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The Giro d’Italia has a fine history behind it, like the Tour de France it was started to publicise a newspaper, just like the Tour de France the organisers made the leaders jersey the same colour as the paper, yellow in France from the L’Auto newspaper and pink in Italy from the La Gazzetta dello Sport. The first Giro was in 1909 and was 2448 kilometres long (the shortest), split into 8 stages and was won by the Italian rider Luigi Ganna, 127 riders started in Milan, but by the finish, also in Milan, there was only 49 left, this was not the worst edition, in 1914 only 8 out of the 81 starters managed the full distance.

The winners.

Just like the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, the Giro d’Italia always has a deserving winner, three riders have won it five times, Alfredo Binda and Fausto Coppi of Italy and the great Belgian, Eddy Merckx, Merckx of course also won the Tour de France five times and the Vuelta once. There have been many other “stars” who have won the Giro over the years, French heroes Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault and from Spain Miguel Indurain have all one 5 Tours de France and the Giro more than once. The home riders have obviously been the big winners, Felice Gimondi, Gino Bartoli, Ivan Gotti, Gilberto Simoni and Paolo Savoldelli have all shown there winning ways, but the battles between Giuseppe Saronni and Francesco Moser in the 80’s are epic. The strangest rider to have taken part in the Giro d’Italia would be Alfonsina Morini Strada who is the only woman to have ridden the race, and finish!

The race itself.

The Giro has started outside of Italy on eight occasions, the furthest away being either Belgium, Greece or possibly the Dutch town of Groningen, which hosted the opening individual time trial in 2002. When the race is on Italian soil the main difficulties are usually the Alps, Dolomites and the Apennines, the Giro is in May so the big climbs can get dreadful weather, snow, rain and cold temperatures can shape the race and determine the winner.
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In my early post-college years a few select friends, Sam and Pete, shared the same interests that I did – older women and poker. We started going out on Thursday nights to a certain bar that would usually have women in their 40’s recently divorced or single for other reasons. We called it 40’s night. We would usually hit the bar around 8 pm, after the gym and after a few beers. Some nights were dead; others were a bit more exciting. On this one particular night we ran into three other women, Dawn, Melissa and Kelly. Melissa was sporting a t-shirt that said “Double D” scrawled on with a sharpie marker. First instincts were, I guess she must want someone to ask. Thinking it had to do with her anatomy we headed over to strike up a conversation. Turns out the Double D, meant Delightfully Divorced, not what we were thinking.
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You’d almost have to be living on another planet to not realize that swords of any kind are becoming very popular among collectors and even investors. Ninja swords and other styles of Chinese weapons are particularly in demand right now.

There are a few key aspects that you should know about before you dish out your money, especially if you plan to buy over the internet. Unfortunately there are many websites claiming to that certain swords are battle ready or can be used for cutting exercises in the dojo and in many situations that is just not true.

Sometimes you might see a website that features a ninja sword and the name of the weapon will be very similar to one of higher quality and will even look exactly like a better well known sword. So the unsuspecting buyer thinks he’s getting this unbelievable that no one else has found on a certain sword. Unfortunately he/she learns the hard way that it’s not what he thought.
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Ever since the concept was first introduced in or around the 1930’s, the use of tactical flashlights to aid the police and military in identifying targets before firing has saved countless lives and made the jobs of soldiers and officers much easier. Though now commonplace, when the use of these lights was first introduced it was a major tactical innovation. In the years since, tactical lighting has evolved greatly and now a variety of bulb, battery, and case technologies allow for one-handed or hands-free lighting in a number of greatly differing tactical situations.

Police Use
The original innovators of the tactical flashlight were police departments who needed an easy way to correctly identify suspects in low-light situations while still being able to fire a gun if necessary. Specialized tactical flashlights were developed that could easily be held along with a firearm, allowing officers to see clearly whatever the gun was pointed at. As tactical gear has improved over the years so have these lights; the majority of police-issue tactical flashlights make use of LED’s to allow them an unprecedented bulb life with minimal battery usage, while using custom-designed cases which are resilient against damage and that can be physically attached to the gun itself so as to allow the officer to either have a free hand or to use both hands on the firearm.

Military Use
Much like the police force, the military has a great need for specialized tactical lighting that won’t interfere with a soldier’s duties. Military tactical flashlights can come in a variety of styles, some of which are similar to those which are used by police officers while others are designed with specific uses in mind. Many military tactical flashlights can be attached to clothing instead of firearms, allowing soldiers a wider view of the area while keeping their hands free to handle their gun or other weapons. Most of these lights will have specialized filters or in some cases specialized bulbs which will allow them to illuminate an area for night vision or infrared goggles without giving away their position by the bright light.
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