Cycling Foodie

I have had a serious case of “writer’s block” for some reason on this post. This year was my 6th and best Napa Valley Tour de Cure so far. I didn’t make my best time, but I had loads of fun and got to meet some really wonderful new friends. Also this year, thanks to the generous support of my friends (old & new), I finally hit the Champion fundraising level ($1,000+).

Saturday, May 3rd, I helped out with pre-registration in the morning and then in the evening for the Champions Dinner.

Champions Dinner

Riders who raise $1,000 or more are Champions to Stop Diabetes. In my 6 years of riding the Tour de Cure, this was my first Champions Dinner! The tireless efforts of both staff and volunteers make this event even that much more special. I only got a few photos …

Desiree and Phil arranged for loads of donated raffle prizes for the Champions: wine (of course, this is the Napa Valley Tour de Cure, after all!), a bike, gift cards, local hand-made jewelry and a quilt are just some of the prizes. I’ll have a full list soon and will post that.

The food was amazing – for starters during registration, we had some absolutely gorgeous smoked salmon! I was busy so I did not get many photos, and those few photos I did get, did not come out very well, but here are a few …

For entrees, we had a choice of:

This was a terrific kickoff to the ride!

Day of Event – The Ride!

As always, the rest stops were well stocked with cheerful volunteers, lots of great food, and happy cyclists.

We also had bananas, apples, peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches, and lots of water and Cytomax available. Last year we had the GoMacro Macrobars for the first time. The GoMacro products are vegan and gluten-free, so I was a bit skeptical because I am a classic Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif Bar kinda’ gal, but one bite of these new bars changed my mind. I like these and they sit well in my belly on a long ride.

Trancas Steakhouse served lunch at The Fieldstone Winery rest stop to the 80 and 100-mile riders. They were making quesadillas and tacos – these were hugely popular among many of the cyclists!

Trancas Steakhouse also served the post-ride meal. I had the pasta and meatballs, Caesar salad, sourdough bread, and lots and lots of watermelon. That hit the spot!

 

 

 

 

If you’ve never done an organized ride and want to try one, this is the best organized ride I’ve ridden.

Everything about it is terrific – the volunteers, the route, the food and beverage, the camaraderie of the riders, and most of all it’s for a great cause.

To find a Tour de Cure in your area, check it out here.

If you can’t ride and you’re interested in volunteering, click here. 

I hope to see you there next year!

 

 

 

We left San Diego for Holtville early Wednesday afternoon. It’s about a 2-hour drive, so we wanted to make sure we got there in plenty of time for our evening event.

The drive was an adventure – rain, wind, sandstorm, beautiful views of the rugged desert landscape.

The scenery was quite striking; it possessed a very rugged beauty.

The sandstorm looked worse than these photos show … we were in a little rental car that was getting kind of blown about the highway. You could hear the sand grains hitting the car and almost feel them scratching across the paint. Visibility was more limited than it appears here. Fortunately, the sand storm was brief.

The hotel was … an experience. It was easy to see that it has lots of history. I thought it might be a great candidate for one of those “Save My Resort” type of reality shows. That’s really all I want to say about it.

By the time we got there the wind gusts were dreadful. After checking in, my colleague and I ventured into town for a bite. We ended up at the Food Court in the local shopping mall.

My colleague tried the Chinese restaurant – his lunch looked and smelled good. I was looking for something very light and easy on my stomach. I found a beautiful fresh fruit salad at the Italian restaurant, and some fat free frozen vanilla yogurt with toasted almonds. That hit the spot.

In the evening we met an awesome group of students and their families in Holtville. I hope we see many of them here on campus in Fall 2014!

I woke up early and went for a little walk around the property. It was a lovely morning; the wind had mellowed to a gentle breeze.

I packed up early in the morning to head back to the San Diego airport with another colleague. Starbucks for breakfast again. I tried their Hearty Blueberry Whole Grain Oatmeal – it was really good. This would make a wonderful pre-ride breakfast.

Here’s a summary of my flight home …

Home Sweet Home! Looking forward to getting back on my bike!

 

My trip included San Diego and Holtville, two distinctly different places.

The weather looked promising when I first arrived in San Diego, but it clouded up pretty quickly. It was much cooler than I had anticipated and I found myself wishing that I had packed a UC Davis sweatshirt. Thankfully, I at least brought a jacket.

I arrived one day ahead of the rest of my group. I was hoping to meet up with a friend and ride in San Diego, but my friend was sick and the weather was not great for cycling anyway, so I hung around the hotel and worked. Our group stayed at the Town & Country Resort & Conference Center. I wandered around the property, which has a very confusing layout, but it was interesting and had lots of character.

There were roses of just about every color.

There were also lavender, white, different shades of red, pink, peach, purple, a wonderful collection of roses. Some of the blooms were huge. Sadly, my feeble little travel camera just did not capture the rich palette of hues.

