How do you like your eggs in the morning?

The storm had finally passed and the rain had stopped, we arose from our tent cold and starving hungry.

Luckily we had our supplies... freeze dried steak and eggs mmmm! Well, AlpineAire Foods ranch omlette with beef to be precise.

To say I was looking forward to it was a vast overstatement, but I was so hungry I was starting to consider gnawing on Dave's arm, so I was open to pretty much anything.

It's pretty simple to make, you just add a few cups of cold water, give it a stir. After waiting a few minutes you just treat it like raw egg.

So on the stove it went...

Yes this is it. Our camp kitchen for 6 weeks! Well to be fair, it's only a little smaller than the kitchen in our flat is Islington - and I was able to cook a roast dinner in that baby.

Eggs. Beef. Done.

 

I do have to hand it to the Alpine guys, they know what they're doing, as it actually tasted pretty good. We served this delicious delight with dry bagels as I forgot the spread.

The smell even attracted one of the locals....

We will be cycling the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment below and sharing our blog.

Loving my new handle bar bag!

When we head out on tour we will use our handle bar bags to keep our maps and important documents, but for now it has turned into my goodie bag. 



Inside you will find my Cliff Energy bars, lip balm, tissue and... gummy bears.

Gummy bears are my new favourite, I am literally stuffing them in my mouth at every traffic light. I have never been a sweet person, but something has changed and I keep craving sweets. I'm literally salivating every time I get to the scoop section in Save On Foods and I have to get some sweets.

I also noticed a massive difference on my ride eating these so I'm not going to stop.

Yum yum yum.




We will be cycling the Pacific Coast from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment below and sharing our blog.  

Are we eating enough on our training rides?

Eating on rides, I now know from experience, can have a real impact on your performance and recovery.

Although I’m still not totally sure how much I need. I guess a lot of it is trial and error and also listening to your body and how it feels. But if you feel hungry or thirsty on a ride - you’ve left it too late. 

We have been learning so much over the last few weeks about nutrition and fitness, it's all great, but sometimes all this new information does get a bit overwhelming and hard to have confidence you’re doing it right!

I found some really great tips from www.bicycling.com about what you should eat on different length rides, so I thought I would share:

Short Rides

RIDE DURATION: 1 hour or less

PRIMARY CONCERN: Fluid replenishment 

WHAT TO DRINK: Plain water

WHAT TO EAT: Most people start with enough stored energy for a 60-minute workout, but carry 1 PowerBar Gel, which has 27 grams of carbs and 200mg sodium, just in case

BONUS TIP: For optimal recovery, eat a full meal within an hour of finishing an intense workout.

We do all of these things so thumbs up there!!

Medium-Length Rides

RIDE DURATION: 1 to 3 hours

PRIMARY CONCERN: Carbohydrate replenishment

WHAT TO DRINK: 1 bottle water and 1 bottle sports drink per hour, at least

WHAT TO EAT: 30-60g of carb per hour from bars, gels and sports drinks--up to 80g if you're consuming glucose and fructose together

BONUS TIP: Don't dilute the sports drinks--your body absorbs them most efficiently at their correct concentrations.

Hmm Dave and I share a bar between us on our longer rides and eat my new favourite Sharkies, but by the looks of this, we’re not getting enough.

We will have to up the intake and see if it improves our next ride. If the last 10 miles of our 30 mile Sunday ride is anything to go by, I don’t think I can get much worst – ha.

I guess we're going to have to start drinking energy drinks... blurgh.

Longer Rides

RIDE DURATION: 3 hours or more

PRIMARY CONCERN: Carbohydrate and electrolyte replenishment; food boredom

WHAT TO DRINK: 1 bottle water and 1 bottle sports drink per hour, at least

WHAT TO EAT: 30-60g of carbs per hour, total. Digestion can get harder as rides get longer, so eat more solids at the beginning of the ride, and rely on gels for quick energy in the last third of the ride.

BONUS TIP: Supplement bars and gels with carb-rich, low-protein, moderate-fat "real" foods. Don't worry about specific amounts of protein or fat; just eat what tastes good so you keep eating.

To be honest we haven’t really go there yet, but great tips for when we do. I now know that I’m not drinking enough, but seriously I’m going to have to stop and pee every 15 minutes if this is anything to go by…

Read more at: http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/eat-light-your-bike?cm_mmc=BicyclingNL-_-906894-_-05082012-_-eat_light_on_your_bike

We will be cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment and sharing our blog.

Training food recipes: Home fries and eggs - skillet style.

We've been trying out a lot of new food for training, high carb, low fat, lots of veggies and eggs! I'm also trying to find things are are quick and easy to make that isn't just pasta or noodles!

I want to share with you some of our yummy training recipes (besides spaghetti bolognese!) - well it wouldn't be a blog of mine, if I didn't talk about food,  now would it?

When we went to Chicago we had this amazing skillet breakfast, with fried potatoes, bacon, cheese and eggs on the top. It was de-e-licious - but not so healthy. I liked the idea and thought I would have a go at making a healthier version.

Ingredients

Eggs - 2 per person (you can go up to three if you're really hungry!!)

Spinach

New potatoes

Red onion roughly chopped

Grated cheese (probably healthier to not have the cheese, but I just love my cheese!!)

Asparagus

Olive oil or spray oil

Seasoning: Salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, chilli flakes, cumin

Chop up the spuds and boil. You're going to fry them, so don't cook them too much or they will turn to mush in the pan. 

Soften the onion in a pan with the oil, when translucent add in the spices. When the spices are mixed through the oil add in the potatoes. Keep your eye on these and keep stirring - you don't want them to burn just brown.

Pan of boiling water, trick to poaching eggs (courtesy of mama Pullen) is vinegar. No need to swirl the water or anything. Pop in the eggs and poach until they are cooked to your liking. 

While the eggs are poaching, saute the asparagus in a dry pan. When the asparagus has started turning bright green (it doesn't take long) remove from heat and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. 

When your potatoes have started browning add in the spinach, stir around to wilt. Remove from heat and add the cheese.

Load up on a plate, surround with the asparagus, and top with the eggs - voilà! 

Really quick and easy to make, healthy home fries and eggs - skillet style. 

Dave likes to top his with hot sauce, but I think it's pretty tasty just as it is!

We will be cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from Vancouver to Tijuana over six weeks starting in August 2012 to raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Please show your support by sponsoring us here, leaving a comment and sharing our blog.