6214

Sorry to be kumbayah, but aren't we all in one big tribe? Isn't the tent big enough in here for slowpokes and spandexers, tents and luxury tours? When this forum is for ALL of us, it represents the 'good internet'? As soon as it is used to sow divisions, it becomes the 'bad internet'. No need to sub-divide and over specialize. Get on with your riding and who cares who passes you. The only thing that should be chaffing your arse is your saddle and not whether some vegan outdid you.

teobesta

I don't look how people expect me to look (for a cyclist or many of the activities i engage in for that matter) or eat what they expect me to it or behave how they expect me to bc they can't see beyond what they've decided people like me should be like.

​​​​it hasn't stopped me from going out and doing what I want to do to the best of my ability.


in some countries I toured with so little I stayed in whatever accommodation was available with bad days translating into a stay in a posh hotel ("we've never had anyone pull up on a bike before" &#128514.

and there have been tours when I was carrying so much stuff, bc camping, that everyone was intent on informing me I was never going to make it - as if they had a better knowledge of what I could and couldn't do. and there are always people who get a kick out of telling me that what I was doing was absurd. "you can take a bus there you know. don't you have any friends. don't you family that cares about you? don't you have better things to do in your life than block our roads. etc etc".


had I paid any attention to what people thought i'd still be here wondering what it'd be like going on a tour in some far off land I've never been. the only thing I wouldn't recommend is touring in a country where people hate you so much that they make your life miserable and you have to fear for your safety all the time. otherwise just go out and you be you. you do you. #yolo

MarcusT

It seems there are friends who have misunderstood my question. I can tell this by the fortune cookie advice some have given
I am not worried about what other cyclists think about me. I am questioning whether my touring performance and enjoyment is affected by certain habits.
I am quite the cynic and am sure that I would not get along with most people beyond talking about the weather, bike tech and the road ahead.
I have nothing against people's dietary habits, their riding regime or even their choice in color schemes, but the fact that some have felt the need to advertise their self discipline makes me wonder if they are convinced it is the right path.
There is always a risk when one posts about inner feelings on a forum. Forums are filled with do-gooders, know-it-alls and trolls. There is a group I failed to recognize before this thread, and that is the "Is-he-talking-about-me?" members
I mean no harm to anyone unless they harm me. I will say Hi to all tourers on the road and offer assistance if the need is there.

The main reason, why I writing this last post is to inform you; that I am not referring to you, anyone you know nor your cycling lifestyle.

teobesta

aha! it'd seem that i did indeed misunderstand what you said. i guess i'm not really sure what you are concerned about bc you have the advantage of having gone on short tours already and having an idea of your abilities and limitations. if anything not having dietary restrictions should make it easier no? i toured alone (asia & australia/tasmania) so what the other ones did or ate had no effect on me whatsoever. i think that's why assumed you cared about what the others thought. i think i'm confused bc you said stuff like

Would I be able to tour with a rider who eats a salad with mineral water while I am pounding back a good cabernet and chewing on a porterhouse?
vs
am sure that I would not get along with most people beyond talking about the weather, bike tech and the road ahead
I am not worried about what other cyclists think about me. I am questioning whether my touring performance and enjoyment is affected by certain habits.

but if it's of any help or value to you, this is how it went down for me
i had a few concerns before i went off on my first tour: one was can i do it and the other was am i fit enough. i just went off to do a two-month tour, alone, in malaysia and it was my very first tour. because i was used to travelling & living alone, the being on my own part was not an issue. in fact, it was meant to be the best part. not dealing with public transport and locking myself up in my room once i got to my destination meant, i thought, all the time of the world to be on my own. but that people (inclu other cyclists) wanted to talk to me constantly wasn't my favourite part. i could have done without all the attention, esp since too many of the cyclists i met were too competitive for my taste, comparing gear and then giving me unsolicited advice about what i should and should not do and how and when. otherwise the brief hellos and the exchanging some info was very useful and even quite pleasant if i needed a break.

i never made any videos to post on youtube, just for my own memories and maybe just for the friends and family who asked for them. but i did watch a few and mostly i read quite a bit when doing research about it. what they had to say seemed intimidating at first but it was meeting a dutch lady in her late 60s (i think) travelling on her own in laos that had made me feel like it was possible after all. i mean she could barely walk, the tips she gave me then was the most important part, the seed planted. when i went off, i really didn't find that i had to do things in any of the ways that the authors of books/blogs/etc thought was the proper or best way. i just used the info i found and adapted it to my needs and once the initial concerns dissipated, it felt like the obstacles seemed a lot bigger in my head than they were in reality. my quirkiness and the little habits i had didn't affect me any more than when at home. i just didn't know if circumstances outside my control would make me feel inadequate or like i shouldn't be out there bc i couldn't go home at the end of the day and just shut out the world.

