Food, 1/3 of the essential requirements for a successful bike ride (others being water and shelter) can be one of the most difficult tasks to master while on a long distance bicycle tour. According to my Daily Statistics I’m burning 5000-6000 calories per day while spending long times in the saddle (8hr+). Knowing the signs of when it’s time to stop to recharge your body with nutrients takes a bit of time understanding the correct time to eat as opposed to snacking is a non-stop work in process dependent entirely on the conditions you are riding in, physical shape, and mental state. One wrong decision and it could affect you for hours to come, equating in lost distance, poor sleep and overall frustration. To make it worse, food is heavy.

Overloaded with Food

Touring solo limits the ability of what you can carry, and for how long, sometimes not knowing when the next store with proper foods will be available. On my recent trek up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories I was faced with the challenge multiple times of not seeing fresh produce for days at a time, limiting your options, sometimes forcing you to eat things that over time you can get quite sick and tired of.

I’ve mentioned in earlier posts I’ve done myself in with the intake of sardines, and tuna has been long gone on my regular food routine out of sheer overload and repetitiveness. This forced me to look elsewhere to get reasonable tasting food that I want to eat.

I use a single burner stove known as the MSR Dragonfly. It’s a versatile unit with a simmer control to help add a bit of complexity with your meals even though I’m only touring with one pot and one pan, of the stainless steel type. Reviews of these products will come shortly when time allows to write about them. I find having a stove essential in my bags, yet have met many a cyclist who have gotten by perfectly fine without them. I’m a bit inhuman without my daily coffee and just can’t stomach the thought of it “on ice”. Having a stove allows for high caloric content foods such as pastas to be softened easily, adding warmth should the day be cold.

Eating foods high in calories to restore the ones burnt in a day is only a part of the equation – Foods that are rich in Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat must be ingested otherwise the calories will be burned at a much faster rate, equating into a loss of energy, fatigue, weight loss, and muscle depletion. Empty calories may make you feel full, but only temporarily.

Say What?

Protein: Eating foods high in protein contributes essential amino acids. Amino acids are used by cells to build new proteins and repair muscles. Protein food is not a high source of energy, however protein is essential in the right amount for proper functioning of our bodies.

Protein in food contributes essential amino acids to your diet. Amino acids are used by cells to build new proteins and repair the muscles, repair the bone, skin, organs and blood. Without protein, cuts and abrasions will not heal quickly, muscles will not grow and the blood doesn’t clot correctly. Your body uses proteins for growth and to build hormones, antibodies and the enzymes that regulate the chemical reactions within the body.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are basically sugar and starch. Apples, oranges, potatoes, grains, candy, bread… are all carbohydrates. Carbohydrates break down into glucose molecules. When used as energy, carbohydrates fuel become fuel for your muscles and brain. If your body does not have any use for the glucose, it is converted into glycogen and stored it in the liver and muscles as an energy reserve. Your body can store about a half a day’s supply of glycogen. If your body has more glucose than it can use as energy, or convert to glycogen for storage, the excess is converted to fat.

Carbohydrates are divided into these two categories.

• Simple Carbohydrates. Basically blood sugar or glucose. Foods containing simple carbohydrates are sweet tasting, like cookies, fruit, sugar, honey, candy, cake, etc… Simple carbs are already very close to being in the digested form, so they pass into your bloodstream almost immediately.

• Complex Carbohydrates. These are found in foods prepared with grains and vegetables. Even though both simple and complex carbs provide needed glucose, the complex carbohydrates provide several nutritional advantages, such as additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber needed for good health and performance.

Fat (dietary fat): Dietary fat, or fat you eat in your food, provides essential fatty acids, helps regulate bodily functions, and helps carry the fat-soluble vitamins. A small amount of fat is needed in our daily diet. The amount needed each day is equal to just one teaspoon of corn oil. Too much dietary fat produces undesirable effects. Unfortunately, the typical western diet provides far more than the required one teaspoon of fat each day. Dietary fat contributes to many negative health effects including many of today’s common causes of death, such as heart disease and cancer.At nine calories per gram, fat has the highest calorie per weight ratio of any food. By comparison, carbohydrates or protein are just four calories per gram. However, fats don’t convert efficiently to glucose, and therefore are not an efficient energy source for your muscles.

