Special to The Enterprise
The Amgen Tour of California is a seven-day, 645-mile professional men’s bicycle ride through California. Cyclists and teams renown throughout in the world, including Olympic medalists and Tour de France veterans, participate in the Tour of California.
It is the most prestigious bicycle race in America and serves as a stepping stone for riders to hone their racing skills and form for the Tour de France in July.
The event was broadcast nationally each day and serves as a visual travel advertisement for California. In fact, Visit California is one of the major sponsors of the race.
Stage 7 (the final stage) of the Tour highlighted the beauty of Yolo County. The riders started at the Capitol before quickly leaving Sacramento over the Tower Bridge for a ride throughout Yolo County. The TV broadcast, which was shorter than the actual ride, picked up the riders just south of Winters and followed them along Putah Creek Road, Russell Boulevard, County Roads 98 and 27, before heading back to Sacramento along River Road and through the city of West Sacramento.
All Yolo County residents can be proud of how beautiful our county looked as the aerial shots of farms and orchards measured the progress of the riders along the Tour route. As the Executive Director of the Yolo Land Trust, I was particularly excited when I saw several of our permanently conserved farms along the route.
The owners of these farms made a commitment to keep their land forever in farming. In other words, these fields shown in the 2018 Tour will remain as beautifully open farmland for future tours in 10, 20 and 50 years from now.
Yolo County is the epicenter of the farm-to-fork ethic. A culinary movement that creates an awareness of the importance of farms and ranches among urban populations is vital to the permanent conservation of farmland.
Not long from now, the first sighting of a loaded tomato truck will remind us that our farmland provides products for the world. In fact, 94 countries receive goods from crops grown in Yolo County. A world-class university and leading biotechnology firms continue to push the boundaries of productivity, efficiency and sustainability of modern agriculture.
I cook in an apron that says, “Thank a farmer.” All of us should thank them, all who work in the agricultural industry, and the leaders who understand the importance of preserving this heritage and essential resource.
