Some of my friends have suggested the training goo and I’ve been a bit reluctant to try it out since…well its new. I might be more willing to try it out a few weeks into our trip when I am having a hard time with my energy levels.

Another reason I’ve been against it is because I don’t want to start depending on something that may not be readily available everywhere. We have long term plans of biking in S. America and Europe (assuming our upcoming one turns out reasonably decent), and I don’t know if I’d be able to buy supplies for an energy goo so readily in a small village somewhere in EU or S. America.

Somewhere I read something about Lance Armstrong’s diet when training. While it may not be particularly healthy, it could give you some ideas.

When my sweetie was doing long distance running and biking, he liked the energy goo stuff because it’s very easy to digest while moving. His favorite was Clif Shots, chocolate flavor. Rather than buy a zillion of those, costing money and creating waste, he made his own. Running shops sell small gel flasks that hold maybe 4 oz or so of energy goo, with a top like a sports bottle. He’d mix brown rice syrup with a pinch of salt and some cocoa powder. That was very similar to the Clif shots. The sugars in brown rice syrup are about 1/3 simple and 2/3 complex, meaning you’ll get a nice jolt of quick energy as well as ongoing energy as well while your body digests the complex carbs.

Katecontinued: I constantly have accidents. I am really clumsy. In fact, when riding our new bikes home, I wasn’t used to the placement of brakes (we have drop bar/ramhorns) and couldn’t brake fast enough when someone ran in front of me, so I crashed into a wall and got badly scratched up. I’ve been riding a bicycle for about 20 years now (on and off), so unless I turn into some elegant person overnight, I’m going to keep having accidents until I die.

Jennifer: It took me a long time to get comfortable with riding in the city. I rode on the sidewalks until then and dealt with peds yelling at me because it was much safer. I then went through a phase where I was really aggressive on the road and quite obnoxious. Now, everytime I see danger or feel my temper rising, I stop and walk my bike until I calm down. One reason that many drivers can be rude is because they can’t see a biker. Having neon/reflective/shiny things all over you is helpful to them. Other drivers are just rude and they can’t go through life being obnoxious at every bicyclist because its just going to get old and boring after awhile.

I’m flattered that my biking is inspiring to others. Remember, the more people bike, the safer its going to get for others. Safety in numbers!

Good luck with eating while biking. I imagine eating a wider variety of food while you are burning vast numbers of calories is a good thing. I would have a difficult time with that myself. Are you getting plenty of carbs and protein? Thanks for bringing this up, should we ever take a long bike ride, it is something we’ll need to keep in mind.

I don’t doubt your body will kick in and start being ravenous for what you need - without much planning.