Cycling

Course changes have shortened the route for El Tour de Tucson by about a half-mile and could lead to a faster race today, founder Richard DeBernardis said. For the first time since 1992, the 109-mile bicycle race will have new starting and finishing lines on Church Avenue between Alameda and Pennington streets. The route also has shifted to avoid construction on Oracle Road, and riders will use the Interstate 10 frontage road instead of the Silverbell Road stretch.  

HE MADE the Earth revolve around a bird's nest in Beijing, brought the world's biggest rock band into Scotland on a claw and is the man every pop star wants on their team. Mark Fisher might just be the greatest showman in the world, and his next mission is to get the entire world excited about coming to Glasgow. The mild mannered but big-thinking tour architect is the person who has helped design and build the most breathtaking stage sets in recent history and has orchestrated the designs at ...  

So, what kinds of things do we actually want to know? For one, I will assert that all of us would certainly want to know that we haven't unwittingly taken a sucker's bet, revealing that someone has played us. I suspect that many of the diehard TOD readers, myself included, want to avoid this kind of situation.  

The City of Parksville and outside consultants presented their transportation study options at an open house last week and while the attendance was good, not all of the feedback appears to be. Brent Hook wasn't shy about his opinion, putting "If it's not broken why fix it?" on his Dairy Queen sign on Highway 19A — which could see considerable change in some of the proposals. While the extensive review process is looking at all aspects of transportation, including parking and pedestrian and bike networks, much of the talk has been about the proposed changes to Hwy 19A.  

A group of girls near the busy Old Airport Road in India's tech hub Bangalore bicycle to school every day as a lifestyle statement -- green transport is cool. "Eight of my friends and I ride our bicycles to school every day. We don't use public transport. We ride bicycles as they are safer and environment-friendly," Seema P, a student of Class 8 of Sacred Heart Girls High School, HAL, Bangalore, told IANS. Rahul Mishra, a student Class 10 at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Museum Road, in the heart of the city, said the same.  

A North Huntingdon woman has been charged with riding a bicycle while intoxicated. Melanie Gagner, 31, of 9786 McClellan St. was charged Nov. 12 with driving under the influence, resisting arrest and possessing a small amount of marijuana. Gagner was riding a 20-inch Mongoose Mini Racer bicycle at about 2:50 p.m.  

WITH Comrie's Zero Waste Fortnight now in full swing locals are being encouraged to support a number of events being held over the weekend in conjunction with the scheme. On Saturday, November 21 between 10am and 12noon, a sale of recycled bikes, through a joint initiative between Perth & Kinross Council and The Bike Station, will be held at Comrie Croft. A qualified mechanic from The Bike Station will be in attendance and run a Dr Bike session to service bicycles and encourage people to get back in the saddle.  

Jim Lilley was the quintessential American "China hand". He was born there, spoke the language fluently from childhood, spied against China for the CIA and ultimately became US ambassador in Beijing at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacres in 1989. Perhaps his greatest diplomatic achievement was being held in the highest regard both by the Chinese government and its adversary Taiwan - he remains the only American to have served as head of US missions in both.  

Four participants in this year's Great Australian Bike Ride, two of them women, reached Ballarat after cycling more than 17,000km through every state in the country. Nothing especially remarkable here, except that the youngest, a woman, was 58. Tom Brown, 70, Roberta Gordon, 62, John Faragia, 61 and Gonny Rundell, 58, spent almost seven months on the road and are scheduled to finish the race in Melbourne.