Food on the TDR

[eec]

My system doesn't really do well on junk-type foods, or even most greasy restaurant foods, so for those of you who have done the TDR, are there many resources for healthier foods? What kinds of foods did you wish you could have but could not find? When you found something good, did you stock up on it?

I'm sure in the bigger towns there's more options, but I would imagine in the more remote places it's very limited.

[BobM]

Hi GHM,

Might help if you gave examples of what you consider to be "healthy food".

[eec]

well, things like fruit, vegetables, yogurt, mostly, and basically non-processed foods. How much of that is available on the route?

[dskunk]

well, things like fruit, vegetables, yogurt, mostly, and basically non-processed foods. How much of that is available on the route?

Stuff like that is available out there, maybe not every meal and perhaps not even every day. You will need to find supermarkets and better restaurants though, so you are going to have to do a lot more research. Do a map recce of every town. And be prepared to eat junk more frequently than you might want.
Surprisingly, both Love’s truck stops that I went into were a good source of fresh fruit.

[Payton MacDonald]

You can eat reasonable well, but it depends on what your priorities are to some extent.  You will burn time looking for healthier food and also cooking it if you're carrying a stove and utensils, which adds weight and complexity to your rig.  If you're really racing hard that might all be difficult.  (I've heard stories that Mike Hall would ride into a gas station, throw down a few bucks on the counter, grab a two-litre bottle of Coke, chug it, then hop back on the bike and be out of there in less than a few minutes . . .  but those might just be rumors, I'm not sure.)

One of the main deciding factors for me to tour the route rather than race it was that I wanted to enjoy some nice slow meals!  You can really burn time in towns.  It seems like the fastest folks get in and out very quickly, which makes it hard to find and enjoy less processed food.  I'll never forget the fellow I ran into on my way out of Breckenridge.  I was NoBo and he was racing SoBo.  The first thing he asked me was whether there was a gas station nearby where he could grab some food and then get out of town.  I said "Dude, you're in freakin Breckenridge!  The food is amazing, there's no need for a gas station!"  But he didn't want to waste any time at a restaurant if he could avoid it!  He was putting in 150+ mile days, which is amazing.