John Barron, Robin Bauer, Laura Ralston, Holly Mathews, Missy Erickson, Jade Wilcoxson, Marion Clignet, Stephen Mull, Brendon Freehery, Katy Giles, Laurel Larsen, Amy Miner, Louise Smyth, Michael Engelman
TBT to June 2011, our first shot at hosting Training Camp for Nature Valley Pro Chase Men’s, Women’s & Kowalski’s Collegiate All Stars.
As the NVGP Pro Chase composite teams were announced, it was recognized that a Training Camp might be beneficial to bring these talented racers together a few days before race week.
Jay and I had never met any of the racers, nor had we met any of the team directors, but we knew we could handle it and that by the end of race week, we would be exhausted, but we also knew we wouldn’t regret it. I had no clue what was expected of us other than to provide beds, showers /laundry, and of course, food. I love meal planning and was excited for Jay and I to prepare meals for this hungry group of athletes. My goal was to provide lots of healthy calories, and I never wanted to run out of food!! This was also my introduction to gluten free meal planning. One of our cyclists had celiac disease and it was very critical that I read labels for hidden gluten containing ingredients. I also needed to understand cross contamination within my kitchen, even to the extent of labeling serving spoons so that someone wouldn’t mistakenly put the pasta salad serving spoon into the GF rice bowl and cross contaminate it.
It was here that I opened my eyes to gluten free baking and adopted my “breakfast cookie” by using a gluten free bisquick mix donated by General Mills. The cookies tasted quite good by simply replacing the whole wheat flour for the GF mix. As I continued to bake and purchase more ingredients, I began to pay attention to the higher cost of this specialty ingredient, as well as, what exactly was in this mix? I researched other ingredients and GF flour mixes, and developed a personal dislike to baking with ‘powdery, starchy, white stuff”. Other than being labeled Gluten Free I wasn’t sure there was much dietary value. My original goal in developing Kakookies for my family, was to make a healthier cookie that had more nutritional value. I wasn’t convinced these GF mixes were providing that, so, this was the year I started baking Kakookies with nuts and oats, rather than fine ground flour of any kind.
It was a wonderful weekend, watching the cyclists learn new skills and get to know one another. Lots of good meals, good conversations, and sharing. Training Camp weekend was a success! We attended the races throughout the week, watching them rise, and sometimes fall. And as always, I am so grateful to be a part of their success.
Robin Bauer Pomeroy is now a professional Triathlete; Missy Erickson found success with Track as US Team Sprint National Record Holder 2016 Olympic Long Team, UCI Track World Cup Medalist, US National Champ, National Record Holder, Track Record Holder, Jade Wilcoxson was signed on to Optum for the next couple seasons and became USA Track and Road National Champion; Katy Giles, 2015 USA Cycling Masters Road and National Champion.
We and the teams are grateful for leadership and guidance from Michael Engelman, Marion Clignet and John Barron. Thank you!
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