What do you want at the rest stop?

[ny biker]

If you're doing a long ride, like a metric or full century where you pay a registration fee to an organization that plans the route and offers rest stops with food and drink, what kinds of food do you like at the rest stop? Do you prefer different foods later in the ride, say 20 miles from the end, than you like at the earlier stops?

Since weather can play a role here, I'm specifically thinking of a late summer ride, when it will typically be warm to hot -- temps in the 80s at least, maybe in the 90s and humid. But it's possible that mother nature will throw a curve ball and it will actually be cooler -- 70s or even high 60s -- and rainy or cloudy. What foods would you eat regardless of the weather vs those that you prefer on a hot day or a cooler day?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.

[azfiddle]

Bananas, (not green!), watermelon slices, small servings of trail mix or the like, peanut butter or nutella with graham crackers or whole wheat bread, pretzels, goldfish crackers, sometimes even a few potato chips (for salt), small cookies like fig bars or soft (not crunchy) oatmeal raisin or chocolate chip, cold water and an option for an electrolyte,

I would crave the salty stuff later on. Sometimes a cold coke sounds really refreshing toward the end of the ride

Definitely not: granola bars

Some rides I've been on seem to try to be saving money on the sag stops and go for cheap, bulk packages of stuff that just isn't appealing and may not have really good ingredients (like a lot of corn syrup etc). The last ride I was on (66 miles) was $50 for the entry and there were two stops with water, bananas that were mostly not ripe, and some discount granola bars. I took the water and bananas, but skipped the granola bars- not interested in those at all!

[smilingcat]

orange slice wedges, half banana ripe not green, small boiled red potato with skin, fig newtons (a must).
some even offered GU (I don't like), shot blocks (I NO LIKE). If really desperate, I'll take gatorade (awful stuff). I'll take some other "advanced sports drink" with god know how to pronounce synthetic ingredients Cytomax citrus flavor was my choice of poison.

I'll pass on cookies, Oreo cookies and even granola bars.

Never had watermelon at rest stops...

[azfiddle]

Smilingcat, watermelon has been on several organized rides here in Arizona. Good for a desert ride.

[OakLeaf]

Peeled hard-boiled eggs. They've been very popular on the one ride I know that offers them. Supported rides almost never offer enough protein, and I wind up having to buy my own food because of that. Plus, with a salt shaker, riders can salt them to get the salt they're not getting from the other food.

[salsabike]

Boiled potatoes with salt---love them at ride rest stops.

[Jolt]

Definitely things with salt if it's going to be warm out…pretzels etc. At D2R2 there were pickles/pickle juice at some of the rest stops and those were quite popular. Bananas, orange slices, etc. are always good. I've found that sweet stuff becomes somewhat less appealing the longer I ride…for example, Oreos are normally my big junk-food weakness but I recall one ride where they were available at a rest stop and I think I stopped at one, because it just wasn't what my body wanted at that point.

[lauraelmore1033]

Bike Rides NW had the best rest stops ever! In addition to all the succulent, cold fruits, which are so welcome on a hot day, they provided things like hummus and dips w/ crackers/chips, salty nuts, boiled potatoes and salt, and, of all things, Spam! (accompanied by a new spam haiku every day). I always felt very well fueled on one of their tours.

[slmdunc]

Good, crisp apples! Also bananas. Hummus and carrots. Chips and good fresh salsa!

[shootingstar]

Fig bars, small box of natural fruit juice along the way.

Pretzels.

I will have a granola bar or a non-chewy chocolate bar if no other choice. (ie. Kit-Kat)

[Helene2013]

Anything I don't have to chew too much. When I'm "working out" I just can't seem to chew (like bars, nuts, etc). It seems to roll into my mouth and get stuck in throat. So fruit and beverages are great. Once I'm done, most places have lunch boxes and then I can eat some. Anything will pass once I'm cooled down some and know I'm done with the ride.

[Crankin]

I haven't done a lot of organized rides, but most of them had terrible food for the rest stops. I am allergic to peanuts, so the one that had pbj, was a big fail for me. I like whole wheat bagels and almond butter, salty baked chips, and real food. I bring my own bars and lots of Shot Blocks to get me through, and refills of SKratch for my bottles. Hummus and crackers and fruit would be good, too.

[AppleTree]

Skagit Spring Classic out of Whatcom County had the BEST rest stop spread I've ever seen. Watermelon, oranges, cheese (several kinds) crackers, pretzels, lunch meats, bananas, boiled potatoes (love those)...can't remember what else, but it was fabulous! What I really detest is the rice crispy bars, mini-candy bars, (packaged processed) cheese/peanut butter crackers and stale energy bars that Cascade Bike Club is more and more often putting out. They have been putting out boiled eggs lately, from their sponsor Wilcox Farms, but otherwise, it is really gross processed stuff and we pay a good premium for the rides they put on. I do like a good trail mix that has a little bit of dark chocolate mixed in it and slightly salty. Fig bars are great. Pickle juice?? Hmmmmm.... :rolleyes:

[Aromig]

Especially on hot rides I love ICE! I know that sounds very basic, but I've been on several this year that did not have ice I could add to bottles. They'd ice down the water/Gatorade you could use to refill your bottles, but that was cold for about the first five minutes and then would warm up. I'd actually stop at convenience stores and buy ice from the fountain machine so I could half fill my bottles (ice would melt before I reached the next rest stop).

