RAGBRAI -- Eating after Long Hours on the Bike

Life is relatively simple on a long bike ride.  Ride, eat, shower, eat, rest, eat, rest eat, repeat until an early bedtime.  For me, the biking day was generally over near lunch time.  After a morning of bananas, watermelon and fruit smoothies, which tasted wonderful on the road, I was ready for some menu diversity.

The first thing I generally went for  was a 1/2 cup or so of homemade trail mix that I had packed into a snack-size zip-loc bag.  This size bag fit very nicely into my biking jersey, handy if I did want it along the way.

I usually didn't, but the crunch of the nuts and seeds combined with sweet of the dried fruits and raw cacao nibs were a wonderful reward for my efforts of the morning.

Shortly thereafter, or sometimes after I had showered, I made a green smoothie in the blender which I had packed along.  A good quart of blended fruits and leafy greens -- spinach, kale, collards, etc. was like mainlining pure energy.  It tasted delicious no matter what the combination.  I usually start my smoothies with 2 pieces of fruit, (1 cup berries counts as a piece of fruit), then add a cup of water and blend.  Next, I fill the blender to the brim with lightly packed greens, add another cup of water and blend again.  Too delicious!

Blueberry, banana, spinach smoothie in the rv.

I snacked on more fruit, nuts, and trail mix until we wandered off for supper, where I fairly easily could find a satisfying salad.  If I was still hungry into the evening, I had some dried figs, apricots, pineapple, and mango to enjoy.  I was not lacking for good food.  I had also packed some raw energy bars, some of which were made with raw cacao.  Those provided me with a wonderful chocolate "fix" on some evenings. Life is simple on long bike rides.  It's a blessing!  Next, I'll share a little of food on the road. Stay tuned!

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RAGBRAI Raw -- Food I Brought from Home

I've been a high raw traveler for a number of years now, so I didn't have to think too hard about what foods would pack well.  As usual, I brought about 3 each of apples, oranges, and bananas.  I could rely on those to hold up for a few days in the air-conditioned RV. I had made a big batch of homemade trailmix, which I then packaged in 1/2 cup servings inside snack sized baggies.  A couple of those will fit nicely into my biking jersey back pockets. It's fun and easy to put together a trailmix. Into a big bowl I put 1 cup each of every raw nut I can find at the health food store--almonds, cashews, brazils, filberts, pistachios, pecans, and walnuts. (Pinenuts and macadamia nuts don't hold up well in the heat, so I leave them out.)  Then I add 1 cup each of raw sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.  Afer that I add one cup each of all the dried fruit and berries that I can find.  I take care to avoid the ones that have sulphur (for color) added to them.  Cranberries, apricots, figs, date rolls, raisins, mulberries, etc., dried mango, pineapple, apple, pear pieces work well, and provide some much appreciated sweet and tart combinations, in addition to their considerable amounts of various vitamins and minerals.  Sometimes I add a cup of raw shredded coconut, but I didn't for this trip.  My favorite thing to add is 1 cup of raw cacao nibs.  They add a little caffeine (my only source of caffeine), magnesium, and the wonerful taste of chocolate.  Somehow that little bit tastes really good after a long day on the bike! This homemade trailmix, while I usually pack some in a back pocket, I typically don't eat until the end of the day's biking, when I appreciate taking the time to enjoy the chewing.  But I do pack some with me, just in case I decide I want it enroute.  More on that later.
Other things that I brought along with me for snacks later in the day and into the evenings after supper were some packages of dried figs, mangos, papayas and  some raw bars from the healthfood stores.  These bars are pricey, so I don't eat them usually, but they provide some variety on a trip, and are satisfying when others are enjoying ice cream or some other dessert.
I didn't need much of the food I had brought from home.  The point is that I knew it was there if I needed it, and that was a comforting thought.
I do tend to overpack food from home, I suppose.  It works better for me to know that I've got plenty of the foods that I know will help me to perform well, than to wonder if there won't be enough along the road and in the towns, and then not have enough calories----and I need plenty of them riding many miles a day. I was able to replenish fresh fruits and vegetables along the way, mostly in the towns where we stopped for the night. These healthy raw snacks from home, however, are much harder to find along the bike routes.  Next time I'll talk about how and what I ate when we did get off our bikes at the end of the day.

