Volta a Catalunya bicycle race



   Our area is very popular with bicyclists and motorcyclists. The countryside is beautiful. The roads are curvy, steep and not very busy. Every year they hold a world class bicycle race through Catalunya. It's similar to the Tour de France and all the top riders participate. This year the race went very near to where we live.

   It's possible to look at a schedule on the internet to see where the riders will be throughout the race. Philip and I decided to drive over to Falset and position ourselves on a hill where we could watch them go by. We left early to avoid the road closures. On the way, there was a terrific (for around here) hailstorm just 45 minutes before the racers were due to arrive. I'm afraid a number of vineyards around Falset and Marça may have been severely damaged since we just had bud break. Fortunately, the ice melted before the racers arrived but the pavement was still wet and slick.

   As usual with these events, there was a huge police presence. We must have counted at least 50 Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan national police) on motorcycles, several police cars, ambulances and a paddy-wagon. There was also a bunch of support and communication vehicles. It looked like they had at least two extra bicycles for each of the 107 racers.  

   By the time the race reached Falset, there were three pelotons. Philip (who is a bicycle racing aficionado) thought it was unusual that the race was so spread out. There were over 20 minutes between the first and last racers. Even though we were on a hill, they came by pretty quickly.

   The raced finished in Barcelona today. The winner was Alejandro Valverde. He rides for Team Movistar which happens to be my Spanish telephone company. Valverde has won the Volta a Catalunya multiple times. For complete info on the race, please link to:

            http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ciclista-a-catalunya-2017/stage-7/results/

 



 

 

 

¡Calçotada!

 

 

   Spring is the time of year for calçots (large green onions). People get together and grill them. It's the Catalan equivalent to a crawfish boil. There's special sauce you dip them in known as "romesco". For a recipe, link to:      https://spanishsauce.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/calcot-sauce-recipe/

It's really delicious!

   Our neighbor, Philip (a.k.a. El Baron), invited me to attend a calçotada (calçot party) last Saturday. Our hosts were Pedro and his wife, Rosa Maria. Pedro is in the construction business and has a farm just east of town. He built a nice little house/barn building that has a kitchen, bathroom and barbeque pit. It's the perfect place for a weekend get-a-way.

   There were a bunch of people there I knew. Sophie from DO Montsant was there with some of her French family. Albert and Lluisa were there and there were a couple of grape growers I've met over the years. I made a new friend, Sandra, who's an English lady living in Cornudella.

   There was also a posse of polite and well behaved children. Susan and I have remarked many times how the children here are so well behaved. You never see people yelling at their kids and you never see kids acting up. This is one of the most attractive things about Spain.

   To prepare calçots, they must be grilled over a hot fire. The outside layers get blackened and you strip off the black part with your fingers. This is messy and a big part of the fun. You then dip it in sauce, raise it over your head and lower it into your mouth (see below). The process is very similar to the way you used to eat spaghetti when you were five years old. It's against the law to eat calçots with a knife and fork.

   Grilled meat (in this case, lamb and sausage) is always served at a calçotada but not with the calçots. Pedro did a fine job with the meat. We had traditional Catalan cake (coca) for dessert to celebrate the birthdays of Rosa Maria and Dani. The cake was from a little town nearby called Serra de Almos. We now have very nice bakery in El Masroig. It's on our street but they don't make cakes.

   When you attend an event like this, you can pretty much write off the rest of the day. After almost four hours, it was home for a siesta. ¡Gracias de Nuevo Rosa Maria y Pedro!