ccrank0cog

I've been hibernating a little of late! A combination of a wet and wild Irish Winter/ Spring, laziness and dodgy knees has restricted my time on the bike lately. Saying that i did manage to go for a long spin through rolling hills and valleys recently here in Ireland where i was able to avail of a bountiful supply of yummy bilberries!

http://crankandcog.wordpress.com

Do any of you have regional roadside foraging snacks worthy of a hungry cyclist?!

fietsbob 

Freeganisim. Includes back shopping for un sold pizzas discarded at closing time.

FBinNY 

MY favorite is wild raspberries which I can spot at 100 yards.

prathmann

This time of year here there are frequently blackberry bushes along the roadside as well as trees with minature plums. But my best roadside food find was less natural.

It was during the winter in New Jersey and I had been looking forward to stopping at a pizza place on my way home from a club ride. Unfortunately it had gone out of business and there weren't any other restaurants or stores in the vicinity. I was really dragging with bonk setting in and dreading the remaining 20 miles or so left to go. Then I spotted a snack-size pack of Fritos lying on the snow by the side of the road and quickly gobbled them down. Went another mile and there's another pack - and then another about a quarter mile farther. By the time I got home my stomach was full and so were my jacket pockets. Still don't really understand what happened. Never found more than a single pack in one spot and they were all just off the edge of the road shoulder, spread out fairly evenly every quarter to half mile apart.

GravelMN

Some of the trails around here have wild raspberries and/or blueberries. There are even a few wild plums and apricots but they are pretty tart.

jkrjhn

Stinging nettle, fresh greens packed with healthy goodness. Just cook for a few short minutes to get rid of stinging qualities. Best part is, nobody ever gets mad at you for picking it!

indyfabz

If you are in Montana and hit a deer, moose or elk, you can salvage the road kill if you have a license:


More than 800 roadkill salvage permits issued in first year | Outdoors | billingsgazette.com


Numerous other states have road kill laws.

essiemyra

Apple trees in the fall I have seen one guy we were riding with help himself at.

cb400bill

I had some roadside mulberries just last evening.

pdlamb

How fast do you have to be going on a bike to kill a moose? Does wearing a helmet help?

10 Wheels

Fresh kill from a truck.



I now carry a sharp knife with me.

indyfabz

Never seen a helmet large enough to fit a moose.

corrado33

OOOO fun question.

So, Moose can survive hits from and suvs. Moose survives incredible collision with SUV | fox13now.com

I'd say that SUV was probably going 20 MPH when it hit the moose? The car didn't come to a stop, but the moose certainly flew up into the air pretty quickly. Let's make a few assumptions.

F=ma The moose (parts of it) accelerated from 0 (in the direction of the car) to 20 mph in... a 10th of a second maybe 2 tenths? Average mass of an adult bull moose is 450 kg. Let's say 3/4 of the moose was accelerated that quickly, so That's 338 kg. So F=338(32kph/0.2s) With unit conversions, we get 15022 - 30044 N depending on the impulse.

An average cyclist weighs (with bike) ~ 85 kgs? On the high side? So if we need to impart MORE than 30000 N to KILL a moose. Then 30000<85*a. a > 353 m/s^2. Let's say we impart that energy over a more reasonable timeframe of 4 tenths of a second, and the cyclists comes to a complete stop. Then, speed before the crash would be... 353m/s^2 * .4s =141.2 m/s = 508 kph = 315 mph. So you'd need to travel greater than 508 kph to kill a moose on a bike.

I don't think a helmet would survive the impact.

BigAura

True. I know that cause human-guys nicknamed Moose have trouble finding large enough helmets

wished

Wow, that's a lot of math, but good to know what speed I need to achieve to go moose hunting!

DropBarFan

In Wash DC area we get free mulberries (prolific trees), blackberries, grape leaves etc along the bike paths/roads but they'd be hard to spot for most bike tourists. Dogs & cats love snacking on grass shoots, perhaps good for humans too in clean areas? Young dandelion leaves were tasty in a salad. I tried a raw acorn, slightly bitter but surely milder after cooking.

thumpism 

While cycling on the Blue Ridge Parkway recently I got to try wild asparagus. Tasty.


Years ago in northern Italy I spent about an hour climbing around in a roadside fig tree gobbling every ripe one I could reach.


Aside from those two instances I don't usually avail myself of roadside nuts and berries.

sknhgy 

You could have just cut out the tongue like the old buffalo hunters did.

Persimmons and paw paws will be coming on soon. Yum.

bikemig 

During WWII, many people in Europe were starving and they turned to stinging nettles for food.

antokelly

i know you had nothing to do with the killing of that beautiful animal, but give me a break man delete that photo .

10 Wheels

I call that pic 5,000 Big Macs.

antokelly

i suppose ,but just doesn't look cool.
no offence to your good self but it looks like a real trophy hunters photo.

10 Wheels

Visit a meat packing plant sometime.

antokelly

no thanks i'll pass on that.

thumpism 

As long as it's fresh.


Many years ago an Air Force buddy and I would ride our bikes around the base perimeter road in the evenings. On one outing we smelled something that turned out to be a find much like your own, but much less fresh than yours. I still remember my buddy's remark as we (briefly) stood downwind from it, "It's not just dead, it's big and dead."