RAGBRAI Raw --Getting Started

The 39th running of the Register's (DesMoines) Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI)  was held the last week of July. It is the oldest, longest, and biggest ride of its kind -- not a race, but a gathering of between 10 and 15 thousand cyclists, and hundreds of support vehicles and camping tents.  My husband Bob, 4 other friends,  and I rented an RV for the week. We slept in the cool of our generator-produced air conditioning every night, and had the benefits of a refrigerator and running water. We took turns, each driving a day, and sometimes a little extra.  The other days we rode and average of 64 miles each day.  Well, some of us did.  I, for one, rode more like 35 miles a day in the mornings before it got blistering hot, and the numerous hills got the best of me.  Still, it was lots of riding, about which, at age 70, I feel quite proud.  Part of the challenge for me was to ride raw all week, not as a contest, or to prove anything.  Rather, I knew that if my nutrition was clean, and I was giving my exercising body raw, living, whole, easy to digest foods, I would have maximum energy for the riding itself.  I knew that my body would not be working extra hard to digest things (like preservatives) that it was never designed to digest, nor would  it be working overtime to handle meat, which takes a long time to process, nor cooked things which would also be toxin laden.  In other words, I wanted to give myself the optimum situation to ride well, and be burdened with things like undue muscle fatigue, digestive upset, or  unnecessary fatigue because of my diet.
So, if you're a biker, or other endurance athlete, or just want maximum performance from your beautiful body, stick with me for a few blogs here while I share with you just how I managed it all, and what I think were some really fine results.  Next time I will write about the foods that I packed along with me for the week.

The Way it Grows!

Eating raw in public places is enough of an oddity that some people get really curious about it. For example, a couple of weeks ago I was in a faraway city with some colleagues whom I cherish, and whom I generally see only twice a year.  Two of them have been watching how I order my food in restaurants for a couple of years now. They have correctly observed how I always get served some really nice looking salads in unfamiliar places that aren't necessarily on the menu.  (It's a skill I've cultivateed in the 4+ years of my raw living.) 
Anyway, I've seen it before.  First they watch me order, then they order what I order, then they want recipes and/or book recommendations, and then they tell me that they're trying out the raw vegan way of eating and life. And the word spreads, and then the country gets demonstrably healthier.  It's all good  I love it!

 

The Beauty of a Supportive Community

When I moved 11 years ago  to where I now live, I had been a vegetarian for about 4 years.  It gets a little lonely being the only one I know with such seemingly different eating habits, so I decided to find some vegetarian folks to gather with periodically and enjoy a variety of home prepared delicious meatless food. It was a good thing to do, and that group, though changed some in membership over the last 10 years, still meets montly.

  It was only natural then, when, in late 2006 I made the leap into avery high raw and living cuisine, to try the same approach to gather some people around me with whom I could share food, information, and, in general, the company of others attempting to eat in a very healthy, earth-sustaining, animal friendly way. 

It worked!  Next month our Columbia Raw Food Feasters Meetup Group will be 3 years old.  We now enjoy a membership of more than 125 people, between 25 and 50 of whom show up every month for a casual and delicious raw food potluck.  Every month it gives me a real boost to be part of this vibrant, energetic, healthy, life-seeking community.  I am most grateful for their enthusiasm, their good company, and their exquisite, nourishing food!!  For more information, or to join us, go to www.meetup.com/Columbia-Rawfood-Feasters.  We'll be watching for you!

Bicycling and Eating Raw

My husband and I took up biking in 1996 and during the season we now bike close to 100 miles a week.  When I started eating a very high raw diet in 2006, one thing I had to learn was how to bike raw without the questionable benefit of processed bars and drinks.  It was one thing to pack some fruit and a couple of raw bars for a few hours of riding, and quite another to plan for sometimes days of riding, and then sleeping in a different motel every night.  Two years ago we did a ride in the non-glaciated part of southwestern Wisconsin (read VERY HILLY)--but that's another story). I brought my trusty old Oster blender which was a wedding present in 1961.  The tour guide was kind enough to buy me a fresh bag of organic spinach every day while the cyclists rode.  I had brought some fresh fruit from home, so every morning I whipped up abut 40 oz. of green smoothie to give myself a very nutricious start to the eay.  I  also packed along some raw trail mix that I had made and packed in snack baggies.  One or two of those fit very nicely into the back pocket of my cycling jersey.  Then, as we rode the 45-75 miles for the day, I would buy a banana or two to eat when we went through a town and took a short rest.  Occasionally we stopped for a real lunch and I could order a salad.  Some of them were good, others mediocre.  At the end of our riding day, the guide had snaacks wiating for us, which included fresh fruit.  I remember that after one really long, hot, hilly day, he had watermelon and strawberries waiting for us.  Terrific!!  Then in the evenings, when we all went out to dinner, I had the biggest salad I could find, and then finished off the day with some more fresh fruit. I did 5 days on the bike pretty much that same way.  The good news is that while the menu may sound boring, it filled me with just what my hard working body needed to be able to do those long, (and did I say VERY HILLY?) miles.  I finished the week tired like everyone else, but positively pain free.  At my age, that's just a wonderful thing to experience!  I am not a very fast rider, but I can ride a long time, and now that I am 70, I am more and more grateful every day to have found the right food to give me energy, endurance, and vibrant health.  The moral of the story??  Live Well ~~ Eat Raw!! ~~ and lots of it!