Cycling Foods

I’m making fried rice this evening.  I need to buy a few Asian sauces and my fresh veggies first, but that’s one of the many perks that come from working next to the Whole Foods world HQ.  I can pick up almost anything on my way home without hassle.  My dad makes a lot of fried rice at home as a way of using up leftovers, but while we were talking last night, I realized I don’t really ever have leftovers in my fridge – not bare ingredients at least.  I do my cooking on a small scale, and buy groceries as needed, usually every other day or so.  I couldn’t just walk into my kitchen, open the fridge, and cook something randomly – it has to be pre-planned.

I think I’m also going to try to find some sushi rice during my trip this evening too.  This weekend, I have a long (70+) ride planned, and would like to do this: Rice Cakes by Allen Lim, of Garmin-Slipstream.

For it to work properly, the gelatinous properties of sushi rice are necessary to keep it all together.  Despite my love affair with everything ProBar and Clif Twisted Fruit, on the longer cycling days even I need something more appetizing.  If all goes as planned, this will be my first venture into making and carrying my own food on the bicycle.  I know.  I’ve been riding seriously for over five years, and I haven’t ever carried a food product you couldn’t buy in a bike shop.  Things I don’t eat anymore:

• PowerBars – These were the first to go, immediately after my introduction to Clif products.  With such great alternatives, why anyone would submit to the limp, ooze texture and oddly unnatural flavor of these bars is beyond me.
• Clif Bars – They’re good, good for you, and good cycling fuel; unfortunately, after eating them every single day during the ride to Alaska, I get queasy from just the smell.  The flavor doesn’t matter – they all taste the same after a while.
• Cold Clif Recovery Drinks – These lasted with me for a few races, but that was the extent of that.  Now days, I have the time and resources to get a proper meal after my rides.
• Accelerade – This drink mix was always difficult for me to stomach, but I tolerated it for a long time, especially during the Alaska trip.  It’s a bummer because it’s so nutritionally sound, but again, Accelerade has followed the same path as the Clif Bar.

I still love Clif Blocks, Clif Shots, Clif Hot Chocolate, Clif Electrolyte drink, and the Clif Kids lineup.  Special mention should also go to Pro Bar, which has renewed my ability to eat food in bar form again.  Those things are like the swankiest trail mix you can find pressed into a block.  Nutritionally speaking, I haven’t found anything better, and during a ride I certainly notice a more long-term and sustained energy release than I experience with the others.  Give them a try.