FAT IS HIGH CALORIE, BUT NOT EFFICIENT ENERGY

When you eat a meal, carbohydrates are converted to energy first. Carbohydrates break down into glucose quickly and easily. In fact, simple carbohydrates (like sugar) are converted to glucose almost immediately after they are eaten. By comparison, your body only uses a small amount of dietary fat for energy. The rest is converted and stored as fatty tissues. 40% of the total calories we consume come from fat. This means for a 2000 calorie meal, 800 of the calories come from food fat. If you cut your dietary fat to 25% of your total calories, you will have enough fat to stay healthy, but not enough to produce some of the negative effects.

My Open Air Kitchen

With all this being said, Here’s what I’m eating throughout the day to make sure my entire body is getting the nutrients it requires (high caloric content with a focus on high carbs, and high fat content), easy to prepare (being aware of limited fuel in stove) , light weight with a high nutrient content and easy to digest. Eating something your body reacts to while on tour certainly causes discomfort, irritation, and frequent stops behind bushes in sometimes very busy environments – certainly not fun. While this works for me, I’m constantly shifting what I’m eating to not get bored of the same old stuff.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal is a very easy to pack breakfast food with available almost anywhere that can be picked up in bulk sizes or small individual serving packets. I typically eat 3 of these packages at a time of a similar flavour, and can be eaten cold or warm, with obviously a better experience warm. That being said, I’ve been known for eating dry packets throughout the day for a bit of a snack adding to the difficulty of swallowing. High in carbs, yet low in protein and fats, these complex carbohydrates will take longer to process create minimal garbage waste, and easy to clean up afterwards, depending on how good you lick the bowl clean. I typically buy the packets in bulk (40 at a time) at a reasonable cost. It’s also hard to get sick and tired of eating on a daily basis.

Pancakes While heavy to pack, these are a great source of nutrients high in carbohydrates, with a bit of added protein compared to Oatmeal. Easy to make, some simply require water in your frying pan, quickly turning into thick dough. A stack of 5 pancakes can be made in less than 5 minutes, and cleanup is short and sweet. It’s a nice change fromOatmeal, however I tend to find myself wanting to use a syrup to make it easier to swallow, and to add a bit of taste, further increasing the weight of your food pannier while you carry condiments to enhance your food. These extra condiments add considerable amount of weight and are often frustrating if their purpose is only for one type of foods.

Fruit: Lightweight, and packed full of carbohydrates for your big ride,Apples are easy to store in your pannier and rarely go bad in short time. CannedPineapple is a nice treat when mixing with other foods,Oranges tend to survive the brutal riding conditions as doplums.Bananas not so much. One might do better while riding to carry driedraisins/dehydrated fruit for easier pack ability. If you can pull off aWatermelon, you are my new hero!

Snacks:

Nuts: are readily found in supermarkets and small stores, reasonably priced and easy to process. I personally stay away fromPeanuts as they cause an all out war inside my body, howeverCashews,Almonds,Walnuts offer a whopping of nutrients surely to keep you going. The real winner here however, isMacadamia nuts, coming in at 20 calories per nut, offering a huge boost in energy in a small package. Alternatively, spreads likePeanut Butter are great to spread on crackers, bread, or just by the spoonful into your mouth. For a sweet snack full of fat tryshredded coconut.

Meat Products:Beef Jerkey is lightweight, very packable and can last for days while travelling. While often expensive it is high in protein. Alternatively I’ve recently discovered mini meat sausages also known as ‘Pepperettes‘ – they typically require no refrigeration and offer a wallop of fat and protein that you can easily munch on with one hand on the handlebars. I find that I cannot sustain eating large amounts of these however from the high fat content.

Cheese: Even though most dairy spoils rather quickly, I’ve successfully been able to keep cheese “edible” for up to 7 days in my pannier. Extreme care should be made to never touch the cheese directly for the bacteria to spread and to accelerate spoiling. There are many cheeses available and the supermarket ranging from standardCheddar to Edame, however my favorite to amuse me while riding has beenCheese Curds, due to the small popcorn size pieces and the squeaking sound when chewing on them. Cheese factories exist all over the place, make sure you stop in for a tour! A huge protein boost.

Vegetables: Carrots while not high in calories offer essential vitamin nutrients for the touring cyclist, and are easy to pack and chew on while on the road.potatoes, offer a load of calories and carbohydrates that can assist in getting through that day and can be easily prepared with individual mashed packages sometimes coming with fatty gravy. My favorite however is theAvocado, that I like to squish around until soft inside, pierce a hole in its skin and suck the green goodness out, leaving the large pit inside.