in the end, my only point of reference was myself. where i was at in life and what i wanted to achieve. could i outdo myself? this was my challenge. i had a plan and i wanted to execute it. what others did or how they did it, if they got more out of it than i did bc of their habits, etc, none of this was of any importance to me. how my actions reflected on other cyclists was none of my concern. are we a monolith?! it didn't matter who knew about it either. i did it for myself. i wanted to travel but wanted to do it on the bike instead of public transport. i love riding and i thought why not combine the 2. the riding part wasn't the most important part. i was open to changes. if i liked a place i was i'd just stay an extra day and if i didn't i'd just leave bc my bike gave me the freedom to do that. i'd take the train or the bus or whatever other means necessary if i were to run out of time to catch my plane back. in terms of fitness, as sb put it to me then, if you're not fit enough, you will get fit in the process. just go at your pace. it was what happened and i was so happy i'd made the 2 months that there was no way it wasn't going to be my only one.

anyway if this was of no value to you, just ignore it. this is my first reply in forever, just responding spontaneously on my way to work bc your post caught my eye when looking at the new digest thing they've been sending me. best of luck.

J.Higgins 

Agreed. I've killed a lot of brain cells in Naples and Cagliari with cabernet. And for those of you who like beer, Peroni is pretty tasty.

Happy Feet

I guess I was confused too because if one was worried about whether their habits would effect their performance I thought the title would be: "Am I not capable" rather than "Am I not worthy".

I'm also probably still confused because for a clarification that one was not referring to others in that last post you did nothing but still talk about others. You claim the intent of your posts to be one thing, but the body of text within them does another. Weird eh?

This is a public discussion forum. People talk about what they do. With some they find common bonds, with others not so much. I still find I can learn from most if I appreciate the differences.

My favorite personal story for that happening here is about a member who hasn't been around for a while called Max the Cyclist. He used to talk about his adventures exploring the world of bike packing which I had never heard of but he was so enthusiastic that I eventually bought a frame bag and HB roll to see what all the fuss was about. I liked it! Without listening to him with an open mind I might never have tried that avenue and consequently, missed an interesting aspect of cycling.

indyfabz

I college I lived in a dorm with one of the Peroni family.

Cycle Tourist

I don't see any touring cyclist as being too main stream so do whatever that makes you happy. I drag a tent, a stove and other comfort stuff along but I'd skip the beer and go a little more carbo oriented. An all you can eat pancake stop in the morning puts me in a good mood.🤗 Solo touring indicates a rather independent streak so "don't worry about it"..😕

jefnvk

Are you happy with your performance? If so, then no. If not, then maybe. There is no universal "performance" metric. Some people here prefer to do 100 miles a day. I prefer to not pass any interesting looking local bar. Our performance metrics are going to be radically different.

I'm incredibly certain they think it is the right path. It may indeed be the right path, FOR THEM. For you, you need to determine your own "right path".

To expand on above, there are a few people on here I tend to listen to more than others. Not because the others offer bad advice, quite the contrary, most of the advice here is really good. The difference is my goals align more with certain people than others, and applying advice and performance metrics that are suited for goals completely different to my own is not necessarily productive.

Stadjer

Yes, but it is a bit odd. It's not a common cut in the food fanatic countries because when the more fatty side of the bone is done the leaner tenderloin part is a bit over. So they probably have special cows or a special technique.

djb

as a quick mention, do note folks that this fellow is from Italy, so English may not be his first language, and if not, his written English is pretty good, but some wording and stuff doesnt come as clearly when writing in another language.
I experience this all the time personally when I write, or even speak, in French--and as someone who lives in a very French/English/a ton of other languages people environment, I certainly take this into account when reading/listening to someone and give some slack.

TimothyH

I don't know.

Lots of people advising the OP to live his own life, do whatever makes him happy, etc. Sure, that's fine, but the OP admits that he is overweight and does more than just hint at overindulgence in red meat and alcohol.

Lets be honest. Drinking beer and eating steak after every ride isn't the healthiest lifestyle choice. People are free to live any way they want but a little austerity might be good.

I need to cut down on bagels myself. A prime rib does sound good though.


