Eat to Ride to riding to eat

by Scott

Cyclists are a funny bunch when it comes to food. I've never seen such a crowd that has such diverse interests/needs when it comes to food. Some cyclists are all about food as fuel, while others ride to be able to eat.

When touring in Australia 20 + years ago, my eating habits were formed by two things- the cost of the food and ease of preparation. Considering I was 19 years old and not a great cook at home, this is not surprising. So a tin of pineapple for breakfast, a Chiko roll (a deep fried beef and veggie roll http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_roll ) and some fries at lunch and chunky soup out of a tin for supper. The pineapple and soup could be bought at any small town store in Tasmania and the Chiko roll could be bought at any gas station or such along the way. A combination of this diet and 60-70 miles on hilly roads on a loaded touring bike led to a 30 lb weight loss on that trip over 3 months.

Before working here at VO, I worked for GU energy gels in SF bay area. I worked in the production end of the company, organizing the delivery of the mountains of ingredients that made up the gels that we produced in Berkeley. I was surrounded by employees of GU who regularly ran marathons and took part in long distance cycling events. As a long distance cyclist myself, the easy access to energy gels was a great part of the job, as was the culture of endurance athletics. My fuel choice as an endurance cyclist was still driven like it had been when I was 19 and touring- ease of delivery and cost. The gels were easy to eat on the road, came in a variety of flavors to suit my palate, were easy to transport on long rides and fairly cheap given the number of calories.

Now as I ride, I find myself using gels and such less and less and trying to eat more “normal” food on our rides that pass through rural areas of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. When I rode the Endless Mountain 1000 brevet a few years back, I carried gels with me, but I also used rice crispy squares as a supplement while riding and tried to have a good sit down meal during the day to keep my energy levels up. During the course of a three day event like the 1000, my taste buds would rebel against the sweet taste of the gels, so stopping to eat a pizza or other savory items made getting the calories needed easier to get. On our fleche ride this past month, one of my team mates had made his own rice bars to eat on the ride and we stopped for a great lunch at the Little Grill Collective in Harrisonburg VA. The meal and the questions about bike touring from the workers at the grill were a highlight of the ride.

(Chris Niebylski at our lunch stop on the Fleche)

Lots of riders have a favorite coffee shop to end a ride at. Judging by the number of comments we got when Annette asked about coffee makers, I think coffee may be the most popular "fuel" for cyclists.

With a rising interest in some rural gravel rides this year and some touring lined up for the late summer and fall, I think more small town deli's and cafe's may be in my future as I go from eating to ride to riding to eat.

What do you eat on long rides? Any suggestions for good foods to carry?