My favorite ride stops have included watermelon. It was awesome, but then again, that was another hot day. I can live with just about anything on cooler days.

[Sky King]

As I was reading this I so wanted a like button!!! protein, protein, protein, I hate when ever support stop offers the same dang stuff with zero protein, figs are awesome as well.. I am not a banana lover - just don't sit well for me but I will accept an orange anytime.
As my tummy is fickle with electrolytes I always carry my own. after 40 miles in hot weather I will give my soul for a cold coke. Oh and don't even start me on salted nut rolls :)

[ny biker]

Thanks to everyone for your comments!!

We have a bike club meeting this weekend to talk about our recent century and discuss ideas for next year. I will pass along your input.

For the past two years I've helped out at the rest stop that is about 20 miles from the end for the longer routes. (There is one more stop 10 miles from the finish. Some folks skip that stop, but many are glad to take a break there because it's at the top of a hill.) Traditionally we offer tomato sandwiches (tomato slices, mayo, salt and pepper on wheat bread) and pb&j sandwiches along with fresh fruit. For beverages we have water and Gatorade. We always have ice, though I'm not sure if it's available for people to put directly in their water bottles, so I'll check on that.

This year we had a few new offerings. We had two types of tomato sandwiches, some with mayo and some made with hummus instead. We also served dill pickles which were cut into pieces and placed out in small paper cups. These were very popular. We also had a variety of small candy bars, which I think were less popular.

We had five rest stops in all and there was different food at each -- bagels, different kinds of fruit, trail mix, some stops offered sandwiches and some didn't. At the first stop we served egg muffin sandwiches and at the last stop we had Italian ices. At the post-ride picnic we had grilled hotdogs, tomato sandwiches, a variety of other sandwiches from a local Italian deli, potato chips, watermelon slices, lemonade and iced tea.

Re: fig bars -- I've never been a fan of fig newtons, but I discovered Nature's Bakery fig bars a few years ago -- in a snack vending machine in the waiting room where I get my car serviced, of all places -- and I absolutely love them.

https://naturesbakery.com/product-line/stone-ground-whole-wheat

For a while I could only find them in vending machines and at one convenience store chain, but now they're available in grocery stores and Target. I've heard you can get them online, too. I like the blueberry and raspberry flavors the best.

[pll]

Some of the best treats I've had in rest stops in long rides:

Roasted potatos with rosemary, olive oil and sea salt (at Rebecca's Private Idaho)
Plain rice, either with salt or soy sauce (at Mountains of Misery)
Fig spread and ham flat rolls in some sort of flat bread (at the Horribly Hilly Hundreds)


The worst I've had has been surprise creamy cheese in a sandwich.

Edited to add: small cans of coke in the later rest stops in century rides are awesome!

[rebeccaC]

Smilingcat, watermelon has been on several organized rides here in Arizona. Good for a desert ride.

on my iowa ragbrai ride the last day of the weeks ride i bought a whole cold watermelon from some children who were selling slices. I cut it in half and really enjoyed eating the heart :)....great on a long hot days riding in iowa in july.

i usually don't stop at rest stops since i try to make and carry the nutrition i'll need on a ride and when stopping i like to be in a quiet spot for stretching and relaxing for a few minutes. I will stop at one to talk to someone i've met and they stop and i'll stop to get some water if needed.

[rebeccaC]

yeah but ragbrai isn't an organized ride it's a very well organized party moving across the state of iowa...at least for our 5 college and tenting woman's group. :)

I can see the attraction for those living in the areas to all those people riding by/filling up a town.

seriously it was one of my all time favorite adventures!!!!!! and yes """"""""PIE"""""""" :D and some farm homemade ice cream ftw...but most important heidi scott - and the corn women masseuses :)

and it's financially good for a number of the civic clubs and churches in some of the rural towns......and one minnesota bar that i remember.:eek:

[cosc]

Yes, Ragbrai is my favorite ride just because of the many diverse food stops. My favorite food find this year was Slipstream Organics (selling yogurt, topped with your flavor of granola and blueberries. Such a luscious treat!

[ny biker]

Some of the best treats I've had in rest stops in long rides:

Roasted potatos with rosemary, olive oil and sea salt (at Rebecca's Private Idaho)
Plain rice, either with salt or soy sauce (at Mountains of Misery)
Fig spread and ham flat rolls in some sort of flat bread (at the Horribly Hilly Hundreds)


The worst I've had has been surprise creamy cheese in a sandwich.

Edited to add: small cans of coke in the later rest stops in century rides are awesome!

I admire your willingness to do rides with names like "Misery" and "Horribly." :D

Interesting comment on the cream cheese. A few weeks ago I did a search to find a recipe for roll-up sandwiches and found one that used turkey and cream cheese. I had suggested serving roll-ups at one of our rest stops next year and wanted the recipe to illustrate what I was talking about. They had turkey roll-ups (sans cream cheese) at a ride that I did last fall and I was going to do that ride again this weekend and hoped to be able to ask them if they made the sandwiches or bought them pre-made, but I had a recent change of plans so that won't be possible.

As for pie -- that's the type of thing I used to think would be too heavy to eat during a ride, but I had some during a metric last summer and it really hit the spot.

[pll]

Soft cheeses are particularly treacherous! On another century ride, on a day that was nippy, they had hot potato soup at the midpoint rest stop.