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Naomi  The Biking Life

 by: Naomi Bloom  4/1/2002

Behind the Century Scene

"There are 20 cutting boards in the storage locker and they're all filthy!" gasps Margaret Barnes, president of Almaden Cycle Touring Club (ACTC).

Scrubbing dirty kitchen utensils wasn't exactly the kind of bicycling life Margaret envisioned for herself at age 11. Back then she was chasing -- and often winning -- junior championships back in the UK. Nowadays what keeps Margaret spinning for a good part of the year is ACTC's annual century ride, the Tierra Bella. As president, Margaret keeps tabs on just about everything involved in the event. But most of the time she's concentrating on the most important part of the ride: THE FOOD.

That's where those filthy cutting boards come in. With five rest stops serving some 2300 riders, the boards had to be cleaned up by Friday, April 12th for slicing, dicing and cutting up everything from hy-roller sandwiches to bananas and cantaloupes.

The Tierra Bella starts and ends at Gavilan College in Gilroy, CA, about 35 miles south of San Jose. Four routes -- 60 km, 100 km, 100 miles and 200 km -- climb and/or roll through the verdant spring beauty of the southern Santa Clara Valley. (By the time you read this, the 25th Anniversary Tierra Bella will be history).

It takes over 200 ACTC members to pull it all off. And that's just the day of the ride. A lot of the work starts months before.

The Costco brigade

"I start with the food the week after last year's ride," says Margaret. "I get reports back from the rest stops and from the family shelter in Gilroy showing what they each received." Then she forgets all about it until the next February, when she starts perusing the Costco catalog.

By early April Margaret is making repeated trips to Costco to look for ideas for new ingredients or snacks and to check what's in stock. Then she makes at least two more trips to pick up what Costco can't deliver to the club's food prep location the day before the ride. Total Costco bill is about $2.5 thousand. "And that doesn't count what we get at Safeway as well," Margaret hastens to add.

"Everything must fall into place a week before the Tierra Bella. The day before the ride about 20 people show up to help me unload. We line up tables, make hy-rollers, cook a hundred pounds of potatoes, pack coolers and load it all on trucks for delivery to the rest stops."

Margaret plans for a large variety of food all around the course. So Tierra Bella riders can expect different kinds of food at each rest stop. New for 2002: 60 dozen bagels for the start. Plus, "I'm also looking for individually wrapped snacks like trail mix and cookies. They're easier than the loose stuff to grab and shove in a jersey pocket," she says. Michael Hudick, ACTC's "event manager" (he coordinates both the Tierra Bella and Sierra to the Sea Tour), once asked Margaret to budget $7.50 per person. "That's impossible!" she insists. "Two-hundred-K riders eat a lot more than 60-K riders. And so much depends on the weather."

If the weather's extreme, riders only want one kind of food. When it's really cold, the heavy-duty carbos go fast while the fresh fruit and lemonade just sit there. Hot weather sees the light, moist foods fly off the tables while the cookies, nut breads and peanut butter languish.

No matter how well Margaret plans or how favorable the weather, "what comes back at the end is a horrendous amount of peanut butter, jelly, bread, fruit and cookies," she admits. It all goes to the St. Joseph Family Shelter in Gilroy, helping to sustain the community where the ride takes place.

Before the ride, the cutting boards, along with TP, napkins, paper towels, utensils, serving implements and other reusables, come from the club's storage locker. Most of it's been languishing there since last year's ride. It may have all been clean then, but those cutting boards certainly didn't stay that way until April 2002.

Not just Margaret, but everyone working on the Tierra Bella relies on everyone else to make the whole support effort come together The Logistics committee rents and drives the trucks that deliver the food to the rest stops. They also acquire and deliver drinking water, ice, tables, rest stop and safety signs and anything else they think will be needed. Like the First Aid kits Margaret herself fetches from the storage locker.

One thing Margaret has managed to clean off her plate (pun intended) is the end-of-the-ride meal. Caterers have taken over for the last few years, preparing and serving veggie and meat lasagna, salad and garlic bread. But Margaret still makes sure the strawberries and ice cream are there for dessert. The trouble is, she has to be at Gavilan College in Gilroy to receive them at 5:00 in the morning on the day of the ride.

That just about gives her, the Logistics folks and the registration volunteers enough time to set up. Riders start showing up to register at 6:00. "The worst part of the day is registration." Margaret says. "Everyone wants to get going right away. They want coffee, water for their bottles and they want to go to the bathroom. What they don't want to do is wait in line."

Once all the riders are out on the road, things get kind of quiet at the college. It's time to prepare for the return of the mobs. The first finishers begin showing up around 11:30. That's when the music starts, continuing until 4:00 pm. Traditionally it's been a folk music band, but when I talked to her this year, Margaret was thinking of hiring a DJ instead.

What could go wrong?

Most of the ACTC club members are old hands at all this. "We've been doing this for so long," says Margaret, "and there are so many people involved, that it seems automatic." Most of the time, that is.

A few years ago three routes went through the Gilroy Hot Springs rest stop in the hills east of the Valley. But no one told Food Chairman Margaret, who blithely assumed only the 100-mile and 200-km routes would pass by. There wasn't enough food to feel all the cold and hungry riders on a blustery early April Saturday.

Those who are newbies at century planning don't necessarily know what needs to be communicated. But a lot of the old-timers can slip up too. Margaret remembers someone asking at the March meeting this year if anyone had talked to Shaw's Lightweight Cycles, the bike shop that normally provides mechanical support. "Beats me!" she told them. "Better get someone to give him a call."

"One year I ordered 16 cantaloupes and they sent 16 cases," Margaret recalls. One female club member decided to try giving them away. Cat calls of "Nice melons, lady!" rang out at the finish. One rider wrote in the comments book: "Keep the melon lady!"

Such humorous incidents are rare, though "We're all very serious," says Margaret. "There is so much happening all at the same time. we're just trying to stay on top of things."

Lots to stay on top of

Real work on the Tierra Bella starts more than six months in advance, with the Publicity Committee, who prepare the brochure and ads for publications like Cycle California, as well as listings on Web sites like BikeCal.com.

The club treasurer starts writing checks in January for permits, fees, licenses, police overtime, etc. He provides the parks departments, the City of Gilroy, California Department of Forestry and private property owners with the names of rest stop captains and proof of insurance.

Then there's Gavilan College. "The cost has gone up horrendously," Margaret reports. "Last year we paid $1400; this year it's over $3,000. We have to hire two Sheriff's Deputies to serve on site, at $67.50 per hour each. We have to pay extra to use the parking lots and grounds and the cafeteria kitchen. And we have to hire two janitors for 15 hours.

The club puts up a $2500 bond for marking the road and gets it back only if all the markings are removed after the ride. "We use a steam cleaner to remove them and must beg for water from homes along the course," says Margaret.

Steam cleaning is probably the hardest part of "Hangover," the catch-all label for the day after the Tierra Bella. That's when about 12 volunteers schlep all the equipment back to the storage locker: orange safety vests, signs, bike parking racks, First Aid kits, and yes, those perpetual (and hopefully clean) cutting boards.

Naomi can be reached at naomibloom@earthlink.net



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