!Viva the Lunch Spot!
No Dabs, 11/5/21
Three hours into a day ride, with another 3-4 hours to go, our minds gravitated towards food. Perhaps we craved this or that, though what was in our packs likely would not satisfy that craving: burger, burrito, pizza. Instead, it was going to have to be trail mix, maybe a bar of some kind, an apple, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that satiated us.
Generally speaking, my experience is that to make whatever it is we’re going to eat on the trail a little more tasty, we often look for a lunch spot with a nice view, or sit by a stream, or under a shady canopy. Solo or with friends, in addition to eating, it’s a time to take a break, to stretch, to roll the shoulders and shake out the arms.
Apple. Two packets of almond butter. A granola bar. Water. A recent road trip to Gooseberry Mesa resulted in finding a new lunch spot, away from the point. The day was perfect in all measures. We had not ridden together in years, the time gap not resulting in any hiccups, however. With nothing to do but ride bikes all day, the ease of life and the pedal strokes were not encumbered by anything.
Nearly 7 hours in the saddle, was our bliss. The grunting and muscling required to ride the Goose kept us content. No hurry, no worry. We prefer that kind of physical, technical, slow-going riding.
Thank goodness it exists.
Over the years, I’ve packed turkey sandwiches, cold pizza, bacon-egg-cheese bagel sandwiches, a thermos of hot soup (great on winter rides!), and peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, to name a few other trailside lunch menu items. While bike packing, of course, with a stove hanging off the bike in a bag, one can make “gourmet” lunches. My least favorite lunch on the trail — one consisting of “energy bars.” Gooey gels are not my kind of jam, either.
Here, here to the lunch spot. Hip, hip, hooray, eh! Heck, why not raise a beer at the lunch spot, if you want/can. Pack it in, pack it out. Stash it in a creek on the way to the trailhead, knowing you’ll be back around that way in a few hours.
Or wait until you’re done riding. Hydrate. Eat some more. Hydrate more. Then when you’re sitting by the campfire, sit back, relax, talk about tomorrow’s ride and what you’ll pack for lunch. Where you might eat.
Then let it all go and enjoy …