Chocolate: Not only does it taste good, but a chocolate bar is high in fat, carbohydrates and carries a huge caloric load. It’s incredibly effective at getting into your bloodstream at under 15 minutes, and can be used when you need a shot of energy for a long climb. Although it does melt, as long as you don’t care what it looks like, it’ll be a nice treat for when you stop and check out some of the sights. I’m a fan of theHersheys Black Cherry and Almond bar, containing a total of 540 calories.

Lunch & Dinner:

Pasta: What should be a staple in every cyclists diet, pasta contains a high amount of carbohydrates and a tonne of calories while still being very lightweight. It’ll take a long time for your body to process these carbohydrates which is great for long rides, or at the end of the day. Mixing in Vegetables, meat, fish, or my favourite: dumping a can ofVegetarian Chili on top of a pot full ofspaghetti it to act as the sauce fills me up rather nicely.Macaroni and Cheese hits the spot in a pinch and can be topped off with canned fish, or meat products.

Bread: Perfect for making sandwiches, or eating alone it’s high caloric content and carbohydrate content takes a long time to process throughout your system. Better to stay withWhole Wheat Bread variants as opposed to the white processed types. I’ve been known to take 8 slices of bread, compress them into two pieces and use that as my sandwich outer, fulfilling even the hungriest of appetites.Baguettes keep well while riding, can deter dogs, and can had the middles cored out to be stuffed with fish, vegetables and sauces, creating an instant virtually mess free submarine sandwich.Whole Wheat Wraps can last for up to a week without going sideways and are perfect for all types of foods.Bagels can be eaten alone and come in various flavours suitable for any time of the day and fill the stomach up nicely.

Rice: Alone as a dish, or stuffed inside a wrap its lightweight, easy to cook and tastes good without any extra work. 1 cup of rice yields an impressive cooked amount. I tend to like the taste ofBrown Rice better, and carry a small container of soy sauce, and hot sauce to mix it up a bit. You can also get away with cooking a large portion of it and storing the cooked for later at a cooler temperature.

Beans: Although soaking beans can be a bit of a pain, putting them in an extra water bottle in the morning typically has them ready for the evening for warming, frying, or eating cold. Or you could take a bunch of beans likeKidney,GarbanzoGarbanzo, andPinto BeansPinto beans and make a salad for the ultimate in carbohydrate loading. Mashing them up works well for wraps, and other dishes.

Canned Fish: I’m a bit tapped out on eatingsardines, but along withPink Salmon, they can be eaten alone or together with a dish for a fat and protein boost. My favorite right now isSmoked Oysters as they pack light, and have a great taste.

Sauces and Spreads:

Although heavy, sauces can enhance the flavour of your dish immensely, and serve multiple purposes. I carry a bit of Olive Oil for frying vegetables, Salad dressing for mixing with vegetables, pasta, or as well for frying things like canned fish (saves on bringing the whole spice rack!), and the staple: Hot Sauce. While Hot sauce contains little to no calories, it sure does add an intense flavour to anything you put it on. Spreads likeStrawberry Jam andHoney taste great and add an instantaneous boost to your energy. One thing about sauces is the size they take up in the panniers, and the weight they add from the volume of the liquid, and the often glass packaging. I try to keep the sauces and condiments to the bare minimum on tour (yet for some reason while not on tour half the fridge is filled with them!)

It may look gross, but tastes the same after 3 days.

While this list is certainly not exhaustive, by clicking on the links of the foods you can check the nutrient content of the foods I’ve discussed. You can sign up to one of the many fitness sites available on the internet (http://www.fitday.com and http://www.dailyburn.com being my favourites) to look up the caloric load of many types of foods, whether single, or combined, assisting in coming up with ideas on what to cook throughout your day. Eating a big meal loaded with Carbs and Protein is sure to prepare your body for the journey onwards, while repairing your screaming muscles after a long day. I find that keeping a diet of 60% carbs / 20% protein and 20% fat makes me feel wonderful day to day when touring. One must watch they get enough food into their system or face the inevitable, weight loss! Even though I still do my best to get as much good foods in me, I’ve still managed to lose 20+ lbs in such a short time. For those of you wanting to lose weight, there you go, an easy diet.

Eventually, you are going to get sick and tired of the same thing over and over again, resulting in a loss of appetite. On the internet there is a wealth of recipes catering towards the minimal camper/backpacker/touring cyclist to help add some variety. I’ve been salivating each time the folk at http://www.trailcooking.com release a new recipe to the public.

You are what you eat, so keep your needs in mind and stay healthy – stay out of the fast food restaurants and foods with empty calories! I’m interested to hear your thoughts and what you are eating while on the road to satisfy the hunger!