Thursday

Another hot one here. Feels like Summer.

The golf outing with Roy was fun. The golf itself was marginal. I sprayed it around like one of those cartoon fire hoses that no one can control. I saw a lot of the course.

Two weeks to Tahoe. In case anyone is counting.

Very discouraging news out of The Tour. One of the hot shots tested positive for doping. He won a stage earlier, and finished second in May in the Giro d' Italia. He was the third rider kicked out of this year's race. Hard to believe that they can't control the renegades. The sport is imploding. Unfortunately, the various governing organizations are fighting among themselves and there's no leadership capable of taking charge.

LeClaire , Iowa (just a few minutes up river from Bettendorf) is the end point of this year's RAGBRAI. The ride begins on the western border of the state this Sunday. LeClaire is having a kick-off party tomorrow directed at people who are coming to town, parking their cars, and getting a bus ride Saturday to the western starting point. Not a bad idea. They've set up a stage and a big tent for a beer garden.

Personally, I think that the finish city is not all that big of a deal. Riders who have been on the road for a week mostly want to go home for a shower. Another beer party doesn't have the same ring after 450 miles, air mattresses, weather, hills, and the crowd. My bet is that LeClaire will be a ghost town by mid-afternoon a week from Saturday. Unless the traffic is so bad that people just can't get out of town.

They are closing three Starbucks stores here. They expanded in a big rush, and verteran coffee shop guys could have predicted slow sales at those locations.

2 and I are headed over to DM for an Iowa Cubs game on Saturday. My friend/client Dr. D. invited us. The DM Cubs have that Notre Dame football player on their roster. Back Sunday.

The neighbor's garden has started to come in. He brought over some cucumbers and sweet peppers tonight. I'm pretty confident that my tomatoes will be ripe while I'm in Tahoe.

All for now.

Have a great Friday

BCOT