Costs per day?

[BikeliciousBabe]

...
Buying fresh food in food stores and preparing it is definitely the healthiest and most nutritious way to go. It is significantly less expensive than eating even two meals a day in restaurants.

There are still some challenges, though.

A lot of areas are "food deserts" and healthy and nutritious food can be hard to come by in any form.  A sure warning sign of this is if the only major stores in a town are various dollar stores.

I've also found that the quality, cost, and general availability of fresh fruits and vegetables can vary in bewildering ways from town to town even if you are using decent supermarkets for resupply.

On the other side of that problem, sometimes even very tiny markets in small communities can have amazing stuff available.

You just don't know and this is something that is hard to plan for and you need to learn how to just roll with it.  Sometimes that means I need to buy a restaurant meal or two just to get a halfway decent salad.

+1.

And the bolded above reminds me of shopping at the small merchantile in Wise River, MT.  Both times I stopped in the place had amazing Roma tomatoes.  Not exactly tomato growing country.  So odd yet so welcomed.  I am planning to pas through there again in June.  Can't wait to see if the place has them.

[davidbonn]

I've also found that small markets, on the average, are better choices for keeping your bike and gear secure than larger markets.  That's because small markets are often found in more car-oriented places where you aren't as likely to encounter bicycle thieves, and a small market is, well, small and you can easily keep an eye on your bike outside the market while shopping.

If you are resupplying out of Safeway and the like it is easiest to do so with a partner and have one person tend to the bikes while the other shops.

The Kalispel Market in Cusick, WA (kind of on the Northern Tier and kind of on the Selkirk International Loop) is a remarkable small market with a decent assortment of fresh foods.  And a good example of a car-oriented place where your bike is relatively secure.

https://selkirkloop.org/member/kalispel-market/

[Westinghouse]

...
Buying fresh food in food stores and preparing it is definitely the healthiest and most nutritious way to go. It is significantly less expensive than eating even two meals a day in restaurants.

There are still some challenges, though.

A lot of areas are "food deserts" and healthy and nutritious food can be hard to come by in any form.  A sure warning sign of this is if the only major stores in a town are various dollar stores.

I've also found that the quality, cost, and general availability of fresh fruits and vegetables can vary in bewildering ways from town to town even if you are using decent supermarkets for resupply.

On the other side of that problem, sometimes even very tiny markets in small communities can have amazing stuff available.

You just don't know and this is something that is hard to plan for and you need to learn how to just roll with it.  Sometimes that means I need to buy a restaurant meal or two just to get a halfway decent salad.

+1.

And the bolded above reminds me of shopping at the small merchantile in Wise River, MT.  Both times I stopped in the place had amazing Roma tomatoes.  Not exactly tomato growing country.  So odd yet so welcomed.  I am planning to pas through there again in June.  Can't wait to see if the place has them.

If I were to say I am a good cook even at home or on the road, it would be a lie. I do eat for my health. I avoid highly refined carbohydrates. I tried to get all vitamins and minerals and enzymes and electrolytes naturally. A number of times on bicycling tours I had pots pans, a stove. I didn't use it. I did not use them for some reason. I was always anxious to keep moving and thought the time necessary for preparing food was a hindrance. Other foods were available readily. I got in a habit of eating the wrong kinds of foods for energy. I did not eat that kind of stuff anymore. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains, whole cereals. That's the way to go.

[davidbonn]

...
If I were to say I am a good cook even at home or on the road, it would be a lie. I do eat for my health. I avoid highly refined carbohydrates. I tried to get all vitamins and minerals and enzymes and electrolytes naturally. A number of times on bicycling tours I had pots pans, a stove. I didn't use it. I did not use them for some reason. I was always anxious to keep moving and thought the time necessary for preparing food was a hindrance. Other foods were available readily. I got in a habit of eating the wrong kinds of foods for energy. I did not eat that kind of stuff anymore. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains, whole cereals. That's the way to go.

I guess everyone is just different.

