Tag: colorado

It’s always good to have one of your best training rides of the year, 5 weeks AFTER your big race. Hmmm. Compared to the sufferfest (at least for me) of Capulin Volcano 300k last week, Jamestown 200k was an unintimidating ride. I think I had more feet of elevation gain in two Cyclocross races on Saturday, than the entire 200k on Sunday. It was not the route, but my effort that made it good training. The ride up Lefthand Canyon to Jamestown is a nice gradual climb. The only bad part about that is that when you turn around it’s not a very fast descent. The route was on some of my favorite roads and we had nearly perfect weather.

Unusually for a Colorado brevet, only one control was at a convenience store. My vegan chow for the ride included 4 scoops of Unflavored (I say, marshmallow flavored) Perpetuem, an Eggless Salad sandwich on pumpernickel, a Cherry Pretzel ProBar, and a Lemon Lara Bar.

I was pretty hungry when we arrived at the convenience store at mile 110, and for the first time in my brevet-riding career, I’d eaten all the food I’d brought a few hours before. I didn’t find any of my usual choices so I ended up getting regular Coke. It seemed to give me a headache, but there were only 15 miles to go.

These are some vegan foods I can frequently find at convenience stores where I ride. There’s a longer list of common foods that are vegan on PETA’s website.

• Teddy Grahams
• Chick-o-stix
• Clif Bars
• Nutter Butters
• Twizzlers
• Fritos
• potato chips
• pretzels

My preferred convenience store beverages during long rides are Pepsi Throwback, Mtn Dew Throwback, Peace Tea, or Lipton Pure Leaf Tea. All of those have cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Peace Tea wins over Lipton if both are available because it’s about half the price and the tall can is just the right size to fill my tall bottle.

After the ride I ate some black beans that I’d made at home and brought with me, and a little later, Dr. McDougall’s Chunky Tomato Soup. For some reason, I often crave that particular soup or Bubbies Sauerkraut after a brevet.