Second breakfast

There is a phenomenon seemingly specific to touring cyclists. The concept of second breakfast is one that I originally thought exclusively found in a group populated by teenagers. As I read through trip journals, I find second breakfasts appearing frequently. Second lunch does not seem to exist, but maybe that is because second breakfast might be first lunch. And second dinner? I remember on one of our trips that for some dinner was basically a dine-around. It started at one end of the town and swept through the streets. The proprietors of the eating establishments had to be very happy people when the eating machine part of our entourage arrived.

One time in New Zealand, we encountered a January snowstorm, which was definitely neither in the forecast or typically for the South Island. Sopping wet and freezing, we pulled into the first tearoom on the route and tried to dry off. We scattered our wet clothes near the fireplace that was putting out some very nice heat. The group spent much money on food from that tearoom and seriously decimated the food supply there. You might think that providing that tearoom with more income in a few hours than they usually made in a week would make them happy. That was not the case. A customer who had driven up in a nice warm and dry vehicle complained that we were hogging the area by the fireplace. We were asked to leave.
Fortunately the snow had subsided, but it was still rather cool for a summer day. We made it to a warm destination in a very interesting motorcamp in Arrowtown.

Traveling solo causes a few problems in the food department. With a group, it is easy to disperse food and utensils throughout the group. Traveling solo presents its own problem mainly that the soloist carries his or her own food. PB&J is a popular lunch food for our groups. It packs well and doesn’t go bad. What does not pack well is the bread to make the sandwiches. Not thinking about the lifespan of bread, I purchased a loaf for my own sandwiches. It really wasn’t that hard to pack the bread, but I quickly realized that I could never make enough sandwiches before the loaf of bread got nasty. I resorted to buying bread by the piece at hostels or using a bun or roll that I could buy in small quantities from the bakery.

Lunch can happen anywhere.

On the upcoming trip we plan on doing the pb&j thing and as we always have, make the sandwiches the night before. It may seem a bit anal, but it is so much easier to make a sandwich when there is a table, desk or other flat surface available to lay out the bread and make a proper sandwich. We often stop at lunch in a shady spot alongside the road. These spots often don’t have tables or even anyplace to sit other than the ground. Being able to grab a pre-made sandwich from a pack is quick and easy. No need to worry about a clean surface, cleaning the knife or waiting for the sandwich. Instant gratification.

We have cooked evening meals when we went the hostel route. We don’t plan on using hostels on this upcoming trip. On days when we will be camping and not be near any restaurants or grocery stores, we plan to switch dinner and lunch. We know that many people get a thrill out of cooking their dinner in camp. We can survive on cold food for dinner on those desolate days.
There’s nothing like a nice pb&j accompanied by other non-cooked food. The real consideration is that we won’t need to carry a stove, pots and pans and the kitchen sink.