For me, meal prep doesn't take that long, typically half an hour for either breakfast or dinner including cleanup.  And a lot of that half hour (at least for breakfast) is waiting for water to boil or coffee to brew.  Rather than sit around waiting I can use that time to pack up and get ready to roll.  If I'm in a terrible hurry (bad weather or a schedule to keep) I can usually be moving half an hour to forty-five minutes after I crawl out from under the quilt.  More typically it is an hour or so, especially if I am traveling with others who aren't quite so insanely efficient.

I sometimes do go into no cooking mode, but what I find is that the food choices end up more limited, more expensive, and I end up basically eating restaurant meals most of the time.  There are some things I frequently eat that don't require cooking (tabouli is a good one, and if I bring the right stuff most of the prep time can be done while riding to camp).  But I also find this is a psychological game and the morale boost of a hot cup of coffee and half-and-half on a chilly morning or getting outside a hot meal after a long day's ride are worth the additional weight and prep time.

Honestly for me decent food on tour is a bigger comfort and morale win than a camp chair ever could be.

I've got about half a dozen different meals I can rotate through for variety, with there being more variety on the dinner side of things than with breakfast.  Lunch is usually a series of snacks served between breakfast and dinner when I'm on the go.  In practice if I'm not moving I'm either laying down or eating.  Sometimes I'm eating while on the move.

A few of the meals I make are easily improvised from mini-mart foods so I'm not anchored to resupplying at an Albertson's.

One of the recurring challenges is that when you go into serious calorie deficit (which on the average happens about day five for me) you are left with some pretty brutal choices between getting as many calories as possible and eating healthy.  Which definitely won't be the same foods.

[BikeliciousBabe]

“For a similar reason I am always kind of skeptical of coin-op laundry at motels.  I doubt it is much of a profit center and it ends up being a hassle finding quarters for the machine.  Sometimes so much of a hassle that you can't do laundry...

I will find the quarters. To me a laundry facility in a motel/hotel is the completion of the trifecta: hot shower/bed to sleep in/ clean clothes for the next morning!
[/quote]
+1.  There is a really bike-friendly motel (national chain) at the conjunction of the GAP and C&O trails.  You can literally ride your bike to the front door.  The laundry room was quite busy after it had rained the day before.

Back in 2022 I stayed at a campground in PA that had a washer and dryer.  No coins needed as payment was on the honor system.

[davidbonn]

Back in 2022 I stayed at a campground in PA that had a washer and dryer.  No coins needed as payment was on the honor system.

The b.side RV Park & Motel in Bandon, OR (on the PCBR) had free laundry.

The Best Western Snowcap Lodge in Cle Elum, WA (on the GART) had free laundry.

There was a motel I stayed at in Libby, MT (2018) that was advertised as bike-friendly and had free laundry.  As well as a decent floor pump and tools you could borrow.

[Westinghouse]

Back in 2022 I stayed at a campground in PA that had a washer and dryer.  No coins needed as payment was on the honor system.

The b.side RV Park & Motel in Bandon, OR (on the PCBR) had free laundry.

The Best Western Snowcap Lodge in Cle Elum, WA (on the GART) had free laundry.


Whenever I used laundries while staying in motels, I had to pedal my bicycle at least a few blocks to find them.

There was a motel I stayed at in Libby, MT (2018) that was advertised as bike-friendly and had free laundry.  As well as a decent floor pump and tools you could borrow.

[davidbonn]

I've had some very poor experiences at public coin laundries so I try to use them only as a last resort or when I know for sure it will be a pretty decent one.  For me on the average there has been better luck at motels and RV parks.  Of course this also depends a lot on where you are riding.

Another thing I've noticed is that some public campgrounds and some RV parks often have a "camp store".  These are often overpriced and vary enormously in quality but they also might be the only store of any kind for many miles.  So I tend to note them when I am planning routes.

One eternal mystery of these camp stores, for me, is that they often carry items in Costco quantities rather than more reasonable quantities that someone on a camping trip (RVs often have limited food storage) or bike tour might want.  But there are some good ones out there that are pretty awesome.

[BikeliciousBabe]

Another thing I've noticed is that some public campgrounds and some RV parks often have a "camp store".  These are often overpriced and vary enormously in quality but they also might be the only store of any kind for many miles.  So I tend to note them when I am planning routes.

