Cyclists call it “the pain cave,” the red-zone level of exertion and massive discomfort that begs you to quit. For some, it’s agony. For others, exquisite.
Matthew Accarrino thrives in the pain cave, where the daily riddles of two commercial kitchens melt away and all that’s left is the wind on his face, the spinning of wheels, the syncopated cadence of breath and pulse. And the harrowing, glorious pain.
“I like to suffer,” he says. It’s a useful ability for an award-winning chef who runs two San Francisco restaurants — SPQR and Mattina — and is helping launch two more in Napa at The Elene, a new hotel opening later this year. This intensity has forged a lethally fast cyclist and a chef who has earned five James Beard Award nominations and the title of 2014 F&W Best New Chef. “I don’t think about riding my bike when I’m riding my bike, and that clears all this other mental space,” he says. “There’s something soothing about the physical activity. It’s a very cool headspace for someone who’s constantly on the move.”
We’re pedaling at Accarrino’s recovery pace on the Napa Valley Vine Trail, a bike and pedestrian trail that will eventually span 47 miles, linking the entire valley from Vallejo to Calistoga. He lives in San Francisco, but Napa’s winding roads and hills promise exceptional road cycling, past vineyards and produce farms and gardens that supply some of the finest restaurants in the country…