Consider Tour de Victoria next month
I loved him. I really did.
The blond, just-got-out-of-bed hair. The magnificent bone structure. That whole Larry Mullen Jr. thing he’s got going on.
And last year, with his team disqualified from the Tour de France, when he tenaciously scrambled to secure sponsorship from a conglomerate of go-to Kazakh businesses and field his own team in a futile race against the clock – well, that kind of grit just melts a girl’s heart.
But when Alexandre Vinokourov got pitched out of this year’s Tour for blood doping, I had to give him up.
I’m not quite ready to toss the whole sport out with the increasingly dirty bath water, though. And if you’re of the same mind, consider giving the Victoria Cycling Festival a go, Sept. 14 to 16.
Organizers promise to bring together families, professional riders, commuters, and road and track racers of all ages and abilities for “a cycling festival like no other.”
The Bear Mountain Hill Climb gets things off to a punishing start on Friday with a three-kilometer ascent to the Bear Mountain Golf Resort and Spa, where you’ll be rewarded with a post-race party.
Saturday features the awkwardly named Cardinal Law Cops for Cancer Oak Bay Criterium. Proceeds from the event, which also includes activities for kids, go to help children living with cancer.
Another criterium – a closed-loop circuit on city streets – takes up most of Sunday. The elite riders in the Bastion Square Grand Prix will vie for prizes estimated to total $7,000 Canadian, and open category races offer you a chance to get in on the action. A couple of weeks ago, I watched my brother Brett in a criterium in Des Moines, Wash. – without the benefit of steroids or double Red Bull lattes – and I can tell you from experience it’s an exciting spectacle. So if you just want to watch, position yourself at “Crash Corner” or pull up an onstage La-Z-Boy, available to those who contribute cash or merchandise toward the lap awards. Barring that, you’ll find any number of outdoor cafes along the course.
The Timbit Challenge, also on Sunday, gives children 5 to 10 years old the opportunity to ride with members of the Canadian National Cycling Team. When that wraps up, the Victoria Police Department and others take on the city’s bike messengers in the Helijet Airways Cops/Courier Challenge, a relay around Bastion Square.
Get all the scheduling details at victoriacyclingfestival.com or (250) 384-8223.
Earn your stripes
Like Canada, but not in the mood for quite so much exertion? Try Culinary Boot Camp, Sept. 25 to 30 at the Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat and Guesthouse, 45 minutes outside Victoria.
Chef/farmer Mara Jernigan will put your through an obstacle course of knife skills, baking, butchery, sauce and soup making, and more. (And do not, under any circumstances, fail to negotiate the wall. You saw how that turned out for Vincent D’Onofrio in “Full Metal Jacket.”)
Since the whole affair takes place on a farm, the food will be right handy. Jernigan will set you to work harvesting produce from her two-acre garden, gathering eggs from the chickens themselves, cooking locally raised meats and preserving tomatoes and fall fruits.
You’ll spend your furlough visiting cheese makers and wineries, walking through the woods in search of mushrooms, and exploring local produce and baked goods.
The experience will set you back $1,995 Canadian, which includes accommodations, three squares a day, recipes, beverages and preserves to go.
Cooks of all levels are welcome. You can learn more at www.fairburnfarm.bc.ca or (250) 746-4637.
Regional events
•Barnes Steam and Power Show, Aug. 24-26, Belgrade, Mont. This is the largest steam engine show in the Northwest, and you can be there to see the engines, threshing machines, sawmills, old gas tractors, a 10-stamp gold mill, gas engines, miniature trains and more. (www.visitmt.com/406-388-4433)
•Silver Lake Winery’s Harvest Party, Sept. 1, Zillah, Wash. If you like pit-roasted Kahlua pig with your wine, this is the place for you. They’ll throw in live music, a grape-stomping contest, a hula demonstration and contest, a wildest Hawaiian shirt competition and more Pacific Islands-themed high jinks. (www.silverlakewinery.com/509-829-6235)
•Sandy Oktoberfest, Sept. 7-9, Sandy, Ore. You’ll find everything you might expect – German bands, dancers, entertainers, a sauerkraut and sausage booth, crafts and more – all in a 10,000-square-foot “Biergarten.” (www.travelportland.com/503-251-2668)
•Korean Cultural Celebration, Sept. 8, Seattle. Give thanks for a good harvest with folk songs, dance, tae kwon do demonstrations, film and exhibits. (www.seattlecenter.com/206-684-7200)