I'll carry camp food all day (or eat dinner out) if I have to rather than rely on a "camp store."  One of the worst, if not the worst, meals we hand during my group tour of the Northern Tier was when we had to rely on camp store food at a place in MT.  It was pasta with jarred sauce and a variety of watery canned vegetables like green beans and corn.  Even the store at the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier N.P. is mostly junk snack food and canned goods.  I stop in W. Glacier before entering the park.

[davidbonn]

Yes, that is all true.  But sometimes they are the only choice you'll have.

And improvising decent meals and a decent diet from small markets with limited choices is a serious outdoor skill just like setting up a secure campsite in stormy conditions would be.

[Westinghouse]

Totally agree, it really depends on your style and location. When I toured solo through the Rockies, I averaged around \$60/day by wild camping where I could and sticking to grocery store meals. If I stayed in a cheap motel every few days, it bumped it up to around \$80. If you're good with roughing it a bit and flexible, you can definitely keep things reasonable.

I did many long-distance, transcontinental bicycling tours in the United States. I cannot remember any that averaged that even close to 60 or $80 a day, and that includes transportation back from California. Two people did it and that averaged about $30 a day. I know because I was the one spending the $30 a day. That lasted 66 days. Of course there were only five days in motels and they were the least expensive we could find. Most all other nights were spent free camping, what they now call stealth camping. One night at each sleep site, up in the morning, and gone.. only a very few small number of nights were we invited somewhere to spend the night out of all those 66 days.

[John Nelson]

I've spent anywhere from $15 a day to $70 a day. The older I get, the more willing I am to spend a bit more money to eat and sleep better, hence the costs have been going up. Sure, I could still do it for $15 a day, but I no longer want to.

[davidbonn]

The challenge for me is that I'm somewhat restricted in my diet and need to eat a lot of healthy (and often expensive) food that doesn't necessarily preserve well without refrigeration.  This show won't run on ramen noodles (even good ones) and Snicker's bars alone.

Added to that the challenge of getting such food items in quantities suitable for a solo cyclist, even one who is very hungry, only increase the costs.

[Westinghouse]

I know a man in Stuart Florida who ate nearly only Ramen noodles. He was coarse. It was a big thing with him, the oral gratification. Today the same person is a wreck. Listening to him for a while, the pathological nature of his thought process becomes apparent. Ramen noodles may be okay and a pinch. And every once in a great while pork out is okay. If you want noodles. They make them fresh in the restaurants in China. The taste of freshly made and prepared noodles is quite different from the package noodles boiled on the stove. As you get older, proper nutrition becomes a center point of survival. Generally speaking, people who exercise, jog, do resistance training, stretch and eat natural organic foods live quite a bit longer than people who do not exercise and eat processed foods. I knew all this. In 2022 wild bicycling on highway 20 west to east in Northern Florida, what was available there was mostly junk food. I ate too much junk food on that trip. I flew to the state of Washington to Seattle. Cycled West toward the coast and then South into Oregon and part way down the west coast of Oregon. There I caught rides on buses and a truck and a van and I got into Sacramento California. In Sacramento I got the train to Tucson Arizona. From Tucson I pedaled my fully loaded touring bicycle 320 miles to El Paso Texas. I took the train from El Paso to New Orleans. From New Orleans I pedaled this bicycle about 900 miles ack to Fort Lauderdale Florida. Too much junk food and one of the allures was it was so much easier and simpler and less time consuming. Staying on a healthy diet requires discipline.

[Westinghouse]

... Cheap motels are out there and not often, from what I have seen, to be found advertising on Google. I think some are dodging the tax man. ...

Funny you should mention that.  I've noticed quite often at the less expensive motels that the credit card machine is "broken" and they only are accepting cash that day.

All the cheap motels I have ever seen made me wish I was carrying a gun!  But if you don't mind paying for a cheap date that's half to fully baked out of her mind you might like places like that...of course they only accept cash, they don't carry card readers, well, at least not yet!

Some of the cheap motels I saw made me wish I was carrying a flamethrower, hand grenades, claymore mines, an M60 machine gun, and 200 yards of concertina wire.