-Tim-

3speed

djb

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that until you try a REAL bagel, ie a Montreal, baked over a wood stove , bagel (not just bready stuff in the shape of a bagel) then you havent really had a bagel ;-)

oops, I'm being pius aint I?

really though, if you like bagels, the bagels here are that old european tradition of bagels, the dough is diff, so it isnt "doughy", but a compact, dense type of doh, and the taste is , well unique. No way of course to describe them properly, you'd have to try them.
Really darn good, especially when you pick up a bag directly from the bagel shop where you are feet from the guys rolling the dough, dipping them in that secret honey water solution, plopping them into the seeds, laying them on the 8 foot long plank, and putting them into the log oven, which is open, so you can see them baking.....then they flip them over after a certain time to do the other side, then pull the plank out and in one motion flip all the cooked ones into a giant tray, from which the workers will fill your bag with a dozen or whatever.......Ive taken photos before at places, but dont have them at hand.
googlize it if interested.

boy, that got off track didnt it???

willibrord

Bagels have a lot of gluten. Worse for you than red meat.

axolotl

Getting this thread off track is a good thing.

I've had Montreal bagels. A big disappointment. The texture is good, but bagels are not supposed to be sweet. Nowhere else are bagels routinely sweet the way they are in Montreal.

axolotl

Nonsense. Most people have absolutely no need to avoid gluten.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866307/

djb

this is great, its now a bagel thread. ha.
funny, I cant say that the ones we get are "sweet", but then maybe Im so used to them that I dont taste the taste. Anyway, we dont have them that often, but I did eat two for lunch the other day with cream cheese, so I got all glutened up good for my ride home later, it probably was -7c so I could use the gluten (ok, the carbs....)

jefnvk

Plain bagels with peanut butter or nutella are one of my camping/touring go-to breakfast items.

3speed

J.Higgins 

NYC bagels are king.

Red meat is power.

Beer is good food.

As long as your lifestyle is active and you get plenty of aerobic exercise, all of these things can be eaten without care.

Happy Feet

I think in life we need to think about what our goals are, how important they really are, and what we are willing to do to achieve them.

Almost all my goals and choices are derived for intrinsic reasons ie. they mean something to me and rather than fads tend to span decades. I dislike direct competition but do really like to challenge myself so I gravitate towards solo endurance activities as an outlet. This is somewhat akin to a lifestyle as the planning, preparation, training and execution form a framework for my day to day activities - I am usually working towards something. I chose this format for my life many years ago because, as well as giving me a feeling of personal accomplishment, it's a good template for maintaining general physical and mental health (due to exercise, diet, and self esteem). One might also say it fills a spiritual niche as I find it refreshing to commune with the natural world on a regular basis.

If someone wants to improve their performance I am all ears and will offer what small lessons I have learned. Perhaps that comes off as fortune cookie advice to some IDK but it is the main value of the forum I believe.

TimothyH

Yours sound good!

We have two guys from New Jersey who set up shop here in the Atlanta suburbs.

Art's Bagels & More ? Authentic New York Style Boil/Bake Bagels

You can't get a better bagel anywhere. Not NYC nor Israel. They are authentic, boiled then baked on cedar planks.

People come from all over Atlanta on Fridays to get bagels for shabbat.


Are they sweet?

Northerners do that to corn bread. Too sweet. It is really corn cake.

Tea on the other hand. Southerners have ways to get more sugar into tea than should be possible. It's like syrup sometimes.


-Tim-

axolotl

Are they sweet? They're not sweet like a piece of cake, but Montreal bagels do have a sweetness which is not found in bagels from virtually everywhere else. djb wrote "dipping them in that secret honey water solution" before they're cooked. Traditionally, bagels were boiled in potato water (water in which potatoes had been cooked) before baking, not boiled in a sweetened bath. BTW, don't seek out bagels in Israel. They're not a "thing" there. Do seek out falafel, however. Also, observant Jews eat challah (an egg bread that's usually braided) for shabbat dinner, not bagels. Saturday & Sunday mornings are bagel time, however. I've had excellent bagels in a lot of places, including NYC, DC, SF Bay Area, and Toronto. (There's an eternal debate between Toronto & Montreal about which city makes the best bagels. Toronto bagels are like American bagels and are good.). And finally, blueberry bagels are an abomination!

Another food from Jewish Montreal is smoked meat. I've seen it elsewhere in Canada (even in Vancouver), but I think it's shipped in from Montreal. It's virtually unknown in the USA. I'm not a big meat lover, but smoked meat is really good. And then there's poutine.....

boomhauer

Le Roi du Smoked Meat - Deli

its been at least 10 years since I've been there but I've never forgotten this place.