle of them hung out at their usual pit stop between deliveries, Monorail Espresso on Pike Street, surrounded by cigarette smoke and an armada of wheels. Their dark, tough clothes repelled any hint of rain, cold and friendly overtures. "I have friends afraid to come say hi to me at work, because they're intimidated to come here," said Monorail barista Addie Harrington, speaking of the messengers. "But they're really polite and friendly." Some messengers say they feel disrespected by, well, lots of people: drivers who can't drive; office workers with superior airs; pedestrians who think bicyclists have no legal right to be on a sidewalk (they do).
Iraq, ahoy?
It is often dangerous when a country's foreign policy calculus, especially when surrounded by military elements, is radically altered at times of domestic political turbulence that may be a perfect recipe for disaster. Ironically, what brings together the otherwise not-so-friendly institutions that are the Turkish government and the Turkish military is their confusion over Iraq: In public, both are pro-incursion; privately none may be so. What are the consequences? A military march into the old Mesopotamia would not look (or happily end) something like Tintin in the land of the Kurds. There are military and political reasons why an incursion may not be militarily and politically feasible. In military terms, the cost-benefit analysis is not lucid. For example, what would the criteria be for success? How many terrorists are worth how many martyrs and how much equipment, time, effort and resources lost? What would the defined goal be? How would be achieved? Would it be achieved? Can it be achieved? If the answer is a maybe, what's the point of opting for an incursion? If yes, what would be the cost of an incursion? Who would be the enemy? PKK men? PKK sympathizers in northern Iraq? The Iraqi Kurdish Entity? The U.S.
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