Stage 5 tomorrow will be pretty much a repeat of today’s race, with an anticipated sprint finish.

[As an aside, we continue to be distraught at Tyler Farrar's wrist injury, believing firmly that Tyler would have won either yesterday or today or both, given his prime conditioning and perfect team dynamic on Garmin-Transitions. It looks like Cavendish has been spending too much time promoting his new book, Boy Racer. Those chicken dinners can really catch up with you.]

Overall, Stage 4 was a fairly routine, flat and crashless race — marking a departure for this year’s Tour. And the weather, although on the hot side, was at least clear and dry.

After the oil-slickened pavement of Stage 2 and yesterday’s cobblestoned nightmare, a flat profile and leisurely pace must have been a welcome change of venue for the peloton.

Random notes:

We’re still in awe that Wenatchee’s Tyler Farrar is hanging in there with a broken wrist. It has to be a dispiriting turn of events, but if anyone has the character to handle it, it’s Tyler.

Alan at EcoVelo muses on fandom burnout and is running a poll on whether you’re watching [so far pretty equally split between yes, no and shrug]. We noticed similar sentiments from David Schloss at BikeHugger. The feeling seems to be that with all the doping allegations, Lance’s star is crossed, the peloton is tainted and cycling’s reputation provides little incentive to cheer for anyone. But David seems to have gotten back on board and our view is that as the Tour progresses, particularly if it’s in a wide-open fashion, the initially alienated fans will come back in droves. It would help if Americans had a homeboy to root for (besides Lance), which role Tyler Farrar would have served admirably and, we hope, still may.

Anyone who’s ridden even a few hundred yards with a warped wheel handicapped by brake rub knows how annoying and demoralizing it can be. Turns out Alberto Contador rode with brake rub for 30 kilometers yesterday. That must’ve been one bad boy, since usually you can eliminate the problem by adjusting or quick-releasing the brake.

Good point from Barry Ryan on CyclingNews.com re Andy Schleck: “The loss of his brother Frank will doubtless be a blow to his morale, but perhaps he will now be freer to ride his own race. Last year, it could be argued that the younger Schleck focused a little too much on trying to get his brother onto the podium alongside him.”

Meanwhile, EcoVelo mulls the iPad’s use as a mobile blogging device.

Cyclists win one for a change!

And lose some as per usual.

And here’s a new wrinkle on Rider Down. Say you’re just riding along and a car comes at you but somehow fails to hit you. You might think, hey, it’s my lucky day! But wait … there’s always the passenger-leaning-out-the-window-to-push-you-over maneuver to worry about.

Yet another update on mountain biking in Marin, this time focusing on the Novato mtboomlet…see comments for the predictable NorCal perspective.

Gratifying news on the mountain biking in national parks front. IMBA re-ups amid good vibes.

The Bike Library is back up and rolling!

On designing “bicycle cities” …

BikingBis: Bicycle Sundays return May 2 to Seattle’s Lake Washington Boulevard.

SF Streetsblog continues to document the SFPD’s brutal and insensitive treatment of cyclists.

SeattleLikesBikes: C’mon out to the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board meeting on Wednesday.

Of all the varied and clever April Fool’s Day cycling spoofs, Cascade Bicycle Club’s “Drive to Work Day” was our favorite.

The state of mountain biking in north central Washington. More on this later, but a good overview for starters.

IMBA’s cheap accident insurance to members seems like a good deal, but YMMV depending on what your plan comprises already. Check it out via Adventure Advocates.

Among all the many helpful responses in this Yahoo! forum regarding what to do about a cat peeing on your mountain biking shoes, not one of the many helpful respondents suggested the obvious: Trade in the cat for a dog.

In L.A., a booming promise that “The culture of the car ends now!” No throwing projectiles, no verbal abuse, no cutting within 3 feet … and yes! No strangulation! “(No) making physical contact with a bicyclist from a moving vehicle on the roadway either by physical person or use of an implement.” Yay!

I remember when I was this anal about my ride logs…but it was a long time ago.

Reminder that the Marin County Bicycle Coalition’s “Dirt Bowl” fundraiser is Sunday, Feb. 7.

(Two) wheels ‘n feet account for 9.6 percent of all trips, but just 1.2 percent of federal funding. Other goodies as well in the Alliance for Biking & Walking “Benchmarking” report.

Add mtbchick to the growing list of hosts for “Awesome Land: Women of Dirt” showings .

Alan at EcoVelo looks at the iPad’s potential for mobile blogging.

Nothing to do with cycling, other than Yokota’s involvement, but a wild story nonetheless. So wild that the Man Himself, Gary Fisher, retweeted it.

Have a great weekend! Winter’s on the decline, time to get out ‘n RIDE!