Food costs?

[0ddity]

I'm doing a bike tour (hopefully)in late July/Early August. I will be biking on a Sekai 2400, 1985, limited Touring Road bike - 12 speed(Upgraded to 18). Upgraded the crank and the rear cassette on it thus far. Smooth ride, I love it!
-
Been doing a lot of research but haven't really come across the money situation. Mostly just concerned with food. Could dumpster some I suppose. Most likely bring a small amount of dried food with me. But when it comes down to it, how much money(if any) would one be spending to eat? Especially to eat well enough to maintain nutrition.

 

[West]

I'd be interested in finding out, too. It'd take a lot more math than I'm interested in.

 

[ByronMc]

If you had a cook stove,that could cook pasta,that would be hallf the cost,there. But carrying a cook stove,and gas,too much weight !........Next thought,couchsurf,and use their stove !

 

[Wawa]

I'd budget about 20-30 dollars a week if you're cooking. Don't eat crap. Good food will sustain your body longer and you'll need less of it. Shit like quaker oatmeal packets is mostly 'flavour-dust'. I can eat three of them and be hungry in an hour. Get bulk food where you can, even at health food stores, bulk pasta/oatmeal/rice/dry soups are pretty affordable. Pretty much anything but milk and mayo you can carry in the hot sun for at least a few days. Salted meats like bacon and ham last a while, especially if you carry them cooked. You can get a trangia alcohol stove for 15 dollars or make your own. buy denatured alcohol paint thinner or fuel line de-icer for fuel. It makes a good back up stove for me - my main food cooking method is over a fire. You can have a fire almost anywhere. Scoop out a small trench in the ground about the size of your cupped hands, lay two tent stakes over it, and burn small twigs. Make sure your pot doesn't cover the entire opening, air needs to get in. takes some practice to be able to keep a small fire going, but once you have a hot coal you're set. Think this is also called a dakota fire hole. If you're in a place you're not allowed to have fire, you can push the soul back over your hole if anyone approaches and just act like you're cooking on the stove. I've done this in rest areas, city parks, and inside my tent vestible. If you absolutely can't have fire, the alchohol stove is good for boiling water and cooking veggies.

 

[Wawa]

Feel like I should give a bit more detail on my 20-30 estimate. I spend more then that now because I'm a huge foodie and I'll spend my last $5 on a good quinoa salad. Two years ago I was getting by on $50 a month, all expenses, not just food. I felt kinda hungry and ragged most of the time, and it wasn't a lot of fun, but I'm glad for it now because I know more what to expect if I get robbed or something. Check out local food kitchens when you're in an area that might have them, by the way. It probably won't happen often enough to be a reular part of your diet, but after weeks of eating simple, cheap meals, it can be amazing to have a big meal that someone else cooked for you(Some towns have amazing feeds. Prescott, Bisbee, Arcata, and surprisingly, Sierra Vista). Same thing with couchsurfer/warmshowers hosts who cook for you. I only do the food kitchen thing in smaller towns, but I've never been questioned or treated like I shouldn't be there.

 

[Wawa]

Haha my first post reads like a crazy ADD rant. Oh, shit. Also, I meant push the soil back over your hole. Please don't bury y our soul.

 

[0ddity]

Great tips Tansy, thanks! I will take these into heavy consideration.
-
Been out west before a few times, I know they have feeds all over the place. So, not too worried about eating once I get there. Been thinking about heading east on this trip though. Hit up the Transamerican Bike trail. Haven't been to the east coast yet.

 

[ByronMc]

Haha my first post reads like a crazy ADD rant. Oh, shit. Also, I meant push the soil back over your hole. Please don't bury y our soul.

You're far from crazy

 

[Beegod Santana]

Food costs nothing. Unless you're picky.

 

[dharma bum]

If you're going to be biking, I'd worry more about your calorie intake more than anything. Depending on how far you ride each day you're probably going to be burning around 5000 a day. Since you're going to carry it with you, I'd suggest getting food that is around 100 cal per oz. that's what I did on the A.T. and it saved my ass!

 

[ByronMc]

Food costs nothing. Unless you're picky.

..............if we knew that we'd find exactly what we needed,at the time our bodies needed the intake of food,while biking,great,would love free food !...........But in order to keep on pushing pedals,we need certain types of food,so we pay the price for the freedom we have of riding bikes !

