— Sonja -

Uh, being a cyclist who enjoys long distance rides too. Um, you know, of course, uh, Sonya, you'll, you know, you're bound to find a, a handful of things at these locations that'll suit you, uh, or appeal to you in some way. But, you know, other than that, uh, a a few things come to mind. And, you know, one thing to consider is, at least on the first day of cycling, um, take some cooked potatoes and, um, stick them in your pocket or just stick them in your, uh, your panier or whatever, uh, might be convenient for you. And, you know, potatoes, um, will give you carbs, a whole bunch of nutrients. Um, they're filling, um, they're, um, they pack very nicely. And, uh, I, I like, uh, um, uh, um, waxy potatoes. Uh, they keep their, their shape nicely when they're cooked. And, uh, yeah, they, they taste great on the road as well. Uh, another thing that I like are dates and nuts. And I always have, whether I'm hiking or, uh, you know, or, or on my bicycle, I've got dates and nuts of some sort. And, uh, this will provide fiber. Uh, this will provide a lot of, uh, you know, fat and, and protein and, uh, a, a bunch of, um, micronutrients as well. So I think these two items as a set, um, are very nice to have on the road, and that another category to consider are freeze dried foods. And, you know, these are often marketed for, uh, hikers or backpackers, and, um, they do well for cyclists, of course. And there's a, a, you know, some variety of, of dishes, right? Or, or cuisine flavor profiles that you can choose from. And, you know, I also like to look for, uh, beans, right, that have been cooked and then dehydrated. You can find them, uh, in their whole form. You can also find them in, in other, more processed, uh, sort of, uh, rer beans sort of, um, textures. But, uh, that's gonna provide a nice source of the amino acids for protein building, right? For the, um, you know, muscle, uh, conditioning while you sleep. And, um, there's, you know, quite a selection of, uh, again, of, of options for you. Some of these companies are national brands. Uh, I'm in the Portland, Oregon metro area, and we've got, um, some, uh, small companies locally here that, that produce these sort of foods. Um, you can also, uh, consider making them yourself, um, not maybe necessarily freeze drying them, but, um, drying, uh, some of your favorite foods that are already cooked so that you just add water and you're ready to go. I guess part of the overarching situation here depends on, um, what your access is to hot water and the extent of cooking that you might, um, want to do or be able to do during these, uh, during these meal periods. Uh, another thought is, as you stop at a rural, you know, uh, store of some sort, um, or as you pass through a, a bigger town, if that's, uh, gonna be available to you, is to stop into a grocery store and pick up any veggies that, uh, otherwise have a, a good shelf life and are pretty hearty. You know, in terms of handling like carrots and celery come to mind, there's certainly others to choose from. And o otherwise try to package things so that, um, they can resist bruising. But those are a few i, uh, ideas that come to mind, and hopefully something in there will work for you.