Food on the run

Our bodies are no more than machines, misbehaving, high consumption and hopefully to become more manageable with maintenance and care. During the first 3 days on the road the meaning of food changed dramatically. Day one it was difficult to swallow over the taste of emotion. No real sustenance was consumed until about 4pm. We pedalled pretty much on exhilaration and desire alone. Soup and beer kept us somewhat warm in a wee pub in rural Surrey until we were scooped up from our mechanical mishap and taken back to London by our wonderful emergency hero. Spoilt with roast lamb and glorious silky Black Queen sparkling Shiraz, our dear friends may have been left hungry as we ate them out of house and home, a two person meal becoming a meal for 5 including 3 ravenous cyclists.
Day two saw us separate on different tasks to ensure a prompt departure from London…..again. Eating a hot dog standing on a Clapham Junction train station platform and Li a convenient tuna melt. Not sure why either of these are something to write home about? Not our usual breakfast (nor even lunch)This was eaten from necessity and convenience and food was forgotten until we passed Brighton around 6pm. Cold and exhausted and pushing for the ferry in Newhaven eventually our bodies commanded fuel. We literally stuffed frozen chocolate bars into our mouths pushing the bikes up a hill our bodies refused to tackle without nourishment. It was only the hard crunch and shatter of the chocolate that was a reminder that food was essential not just for energy but warmth. It was cold! Our second day was made all the more challenging for the abuse we gave our bodies. Dreams of traditional pub fare to see us on our way was replaced by the late hour of arrival and the warm glow of McDonald’s became our haven. Dare I say, the burgers, fries, apple pie, coke and hot chocolate was divine. 24hours earlier we would have been horrified with thoughts of Mac D being our final meal in the UK.
A beer on the ferry, some gummy meerkats, and we slept till 2.30am. Darkness and cold about 3 hours later, several must have handfuls of trail mix had us pedalling until the first village cafe opened at 7.30. Coffee and pan a chocolate x 2 and more pedalling until we made our camp site at around 2pm. Inconceivable, actually impossible to pitch tent before some protein we ordered steak, fries and a giant salad. From this point on we became fully aware that if we are to pedal even a fraction of our planned journey, a routine respect and nourishing of our bodies has to become a priority. We are foodies and learning to be touring cyclists and both these life styles must fit snugly together, to see us over the next hill and make it damn enjoyable as well.

20130330-192126.jpg

Related Images:

Leave a Reply to Nick & Anne-Maire Cancel reply

%d bloggers like this: