stardognine

OK, we all know about how we need lots of fruits & veggies, in normal life, but what about on the road? Do you make sure you get your fruits & veggies, even if it means extra riding? I sure do, even if I'm getting lots of fruit juices from beverages. I just start craving oranges or something.
Anyways, I made a pretty good haul today, on plums. Got a couple there big as large apples. 😁 Oh yeah, there are grapes, too.
I know, not a super exciting thread, but it'll distract our minds a little, maybe. 😉 So who has the best-looking fruit? Please post your current fruit, not last summer's leftover watermelon. 🤪😁😉

staehpj1

Nope, I seldom have much fruit to have pictures of since I am not inclined to carry much food. In an effort to keep the load light, I generally buy only what I am ready to eat, so most often it is one piece or serving at a time. When I do need to carry enough for longer periods in the back country, really rural town-less areas, or otherwise off the grid it is likely to be dried or even freeze dried.

There have been exceptions, like when fresh fruit had been scarce for a while and we ran across a produce stand with great local stuff, but even then, while we did stock up a little I didn't take pictures.

TimothyH

A food dehydrator comes in handy.

Oranges, grapes, tomatoes and zucchini.



Zuchini and tomato get added to couscous for dinner. Oranges and raisins get added to oatmeal in the morning.

Beans dry nicely for added protein. Bananas and pears turn out sticky and not very palatable.


-Tim-

staehpj1

I have often thought of doing that for backpacking. I really should get started on it. For bike touring I carry as little food as possible preferring to buy daily and even close to meal time when I can, so I am not likely to find it very useful there other than maybe taking a little at the beginning of a tour.

stardognine

That's a good idea too, obviously, but then you need even more WATER. 😉 I guess I was trying to imply, that I try to use fruits, as a source of water (juices). Trying to cut down on the water you have to carry, seems smart, but this is really just different heavy stuff, I guess. 🤔🙄😉

TimothyH

Not carrying 10 lb food sounds nice.

I'm bikepacking and prefer not to go near stores, or people for that matter. Quiet and solitude are the goals although I wouldn't turn down a random bakery around the fourth day.


I don't know.

Not trying to challenge and I'm open to correction by someone who knows more than I but I don't think fruits are particularly good for hydration.

As a very practical matter, the fruits and veggies which go into meals don't require significantly more water than the meal they enhance. I'm not adding any extra water to couscous or oatmeal and the fruits and veggies re-hydrate nicely.

Again, I'm bikepacking and filtering my own water. Creeks and streams are abundant in the mountains of the Southeast and filtering two liters several times each day isn't uncommon.

-Tim-

TimothyH

And staying on topic, I rode through an apple orchard a few weeks ago.




-Tim-

stardognine

There ya go, still on the tree is pretty darn fresh. 😁
I guess I should have mentioned, I'm in Arizona, so water management is a very real thing here. 🙂 I probably just need to shut up & carry more water. Or fruit. 😁😉

staehpj1

Sounds nice. Most of my backcountry trips these days are backpacking, but I do have some backcountry bikepacking trips on the bucket list and have done a little of that already. I used to do some wilderness canoe camping as well.

For most of my on road bike touring, meeting the native folks, various transplants, and fellow roaming misfits is often a pretty big part of what my tours are about. Also sampling the various local cuisine is as well.

indyfabz

Go ahead; bite the big apple.

stardognine

My grandfather used to eat the core, too. 😲😁 I've tried a few, can take them or leave them.

staehpj1

Yeah, I've been known to do that myself. If I do I start eating from the bottom rather than eating the core last.

Mountain Mitch

It was easy getting enough fruit while riding the Shiminami-Kaido in Japan. In fact my son was the designated fruit carrier since he had a basket
Great Ryokan with Yuzu baths!


The owner of this orangery was a former Panasonic bike mechanic and fixed a flat for one of our group.

veganbikes

Try adding some golden raisins in your couscous. They add a touch of sweetness and really elevate dishes like that. I put it in stuffed peppers and it is always tasty.

I once was on a tour and had these delicious juicy peaches from a roadside stand. I don't know if they were exceptional peaches or if I was knackered after a day of riding in the boiling sun fully loaded and anything like that would have been excellent but I enjoyed them.

TimothyH

I eat the core. Why not?

Banana peels on the other hand - take my word for it. Don't try them.

I once swallowed a peach pit by accident. You will certainly ask so, no, I didn't notice when it passed. Or maybe its still tuck down there somewhere?

Avocados are good. The southern way is with balsamic vinegarette though I've heard lemon juice is good to. Haven't figured out how to do this on a bikepacking trip.

Ronald Reagan was asked about improving the nutrition of school lunches. His response was, "I hereby declare ketchup a vegetable." So you could swing into McD's and get a few packets.

Anyway, I'm heading out next week and getting my food together. Raisins weren't done when I took this photo but the zuchini was perfect at this point.




Meals are prepped with other assorted dried veggies - cherry tomatoes and such...



It is getting to be the season for Muscadine grapes here in the south. They grow wild along the sides of the road and I'm hoping to come across some.


-Tim-

TimothyH

This is great. Thank you!


-Tim-

saddlesores

fruit??? it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world!

stardognine

A most excellent contribution to this thread, thanks. 😁
Yeah, it's definitely grape season, here near California (next door to Arizona). I've had 4 types of grapes in the last month or so, and I'm perfectly willing to try more. 😁 They have some black grapes, that are way oblong, compared to normal, that I've seen but not sampled yet. 🤔

indyfabz

So did my dad.

stevepusser

No wild fruit? I love eating blackberries during rest stops when they're in season.

BigAura

Blueberry Pancakes on my Blueridge Parkway tour

BigAura

Although not touring, I found (and ate-->duh!) wild blueberries while backpacking this summer.





Wild Blueberries - Late-July 2019 -Backpacking - Harriman State Park, NY:

staehpj1

I have often picked raspberries, wineberries, blackberries, or blueberries on tour and when backpacking, but I have no pictures handy.

stardognine

Wild or domesticated, we shall not discriminate. 😁
I should know better, but I usually eat fruit right there, without washing it first. 🤭 And sometimes, I take some for later & wash it. 🤔😉

Cougrrcj

^^ What he said.^^

Fortunately, I ride in the lower Great Lakes area, and am never too far from a roadside produce stand in our too-short riding season.

The one time I went on an extended three-week 'tour', it was in mid August and roadside stands were aplenty. Generally, I had a couple of packets of dry instant oatmeal in the morning, washed down with some water and maybe an apple or whatever I had left from the day before. Then grazed at roadside stands during the day. My evening meal was McDs, Burger King or whatever greasy-spoon diner for a couple of regular burgers, small fries and a shake (and maybe an apple pie), all for under two bucks (this was 1979 )

My bike only carried ONE water bottle in a handlebar mount (no braze-on mounts in those days), so I refilled when/where I could. Yeah, I rode 100-miles/day like that, and yet somehow I survived...