Because of the ongoing and historic drought in parts of the West, there are some stretches of the ride where potable water might be scarce. Worst scenario is that it may be necessary to carry up to a gallon of water for some stretches: water is heavy and a gallon weighs 8.4 lbs. Water filtering will also be necessary to avoid illnesses caused by bacteria.
Food will be what we can find in small towns and an occasional carb/protein binge at a local diner or brewery. As you can imagine, nutrition is vital to staying healthy and calories are incredibly important. We expect to be burning 600-700 calories per hour for anywhere from 4-7 hours per day. Some blogs suggest an intake of 6-8,000 calories per day just to maintain one’s weight! On my 1985 ride, finishing off a pound of fig newtons was a typical appetizer while dinner was cooking. Food tastes really good on a bike ride. It is also heavy and we may have to forego the bunches of bananas in the produce aisle...but that won’t prevent us eating a watermelon in the parking lot as a snack. We will favor lighter products that pack nutrition: powdered peanut butter, couscous, quinoa, etc.
We have purchased some dried food that Molly will mail to us at designated towns so that we can make sure we are getting the calories we need. (Cookies always welcome!)
Freeze-dried Adventure Meals! Yum!
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