My favorite part of the property was the variety of decorative plants and flowers.

After I got checked in and wandered around a little to stretch my legs from the flight, I logged on to the Internet for a bit of work. Then I treated myself to a spa pedicure. I should do this more often – that felt amazing.

Back to the room to work a bit more, then wander around to find some dinner. Every staff member I asked said that I had to try their “fancy” restaurant, Trellises Garden Grille. It was good, but apparently I have a different view of “fancy.” Details. “Fancy” restaurants pay attention to details.

“Fancy” restaurants pay attention to details like putting the dressing on the side when requested. I am not a huge dressing fan, so I always ask for it on the side. My salad came slathered with dressing, but I just did not want to hassle with sending it back. I know if I had, they would have corrected it and I am confident that my server would have been quite pleasant about it, but I just did not want to deal with it at the time. Overall the salad was good – the greens were fresh, the meat was well seasoned and cooked to my liking (on the rare side). The dressing was good, but there was just way too much of it for my tastes. If you like lots of dressing, you would love this salad.

“Fancy” restaurants would notice that splash of wine on the bottom of the glass and wipe it off before serving it. I promise these will be the only negative observations I will share about the food on this trip. It’s just that these are pet peeves for me.

After a leisurely dinner, I wandered around the property a little more. It was quite pleasant and I wish my little camera had been able to capture the lighting; it was lovely.

In the morning I worked out in the gym facility. I was so thankful to have this so that I could log a few March Madness miles. After a nice workout, I cleaned up and went to the Terrace Cafe and Deli for a healthy breakfast – oatmeal, fresh fruit, and a spot of coffee. The fruit was delightful and the service was efficient and friendly.

Back to my room for a few more hours of work.

On the shuttle ride from the hotel, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was also traveling from Northern California. I overheard her tell the shuttle driver that she was “here with the University,” so naturally I assumed she meant my University – UC Davis. So we chatted. It turns out that she is faculty at National University, not UC Davis. She gave me a few suggestions of things to try to do in San Diego. She recommended checking out the Fashion Valley Mall, located just over “the river” from my hotel.

Around lunchtime, I ventured out to explore the mall. Wow. It really was a beautiful mall. We don’t have a mall in Davis – you have to travel to Sacramento, Roseville, Fairfield, or one of the other neighboring cities for a mall. We have some decent malls within a reasonable driving distance, but it’s been a long time since I have been to a “fancy” mall like this. Wow!

I indulged in a little retail therapy and wandered in and out of a few shops. I will tell you all about my foodie exploration at True Food Kitchen. This was hands down the best meal I had on my trip. It deserves a post all of its own.

So, after a leisurely lunch, I wandered back to the hotel to get a little more work done and to prepare for our evening event.

We had a terrific event. It was exciting to meet prospective students and their families. We met some incredible students and look forward to seeing them in Fall 2014!

After the event, I went out for dinner with two of my colleagues to A Taste of Thai in San Diego.

These pictures do not even begin to do this food justice. It was wonderful!

Wednesday morning I worked out again and then had breakfast with one of my colleagues.

I had seen a Boudin Bakery at the mall, so I had my heart set on breakfast at Boudin. Around 8am, we walked over to find that Boudin didn’t open until 9am! What?! A bakery with bankers hours?

So, off to Starbucks we went. I got the Greek Yogurt with Honey Parfait and a banana. This would make a great mid-ride snack.

The weather was off and on cloudy, cool, breezy. It threatened rain, but didn’t until after we were on the road to our next destination.

And so begins the next leg of our journey – to Holtville, California.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was a ride to Winters and back, nothing too much, just a decent paced 41-mile ride. The plan was to do a big ride today, so last night’s dinner had to do double duty:  recovery and preparation. Being Labor Day weekend, it also had to involve grilling.

 

 

Grilling corn is quickly becoming my favorite way to cook corn on the cob. It’s pretty easy, it just requires an extra step or two. Carefully peel back the husk, being sure to keep it attached at the bottom. Remove the corn silk and discard. Re-wrap the corn with the husk and then soak in cool water for about 15 minutes. This will moisten the husk and help prevent burning. The outer layers of the husk will char, but the inner layers will protect the corn. I like to expose some of the corn so that it gets a little char, but you don’t want too much. I found that this corn was so sweet, flavorful, and moist that it did not need anything else. But, if you like butter and stuff on your corn, you could make your favorite herb butter or other spread and create your own version of perfection.

For the chicken breasts, I marinated them about 30 minutes with a little lemon-orange-pepper and a splash of white white and olive oil. The beans are just lightly steamed. Super easy. Super healthy. Super yummy.

Now, on to riding … I’m getting a much later start than expected this morning and plans for a big ride through the Napa Valley today are seeming rather unrealistic. It seems to be turning into a Davis to Winters ride kind of day. Or, maybe just a Greek Food Festival kind of day … it is the 50th annual Greek Food Festival. How can we foodies say no to that?