Chris King’s Gourmet Century brings it all together

Chris King Gourmet Century-14

Riders dove into freshly prepared Mexican
food from Verde Cocina during the lunch
stop at Banks Elementary School.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Chris King, the man who founded one of the world’s leading bike companies back in 1976, has always been a gourmet. I can recall, as an employee of Chris King Precision Components back in the late 1990s, prepping food for one of King’s “Trail Daze” events in Santa Barbara. On the menu for the mountain bike trail volunteers that day were roasted red pepper sandwiches. As King blackened the peppers in his personal, professional-grade range, myself and several other volunteers were tasked with peeling away the blackened parts and artfully laying the peppers onto artisan rolls as King peered over our shoulders doing quality control.

All the prep was done with an attention to detail and eye for quality that seemed over-the-top for some trailside grub. But to Chris King, food is deserving of the same respect and exacting treatment he gives his eponymous bicycle components.

On Saturday I realized King still has a flair for the culinary arts — the only difference these days is his following has grown. The Gourmet Century (a metric century) has become a hot ticket in recent years. Saturday’s event sold out in a matter of hours. One man I met on the ride said he didn’t get in last year, so he waited by his computer and pounded his “refresh” key repeatedly to make sure he registered this year. “It sells out so fast,” he said, “It’s like a rock concert.”

The ride’s appeal is simple: It offers a powerful combination of fine roads and fine food. I asked one woman what drew her to the ride. She was like, “Duh!”. I felt dumb for asking.

I had heard a lot of good things about the Gourmet Century over the years, but I had never done it myself. This year I was fortunate enough to sneak in under the radar.

I have to confess: I’m not a big “foodie.” I’ll eat just about anything and won’t complain about it. That being said, I know good food when I eat it and this ride definitely delivered. Using miles in the saddle as an appetite boost, we dined on vol au vent salads, gazpacho, paella, candied pork belly, and more — far from your typical bike ride fare. And the coffee! Chris King is a student of coffee and he invited one of its best teachers, Tom Pikaart of the American Barista and Coffee School (and four other local coffee experts), to manage the coffee service throughout the ride.

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Chris King (left) pays close attention to the pouring technique of Water Avenue Coffee’s Tom Pikaart.

What sets the Gourmet Century apart is that they don’t simply serve good food, they invite some of the best chefs in the city to prepare their signature dishes at rest stops along the way. The word “catered” somehow doesn’t seem to do it justice.

At a rest stop in Bethany Lake Park (NW West Union 185th Ave) we munched flaky puff pastries topped with chicken and veggies prepared by Chris King Executive Chef Robert McSpadden. Under the roof of the covered playground at Banks Elementary School (about 25 miles west of downtown Portland), Chef Noe Garnica of Verde Cocina treated us to a simple and traditional “Mexican field lunch” of grilled chicken, cheese quesadillas with hand-pressed tortillas and sides of organic eggs and beans. At Chris King’s barn, his private residence off NW Kaiser Road, we ate smoked pork and Asian vegetable sliders from King’s own recipe book while Chef Chris Diminno of Clyde Common whipped up a wild mushroom and goat cheese option. There was also brown butter mousse cake created by Kitchen Cru Chef Jeff McCarthy and much more.

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Tortillas roasting during lunch.
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Vol au vent salads at a rest stop.
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Cool gazpacho served as a first course at dinner.

What is it about food and cycling? Clyde Common’s Chris DiMinno, a former downhill mountain bike racer, sported his restaurant’s team kit so I figured he’d be a good person to ask. “Well,” he replied, “You never feel more like eating a good hamburger than after a ride.” With all seriousness, DiMinno said he’s going after any opportunity he gets to combine his two passions. He’s also cooked for a Rapha Continental ride and was a featured chef at the Cielo Salon Brunch Ride held during the Feast Portland celebration.

While the food is what drew many of the 350 (or so) people to this ride, what really struck me about the event was how it weaves together so many threads of our regional bike scene.

As we reported back in May, bicycle tourism is on fire in Oregon. Given the roads we pedaled on Saturday, it’s easy to see why. Washington County (and all of Oregon for that matter) is blessed with thousands of miles of picturesque, low-traffic, country roads. It doesn’t take much pedaling to get outside the urban growth boundary and come face-to-face with active, 100-plus year-old farms. Roads like NW Roy, Zion Church, and Wilkesboro are steeped in pioneer history and they’ve been left relatively unchanged for over a century. Riding on them feels like you’ve been granted access to idyllic homesteads that just happen to have a strip of pavement running through them.

