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A story of true heroism

It's the beginning of strawberry season here in California and we've been on the lookout for open farm stands. Our very last jar of strawberry jam from last year is sitting in the fridge with about a teaspoon and a half of carefully rationed jam at the bottom. It's precious stuff.

Last weekend after Dave's race we saw a sign for a strawberry stand out by the race site. We were on a mission to get lunch, though, as neither of us had eaten a meal in about eight hours, so we decided we'd go back after finding food. Of course, after loading up on burritos and eighteen pounds of tortilla chips, we completely forgot about the strawberry hunt until we were 45 miles down the road and halfway across the Bay Bridge.

The next day Dave took BART across the bay and rode his bike back to the race site to watch his teammates race the crit. Knowing how important those strawberries were to me, crazy though it sounds, he rode his bike to that strawberry stand and bought half a flat of berries.

You may be wondering how the heck Dave got six pints of strawberries home on his bike. His race bike. This is not a touring rig with panniers or a giant handlebar basket. Six pints of strawberries weigh about the same as Dave's bike.

He lovingly put the strawberries into plastic bags and then layered those bags into bigger bags filled with some ice he begged off a Starbucks or a street vendor or something like that. (It was hot out there.) Apparently he slung those bags over his shoulders like an ox in a yoke. The puddling water from the melting ice attracted some attention from BART police, but the strawberries were allowed to continue their journey. By the time Dave got home (some bike riding, some BART, some more bike riding), the berries were just slightly weary-looking. When I arrived home Sunday afternoon and saw the huge colander of berries in the sink, I knew I had to get to work. They had been picked that morning. They wouldn't be nearly as good the next day.

So we tag-teamed it and whipped up nine jars of jam in just over an hour.

We make a great team.

May 2, 2008 9:42 PM