Local Kid

Tyler Farrar is a sprinter in the language of cycling, meaning he prefers the straight and flat to the up and down. Keeping things level is a trait that has proved helpful during a year in which he has had to navigate through some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
On Saturday, the 2002 graduate of Wenatchee High School will become the first Washington native to participate in the Tour de France. He is one of nine riders for the Garmin-Slipstream team. The selection, which officially arrived last week, fulfilled a dream for the 25-year-old, who began competitive riding when he was 12. "It's probably the biggest race in the world," Tyler Farrar said. "It's pretty exciting I get to do it." Yet that happy news came nine months after he rushed from his current home base in Ghent, Belgium, back to Wenatchee after his father, Ed, was in a serious accident while biking to work. Ed Farrar, a local orthopedist and cycling enthusiast whose love for the sport helped get his son interested, was hit head-on by a car that had crossed lanes while the driver searched for a dropped clipboard, according to a report in The Wenatchee World. Ed Farrar suffered life-threatening injuries that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Tyler Farrar spent most of the winter in Wenatchee helping care for his father.
When Ed Farrar returned home in January, Tyler returned to Belgium and racing.
"This is my job," Tyler Farrar said. "When the time comes, you have to get back on it."
After narrowly missing a spot in the Tour last year, making that team became the goal for this season. He essentially clinched a spot when he finished second in two stages of the Giro d'Italia last month.
"I've kind of known for a while now that as long as everything kept going OK that I would probably be doing the Tour," Farrar said in a phone interview from Spain. "I've been training to prepare for it." While cycling may seem from the outside like the ultimate individual sport, teamwork is actually a vitally important aspect. "Everybody has a job to do," Farrar said.
Farrar's job is to sprint, to set the pace on the flat stages and try to earn a stage win.
By nearly winning in Italy, he proved he was ready for cycling's biggest race. "It kind of showed that I had the speed that was necessary to win [a stage]," he said, "so I'll take another crack at it here at the Tour." Farrar is the first to admit his sprinting acumen means he's never likely to win the whole thing at a race like the Tour de France. "You have what you are good at and what you are not so good at," he said. "I happen to be really good at sprinting. But, no, I don't think I'll ever be able to be competitive in the mountains ... That just selects a different kind of rider."
Farrar is in his second season with Garmin-Slipstream, a team that has taken an outspoken stance as being drug-free, ordering what Farrar calls "strict in-house testing" on top of the regular tests conducted by race officials. Farrar says that attracted him to the team.
"Cycling has had its share of scandals over the year, and I don't want to become involved in that," he said. "I've always been a clean rider, and now I know all my team is. I don't have to worry about them doing something stupid that is going to bite me, too [entire teams are penalized when a rider tests positive]." Farrar got hooked on cycling when he was a young kid in Wenatchee. Both parents were avid riders, and "I knew by the time I was 14 or 15 I wanted to be a pro bike racer," he said. By 18, Farrar had made the U.S. National Team and knew being a pro was a realistic goal. Family lore has it that Tyler was just 8 when he fell in love with the Tour de France during a trip to France to visit an aunt while the race was going on. That's when he decided he wanted to return someday as a rider. Today, he laughs when that story is brought up and insists he doesn't really remember the trip all that well. "Maybe it sunk down into my subconscious," he said. Starting Saturday, he'll get to experience the real thing on his bike. His mother and father, meanwhile, will be forced to watch their son's greatest moment on TV from home. Though his dad is doing well, Tyler said, "he's just not ready for a trip of that size yet."
Maybe his father — like his son had to do — will just have to wait an extra year to make that trip to France.

On Deck

Sad Days for Missy the Missle

Former world downhill champion Melissa “Missy” Giove and two alleged co-conspirators were arrested in New York Tuesday, charged with plans to distribute some 400 pounds of marijuana.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested the 37-year-old Giove, 26-year-old Tamara Geagly and 30-year-old Eric Canori north of Saratoga Springs, New York. Earlier unconfirmed reports that investigators had also seized some $2 million in cash appear to have been inaccurate.
Agents were alerted to the distribution conspiracy by a police informant. Giove, a resident of Chesapeake, Virginia, reportedly flew to New York, met with the informant and took possession of a truck containing the marijuana soon after.
Giove was later followed to Canori’s home where the contents were unloaded. An unnamed police official said that it is believed the marijuana was intended to be distributed in the New York City area.
The three are being charged with federal drug violations and could face up to 40 years in prison and $2 million in fines. Existing federal drug statutes call for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in such cases, although recent Supreme Court rulings have granted considerable latitude to sentencing judges, particularly in cases involving first-time offenders.
Giove, also known as "The Missile," earned a total of 14 NORBA national downhill titles, 11 UCI World Cup victories, two overall World Cup titles and the world championship in 1994.
Apparently aware of Giove’s competitive background, DEA agent John Gilbride felt compelled to offer the observation that “drug trafficking can lead you downhill fast."
Giove is not the first American downhill racer to have been charged with a marijuana-related offense. Giove, however, faces penalties far more serious than those handed down to 2000 world champion Myles Rockwell, who was arrested in 2004 for operating a sophisticated hydroponic system used to grow 52 high quality sinsemilla plants in his home in Colorado. A state judge sentenced Rockwell to 30 nights in jail, permitting him to spend his days as a free man, and ordered him to attend a drug rehabilitation program

A picture is worth 1000 words

I got the cheese and wine........

DH beats TT any day

For Immediate Release
June 15, 2009

Work on Burke-Gilman Trail Starts Today, North of the U of W
SEATTLE—SDOT paving crews will begin work today on the Burke-GilmanTrail north of the University of Washington, from 36th Avenue NE to NE 50th Street, and plan to complete the work by 3 p.m. on Friday June 19. They will close the Burke-Gilman Trail from 37th Avenue NE to NE 50th Street 24-hours a day. A detour will be provided on 39th Avenue NE, which will be closed to motor vehicles except for drivers headed for destinations within that area.

The crews will remove and replace areas of the trail damaged by tree roots.

Advance notice was not provided for this work due to an unscheduled rush job that preceded this project. Because of the high level of interest in repairing the trail, SDOT is choosing not to delay the work.

A CALL TO ACTION: On Wednesday – June 24, 2009 various important officials associated with South Seatac Park will be attending the Wednesday Night World Championships to better understand how we are using the park. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate how many mountain bikers will be displaced should the trails be closed. Please show your commitment to saving our trails by attending this event. More information on Wednesday Night World Championships can be found at www.wednesdaynightworlds.com.