Gotta eat, but don't want to cook/boil

[staehpj1]

I did a ten day tour around Florida and the only food I ate was trail mix,nutrigrain bars and 2 footlongs from Subway a day. I am planning a 2500 mile ride in 9 months and will stick to that, maybe mix it up here and there with some of the suggestions above.

I'm curious; how often is that possible?  I don't recall seeing a Subway between Hutchinson, KS, and Pueblo, CO, some 400 miles, just to name one stretch.  To be honest, I may have missed one or two.  I expected to be eating a lot more subs than I actually did on that trip.

I also would say that more often than not that would not have been possible in places where I have toured.  I am pretty sure that I have gone weeks between Subway locations.

I did eat at Subways a few times on my Santa Fe trail tour and I suspect they will be available fairly often on my upcoming pacific coast tour.  Definitely not something you can rely on in remote rural areas though.

[staehpj1]

You all should check out the backpacking forums for cooking ideas.  I carry a 3oz stove " not alcohol" 5oz canister of fuel and a titanium pot, 4ozs.  Freeze dried meals weigh next to nothing and are not bad.  I guess I am used to roughing it in the back country.  Ni cooking ever.  Big pain and bears love the smell.  Can't imagine pulling up to a Huddle house and getting a biscuit!!!  Thats would rock in the woods.  

I have found freeze dried meals to be a horrible answer for most touring for a variety of reasons

• First, requirements are usually quite different for touring than backpacking.  On tour we typically have "real food" available for purchase daily or almost daily.  Given that it makes sense to buy food as needed rather than carry much.  Most often freeze dried meals are not available that frequently on the road.
• Second, Unlike you I find that freeze dried meals are downright nasty.
• Third, freeze dried meals are pretty expensive.

I do at times carry freeze dried veggies or hummus when available.

On the canister stove...
We don't need to carry much fuel for the same reason we don't carry much food.  Canister fuel availability ranges from good to non-existent depending on where you tour.  When I have to carry fuel for longer periods than a week my canister stove wins out, but on tour where I can find it frequently alcohol almost always works out better and lighter for me.

I have three different cooking/eating configurations that I am likely to use:

• Alcohol only, 11 ounces.
• Isobutane only, 14 ounces.
• Both isobutane and alcohol, 15 ounces.

All three options include cookwear, utensils, a lighter, windscreen, pot stand where necessary, and scrubbie pad.  Fuel is additional.

If I go with isobutane I usually take both unless I am absolutely sure I will have enough fuel.  I have been disappointed with the lack of available fuel on two different tours where I expected to buy cartridges, but went long distances without seeing any despite checking just about every possible source along the way.

That said, more and more I have been just skipping the cartridge stove for both backpacking and touring.

[mucknort]

I did eat at Subways a few times on my Santa Fe trail tour and I suspect they will be available fairly often on my upcoming pacific coast tour.  Definitely not something you can rely on in remote rural areas though.

Subway has been adding tons of new locations, often in gas station/convenience stores (they recently surpassed McDonald's for number of locations). We found them great for bike touring since the price is cheap and you get to load up on all the veggies you want.

[Kittery Rider]

I tried to reply with a quote but it is a pain.  I'll have to change my thought process to real food while on a bike.  I'm used to being 3 days away from a phone signal, much less a subway.  All part of the fun of the new experience of me of taking up touring.  All good info thanks.

[nomad]

If I go with isobutane I usually take both unless I am absolutely sure I will have enough fuel.  I have been disappointed with the lack of available fuel on two different tours where I expected to buy cartridges, but went long distances without seeing any despite checking just about every possible source along the way.

Maybe naive, but aren't there cooking stoves that work on regular unleaded gasoline?  It sounds like a nasty idea but surely you could keep the smoke out of the food.

[Westinghouse]

You can cook if you want to. Some say it is not necessary to bring cooking gear on a long bicycle tour, and I have found that to absolutely be the case. I have crossed the USA several times by bicycle. I cooked all the way across only once. Cooking gear may be necessary for back country hiking or the Appalachian Trail. As for cross-country cycling, you can leave those extra pounds at home. No need to worry.

[Kittery Rider]

If I go with isobutane I usually take both unless I am absolutely sure I will have enough fuel.  I have been disappointed with the lack of available fuel on two different tours where I expected to buy cartridges, but went long distances without seeing any despite checking just about every possible source along the way.

Maybe naive, but aren't there cooking stoves that work on regular unleaded gasoline?  It sounds like a nasty idea but surely you could keep the smoke out of the food.

they make multi fuel stoves, but I would not consider gas for it, for obvious reasons.  they will burn white gas, kerosene, alcohol etc...  Used for traveling all over where you can get any fuel easily

[staehpj1]

they make multi fuel stoves, but I would not consider gas for it, for obvious reasons.  they will burn white gas, kerosene, alcohol etc...  Used for traveling all over where you can get any fuel easily

Are you sure?  Most I have seen do not list alcohol as an option.

[Kittery Rider]

now that you mention it, not sure if multi fuels burn alchy or not.  They burn just about everything else.

[paddleboy17]

I always took multifuel to mean variations in the petroleum family:  white gas, gas, kerosine, mineral spirits, diesel, etc.

Trangia does market a unit that plops in place of the venerable alcohol stove, and that unit burns unleaded gas and other petroleum fuels.  This is called a Trangia MultiFuel X2. 

http://www.trangia.se/english/2941.news_from_trangia.html

As far as I know, there is no stove that will burn acohol or gas.  The two fuels just work differently, so do not interchange them.

[Kittery Rider]

True dat.  Gas scares the poop out of me.  Canisters rock.  Alchy's are slow to boil. Can't stand the wait.  Resturants are nice too.

[Spokey]

My whisperlite says it burns white gas, unleaded gas, kerosene, and diesel.  You need to swap a jet for the latter two.

But that's really 3 as far as I can tell.  What is the difference between white gas and unleaded?  We called unleaded gas white gas many years before there was a whisper lite. 

My brother and I each carry a fuel bottle in the third water bottle cage.  When one runs out we hit the nearest gas station and fill 'er up.  Works for us.

That being said, we are heading for Key West and are not taking cooking stuff this time.  We'll be camping but plan getting up and riding say 5 miles for breakfast and eating either before or near camp.  Leaving from NJ so I don't expect to be away from civilization.  We're going to carry peanut butter and bread for emergency use.  Knowing us, it might require occasional replenishing even without emergencies.

[nomad]

Knowing us, it might require occasional replenishing even without emergencies.

As for diamond from coal, a certain amount of compression transforms a pb&j into a breakfast bar . . . imho.

[Spokey]

Maybe PB&J.  I like PB & cheese myself.  Might try to carry some of that plastic american cheese and see if it lasts. Or maybe buy one of those cheese in a can thing.

[staehpj1]

Maybe PB&J.  I like PB & cheese myself.  Might try to carry some of that plastic american cheese and see if it lasts. Or maybe buy one of those cheese in a can thing.

Hard cheeses hold up fine.  If it is really hot they can get kind of nasty looking, but remain edible