 

[Tude]

Tansy - good info! I'm getting ready to do a little solo 3 day'er over the 4th - haven't had my panniers out in a while. Hope to do longer towards the end of Summer. I will say is that I tend to eat in the Summer (I bike year round - did a 5 day winter trip a few years ago - that was interesting) eating light stuff mostly, stuff I don't have to cook (but ya get bored with that easily) --- but one thing to look for is I look for the little packets of stuff at places like 7-11 (or at where I work <cough> - packets of mayo and stuff - I snag a few here and a few there - and I stuff them in middle of my panniers (up from the road heat/down from the sun). I think that stuff has a loooooooong shelf life too.

Oh and have done powdered milk (take a freezer bag of it) - it's not the real deal but it will work if you need to mix milk with something and it's light weight and flattens into small spaces. I have some now in my basement in my "bug out" prep (well hey I'm also on a few conspiracy sites - ya get caught up in it ... - you should see my TP and bottled water supplies, hehe).

One other thing - and I think I posted this somewhere else here too - is that my Brother has done some cross country's --- and he would look in the little towns, especially, for church dinners - they tended to be inexpensive and were mostly an all you can eat - like a spaghetti supper. But he also ran into very nice people who may have talked to him at a corner store who were asking him about his trip (he was front/back panniers and packed out so he looked like he was long distance - and many invited him to their home and fed him and let him pitch his tent in their yard. He intended on coming back a southern route from CA rounding up the eastern coast back to NY and then he met a girl who became his wife ---- and so that ended that.

 

[Arapala]

Average $5 a day got food you'll be fine. Make yourself a diy alcohol stove, you won't regret it. Helps for stealth camping as you will have A smokeless controlled fire. YouTube it!

 

[ByronMc]

Average $5 a day got food you'll be fine. Make yourself a diy alcohol stove, you won't regret it. Helps for stealth camping as you will have A smokeless controlled fire. YouTube it!

I deliver on bike,and eat at least 5 to 6 bananas a day,then,coconut water,pasta,etc & I eat cheap,but $5 won't get me thru the night ! I'd fall off my bike with just $5 worth of food in my belly !

 

[0ddity]

Yeah, I'm a bigger fella myself. I need to maintain my strength. $5 a day would be pretty harsh on my body.

 

[Arapala]

Biking all day could be use a lot of energy. I pack ultra light but not stupid light. 25lbs of gear. Bananas are cheap man! I weigh 135 about 5' 7". I eat many little meals through the day. Also remember fishing and foraging is free food.

 

[ByronMc]

I'm 6'2" 185lbs & bananas are at the moment 49 cents a lb, not ripe ! 2 for a buck,at 7/11,ripe ! As for me, I make money, therefore,I spend it, as that's how the real world goes round. Though,if I'm not still out delivering food, when the restaurants close their kitchens,I get a shift meal.

 

[azcyclist]

I am coming to this forum a bit late, but I can add something for the next person doing a bike trip. A friend just completed a cross country bike tour. I can find out more information from her. They did cook most evenings, and carried camping stoves

 

[ByronMc]

sounds like more then one person,which means the load can be split up. I'd like to read more,from people who have just done a tour

 

[fernfern]

hey, also coming late to the convo, but i did a bike tour down the coast of California last year and wanted to contribute from my experience.

for the first part of the trip i didn't have an alcohol stove - i made it through eating mostly cold food, but i would have been much happier to have hot oatmeal in the morning instead of cold. also, investing in a stove (or making a pop can stove) is worth it because you can eat more grains which are cheap and healthy. i was lucky enough to have food stamps at the time and i got about 200/month. even with that,when you're eating 5000 calories a day, you have to try and get the most calories per dollar. i used to soak rolled oats and chia seeds (lots of good fats, fiber, antioxidants in those) then i'd add some dried fruit and nuts and eat that first thing in the morning. i sustained myself mostly with peanut butter, dried dates and raisins, nuts, seeds, corn tortillas, canned sardines (the cheap ones can be really gross, though), fritos (a lot of calories per small bag), avocados (don't last long in your panniers) and bananas. you want to make sure you're not just eating empty calories, and try to eat green veggies so you're digestion doesn't get all outta wack.

if you're interested in reading more about nutrition, this is a good article about what ratios of protein, carbohydrates and fats you should be eating, and WHEN to eat what: http://www.bicycletouringtales.com/nutrition info.html

stores with a big bulk section are wonderful - sometimes they have dehydrated hummus or soup mixes that are lightweight - and bulk is almost always cheaper than buying the prepackaged stuff. also, you can take as little or as much as you want, and if you're going through a lot of cities, just get as much as you need to sustain you to the next town and refill. i tended to carry more than i needed because i was afraid of going hungry, but you'll learn from experience how much food you need.