Since all the buzz now is about getting to France to see Lance go for The Big Seven, I want to make sure that you all know about Ted Arnold’s Self Guided Tour de France 2005. This is, I think, about the fourth edition of the guide, and this is the first year that Ted is having it printed and selling it on his www.velotainment.com site. Ted decided to try cafepress.com, after hearing from me about how they are handling the sales of my Podium Girl Gone Bad merchandise. (Insert powerful, compelling, irresistible subliminal blinking messages to buy Podium Girl Gone Bad merchandise: thongs, pillows, etc at www.cafeshops/pggb). And, as I was saying...

Ted is a buddy of mine in Austin, and he worked for the bike shop that takes care of Lance’s bikes, so he knows Lance and worked on a couple of team sponsor advertising spots. Ted has been a tour guide during the Tour for four or more years, so he really knows his stuff. His little book is just the right size to carry along, and is so full of information. Even if you are not going to go over to the Tour, it has great insights about the 2005 stages. It is well worth reading even if you are doing the Tour on OLN! And be sure to check out Ted’s forum for Q&A about doing the Tour.

Speaking of the Tour, a good, generous buddy of mine tried to give me a RT to the Tour using his frequent flyer air miles, only to find that any return flight from Paris was booked up until mid-August! I could get there, but not back... We all know that in order to use FF miles, you have to book a year ahead, and then it’s iffy. And that airlines only allow extremely limited space for free flights. So I was so stoked and jumping around: Yess, yess, yess -- and then greatly disappointed, but not surprised... Bummer, ‘cause flight and rental car expense are two huge costs that I really have a hard time handling on my budget.

Allrightiethen, Where's There's a Will, There's a Way, as my old Grannie used to say. But... wait a minute, maybe all of my childhood, Grannie really meant "will" as $$$ from an inheritance, and I've been a mislead optimist all this time since I was a kid...