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One rider in Saturday’s pack who was impressed with the scenery was none other than U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer. It was Blumenauer’s first time on the Gourmet Century and he looked strong and serene pedaling his Trek up the scenic hills of Washington County.

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While Blumenauer was clearly taking the day off, it’s worth noting that Washington County’s bike tourism potential wasn’t the only issue at play on this ride. Chris King Precision Components has become a poster-child for American manufacturing and they’ve been held up as a prime example of one of President Obama’s “insourcing” initiative. King staff have made several trips to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress and they’re on a first-name basis with the Secretary of Commerce.

Chris King employs well over 100 people and they manufacture nearly every piece of their world famous hubs, headsets, bottom-brackets and more recently, Cielo frames and forks.

Cielo is the latest success story from a company with an entire bookshelf of them. The bikes have found a healthy niche and the company says they’re now selling about 300 frames a year. In some ways, the Gourmet Century is like a Cielo owners rally. Every time I turned around on Saturday I saw another one. A former King employee remarked that he used to recognize every Cielo he saw; but now those days are long gone. That’s the sign of a maturing brand.

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Mine was one of many Cielos on the ride. King re-birthed the Cielo brand just a few years ago and now the company is selling about 300 of them per year.

A major bright spot for Cielo has been the Japanese market. The man that created that market, bicycle importer Shinya Tanaka, was at the ride Saturday, along with a contingent of his staff (they all rode Cielos of course).

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Shinya Tanaka (left) and Chris King.

In addition to Japan, I met people from Washington D.C., San Francisco, Italy, Vancouver BC and Calgary. The geographic reach of this ride is impressive, especially since it’s marketing is almost entirely word-of-mouth. It also underscores the powerful economic and tourism impact bicycling has on our region.

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A group of Canadians got their photo taken atop NW Skyline Road.

Back at the Chris King Cafe, dinner was served to hundreds of well-deserving riders. The three course meal (accompanied by carefully selected beer and wine of course), went down wonderfully amid lively conversations, excellent table service, and a three-piece jazz ensemble that played under a projector screen showing vintage Tour de France coverage.

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Whether they came for the food or the scenic roads, or the chance to get up close and personal with a beloved bicycle brand, I think everyone who experienced this year’s Gourmet Century has a new standard by which to measure all future rides, and a deeper appreciation for the many ingredients that create such a tasty culture around cycling in Portland.

— Learn more about the Gourmet Century at ChrisKing.com

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

8 Comments
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Pat
Pat
10 years ago

This looks amazing! But what was the entry fee? I was not able to find that online… would like to know before I decide to try for a ticket next year!

PDXLibrarian
PDXLibrarian
10 years ago

No date on this Bicycling Magazine article but maybe it will give you at least an idea: $145. http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/chris-king-gourmet-century-tasters-choice?page=0,3

Paolo
Paolo
10 years ago

Great recap and pictures as always Jonathan, really liked the ride and enjoyed the awesome food. You got me downhilling on Springville wearing the ride’s jersey, thanks! The stop at the barn was priceless, Chris had to tell people to go so that they would not miss their dinner.
Somebody should hook up Blumenauer with some more recent riding gear, I think he sported Nikes from the ’80s…

Ron
10 years ago

Hi Jonathon! I am the guy in the line up at banks. We spoke briefly. I made the statement of ‘The Rock Concert.’ It was nice to meet you! My riding partner, Susan remarked that you were a Journalist from the Old school! (We noticed your pen and notebook!) Good times !

Champs
Champs
10 years ago

Looking at these photos, I can’t help but think about how much better Oregon bicycle tourism would be if someone had bothered to grade, pave, and stripe out a few feet of shoulder.

It may not be practical on all of Oregon’s (relatively meager) network of lane-miles, but there are definite missed opportunities for breathing room.

A.K.
A.K.
10 years ago
Reply to  Champs

I’ve always thought the same thing – lots of great roads, and no shoulders. I’ve heard it’s because we really don’t need room to plow snow off of the side of the road here like in many other locations…

Craig
Craig
10 years ago

I remember that Trail Daze event, with the roasted peppers. 1998. Cold Springs Trail. I mostly remember Chris King sharpening all the Mcleod tools and waxing philosophic about tool maintenance.

Matthew
Matthew
10 years ago

I worked at Chris King for 3 years and I have to say, food prep to feed a bunch of super hungry cyclists–well,building the world’s best hubs was an after thought.