Quote Originally Posted by Miranda View Post
I have three concerns in becoming vegan:
1) area I live is not vegan friendly in shopping etc. a lot effort to even find appropriate foods;
2) cycling training- how you get enough proper nutrition to distance ride; and
3) vegans do need to supplement some things not found in plant products, how you do that, or any other cons.

Any opinions, and/or vegan/vegitarian cycle peeps here on TE?
I'm vegan and have been for four years, my boyfriend/partner has been for nearly a decade. This book irritated me a lot. The tone, the idea that being vegan will make you skinny, the recipes full of faux foods and substitutes, the list goes on. There are many better books out there. I won't get into my reasons for veganism because they are lengthy and involve all aspects - animal rights, health, agricultural efficiency, environmentalism, human rights, and the ability to eat the cookie dough without worrying about salmonella

As far as your questions.
1) I live in Iowa. I can't think of anywhere you'd live that might be unsuitable to a vegan diet. There might not be a lot of convenience foods and easy microwaveable meals, but the foundations of a vegan diet are accessible almost everywhere. It just means cooking at home a lot which is something I love. Whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, all these things can be found at a regular grocery store. Just an idea of a typical week of dinners at our house - vegetable curry, lentil dal, and brown rice; stir fry with tofu; big ol' pot of chili and cornbread; falafel pitas and salad; homemade pizza (with tofu ricotta some nights).

2) I'm relatively new to cycling but my partner in an endurance cyclist, mostly gravel and winter riding. He's done the Arrowhead 135 multiple times, Dirty Kanza 200, Tuscobia 150, and lots of other races. Being vegan just means bringing food with when it's out of state. We don't really eat anything special, he just eats a lot of it. We usually have a nice bunch of clif and luna bars for rides, a few homemade protein bars, he likes cookies and salty snacks when on rides so it's not exactly healthy, but certainly vegan. I like dried fruit and nuts, peanut butter sandwiches, and luna bars.

3) The most important vegan supplement is B12. It's the only one that is only available in meat, simply because the animals end up eating a lot of dirt before they're slaughtered and that's where the B12 is. I'm sure I could work some dirt into my diet but I'd rather take a multi-vitamin with it. All the other vitamins that vegans need, everyone needs, and are accessible in many foods. We do take a vegan multi-vitamin every day and an additional B12 and iron supplement a couple of times a week.

If you have any questions I'd love to try and answer.