I've admired randonneurs who can eat, cycle long into the night with alot less sleep and cycling under a broad time frame.

I would be curious for those who do long distance bike touring with their loaded bike panniers, if people here tend to eat/drink athletic food. I've done a number of loaded bike touring trips from several hundred km. to 1,000 km. and...have never had athletic food/drinks. It just never occurs to me, quite frankly. Closest would be energy bars, but I really don't consider that athletic food.

These are things I've noticed myself:
*if I ever eat any meat, it tends to be much smaller amounts of meat before or after a ride.
*noticeably salty and processed foods ie. chips, etc. I don't respond well --stomach-wise. Same for deep-fried food. I will only have it if there's no other choice/desperate.

*an ice cream or gelato is a luxury energy for me. Very welcome during a hot /humid trip.
I like eating parts of a sandwich along the way, banana, real juice drinks, etc.

I also believe that there is a cultural factor here: has it occurred to anyone that eating 1-2 pieces of a veggie sushi roll, works also during a bike trip? People worldwide work very hard and many hrs. ...they find ways to eat healthy without athletic food.