When Arie Luyendyk won the 1990 Indianapolis 500 after six years of struggling with uncompetitive teams, it looked as if his career path would be smoothly paved from then on.

The ride is firm, but in no way uncomfortable - though in 2006 we had the benefit of smoothly paved, well maintained roads, in contrast to the rutted streets of a century ago.

It was smoothly paved rather than cobbled and pointed southeast, along the Path of die Beam.

The road itself was always plain-wide and smoothly paved, sometimes straight sometimes curving, going on and on and on.

Rubber-tired carriages were fairly common in the summer, and the main streets, at least, were all smoothly paved.

This close to the city the road was broad and smoothly paved, and a recent shower had left the pavement wet.

Roads ran through it, wide and level and smoothly paved, scoured clean by wind and sand and sun.

"The road to democracy is not smoothly paved," Mr. Sadr said during a recent interview in his office, cigarette smoke curling around his face.

The bunks are thick and comfortable, the mess hall has a salad bar and a burger counter, the roads and parking lots are smoothly paved.

Its streets were smoothly paved, its gardens glowed, and its proud houses might have grown up out of the earth, like trees.