In charge of rest stop food...

[IFjane]

Does anyone out there have experience estimating how much food to prepare for the rest stops on an organized ride? I find myself in that position and though I have ridden in many rides, I have never had to stock the rest stops. How do I estimate how much food to prepare? We are planning on sliced oranges, bananas, pb&j sandwiches, trail mix, water and sports drinks. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[OakLeaf]

I can't help with the quantities, but I can tell you that two things that are labor intensive, but have gone over EXTREMELY well in one ride I participated in plus one I helped putting on (just not on the food side) - were peeled hard-boiled eggs (rest stop food hardly ever has sufficient protein), and cold washcloths, if the weather's going to be hot. Wet the towels, chill or even freeze them the night before, and then take them to the rest stop in a cooler. (The ride I participated in had them rolled up and handed out in zip-loc bags, but besides being wasteful, I can't see how that's really necessary.) Have another bin for the used towels, then you can wash them after the ride and use them year after year.

I and my riding buddies raved over these two items at the ride I participated in, so much so that I brought them over to the ride I helped with, and we got rave reviews from our participants, too.

[Grits]

When I'm at a rest stop I typically get one carb (half a PB&J or a pack of crackers, etc.) and sometimes also whatever fruit is offered (half a banana, orange slice). I usually fill up one water bottle since the reststops are typically less than 15 miles apart, and I only go through one bottle between them. I would guess that the faster riders and bigger guys eat and drink more, but if you have an estimated number of riders perhaps you can go from there - a carb/protein option and fruit for each rider and enough water and sports drink to fill maybe 1.5 bottles per rider depending on how far apart the rest stops are and then some extra for the ones who eat/drink more. If you have same day registration, then you'll just have to give it your best guess and hopefully have some historical data to base it on. Don't open packages until you have to so you can return items that are unused. Better to have too much and return it than not enough. Nothing worse than a rest stop that has run out of food and drink!!

[Eden]

I think you've left out an important piece of data - how many riders are you expecting for the ride?

Another suggestion - boiled and salted small red potatoes are one of the better things I've had at an organized ride rest stop - it's a really, really nice change from the sweet things that dominate.

[Skippyak]

Is this small and casual? If it is big and organised and costs to enter, I think people expect all sorts of stuff. If it is just small and casual and free, just make sure you have enough water and vaguely poll the riders ahead of time for an idea of what they want. Peoples' expectations rise in accordance with size and cost. I am often taken aback by the whining of demands on bigger rides LOL, veggie, gluten free, diabetics, allergies, paleo eater etc, you rarely please all the people. I kind of look at the food as a bonus now I have done a few centuries. I don't really go for a feed. I have been on a big ride that ran out of water in a hot Ut summer with no close options, that was really unacceptable. I am a planner and had a hydration pack but you know those boys are all out of water for the next 10 miles in the heat.

[IFjane]

Thank you for all your suggestions and ideas! and hello to Muirenn! i am a long time TE member, but have not been on much in the last few years. Life and my schedule have interfered.

Eden, we actually had the red potato suggestion after last year's ride and we strongly considered it this time. If I could get some volunteers to prepare the potatoes ahead of time, I would definitely use them. We are expecting anywhere from 300 - 400 cyclists. Last year the weather was beautiful and we had 380. As for the hard boiled eggs, while that is a great idea, I doubt I could pull it off this time. I will file it away for the future for sure. The ride is May 18 and we have online registration so I will have a good idea of how many to expect. We do have day-of registration as well but hopefully we will have most registered ahead of time.

Thanks for your help and if anyone thinks of anything else, or has any experience with rest stop food planning and prep, please comment!

[featuretile]

I have been managing a rest stop for the Strawberry Fields Forever ride in CA. We get about 1200 riders. The rest stop is at a farm and they make apple pies. So we serve apple pie, a Russian woman makes blinis (crepes). Our reputation is that we have the best food. We also have fruit, but the bananas and the oranges are not chosen, so I am not even going to have them this year. What the riders love is cut up watermelon and cantaloupe. We also have peanut butter pretzels and trail mix. Drinks are apple juice, lemonade, water and Gator aid. For this size group I needed 12 watermelons, 12 cantaloups and 60 pies.

There are other rest stop which have different foods, like the pb&j, hard boiled eggs and potatoes suggested above as well as energy bars,chocolate chip cookies and coffee. All the captains meet at Costco and purchase what they need the day before. All the fruit is ordered at a fruit stand type place and we pick it up from a central location. We get a lot of strawberries - some of which are donated. There is also a lunch rest stop and a post meal ride rest stop.

So, I would suggest that you coordinate with the other rest stops, so that you are all not serving the same thing. Group buying and seeing if you can get any donations from sponsors is also a possibility. You also need to have volunteers to serve the food and you should schedule more of them to be there at the times that you expect it will be more crowded (when most of the riders reach your rest stop). You also need to have trash cans & recycling cans (if you do that).

Hope that helps!

[IFjane]

Oh my gosh, that is a great idea. It is probably too late to delegate the responsibilities this year, but I will definitely look into doing that next year. I guess I was not clear about my responsibilities. I am responsible for the food and drink at ALL the rest stops. There will be five and each will be manned by a local group (little league team, churches, etc.). The food has always been provided for them, so making them each responsible is a new concept. Hmmmmm....the wheels are turning now! Thanks for your input, featuretile!

[jobob]

I don't have much more to add to the excellent advice here, only that if you have to make lots of pb&j sandwiches, it's much quicker & easier if you use plain (creamy, not chunky) peanut butter and a smooth-spreading jam. I once learned that the hard way ... :cool:

[TrekDianna]

Rest stop food on the ride I was on today was various fruits. Bagels with cream cheese, jam or peanutbutter, chips & salsa, energy bars, and lots and lots of cookies since it was sponsored by a cookie place.