FFF (Fellow Farrar Fans):
Stop … everyone inhale … take a big breath.
Now slowly exhale … focus … center.
Think about all things French: French fries. French dressing. French’s yellow mustard.
Now think about the most important thing in France that will be going on for the next three weeks.
Yes, FFF, you are not imagining it. You do have a severe case of Tour de France Farrar Fever. Sorry to report — there is no cure. The best you can do is palliative care — watching Tyler along with the eyes of the rest of the world as he winds his way across France.
In case you have forgotten (you better not have forgotten, you losers), Tyler starts tomorrow, July 4, in his quest for some serious cycling accolades in the Tour de France.
To get you in the spirit, I provide a selection of a few items:
1) The official Tour de France Web site. The route video is particularly cool. Remember our man Tyler has his best chances on the longer, flatter portions with sprints at the end. There are several of these, so keep especially focused on those days. If you need to, say, take a shower or do some laundry, do that on the big mountain days. See it here: www.letour.fr/us/homepage_horscourseTDF.html
2) The TV schedule. Versus Channel might as well be called Tour de France channel in July. This is a good reason to finally learn how to work your DVR (for the technically challenged like my Mom, a DVR is a Digital Video Recorder — a replacement for the VCR for those of us not in the Paleolithic Age). The first stage in Monaco is a modest length individual time trial that could play pretty well for our friend Tyler.
3) A very cool Web site from our very own Wenatchee World dedicated to Tyler’s TDF efforts. The Woods family have been extremely close friends of our family for several generations, and they are the owners and publishers of the local paper in Wenatchee, known every-so-modestly as The Wenatchee World. You should definitely check this site out — its completeness and focus on one person reminds me of some of the obsessive fan sites devoted to Michael Jackson. Kudos to The Wenatchee World.
My highly placed sources at The World have informed me they have a professional writer covering the race from France dedicated solely to Tyler coverage. This seems like a great idea … but I am a bit hurt that I was not asked to take on this duty. I suspect the standards of journalistic excellence may not be compatible with my “unofficial” reporting.
4) Finally, ho hum, another interview with none other than Tyler is in the leading publication on professional cycling, Velo News. Too bad Velo News is so late to the Tyler bandwagon. We have been saying for years what they are finally waking up to see. Tyler is the best American sprinter and has a real shot at some glory in France. I am going to encourage them to read my e-mails for new story ideas. I mean really, Mark Cavendish is so “yesterday” in terms of the sprinters.
Remember — there is no cure for Farrar Fever!! Just sit back and take in the action.

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