Hi Karen that’s a great post and exactly the type of cycle tour / travel context I’ve been wondering if others have experienced. Congratulations on being so successful with your long term nutrition modification. What an amazing change which has been sustainable. 

My guess is that you will also succeed in sustaining your dietary balance in Africa, or just about anywhere, because you have the knowledge and wherewithal to apply in different situations. You may even discover new cuisines which are compatible with a keto diet. Bean and pulse based dishes for example. 

You mention gas station food. Now I’m more alert and alarmed about the harm that ultra processed ‘foods’ do to our digestive tract and overall health, I look more closely at the availability of brands in grocery stores, including gas stations.  

There’s almost nothing which I’d willingly eat from those retail outlets. Some have roast unsalted nuts, but almost everything else is ultra processed, over packaged and laced with emulsifiers, preservatives and excess sugar, salt and synthetic flavours. 

All the best for your African travels.

Mark high calorie iced milk coffee has rescued me a few times mid-ride when I’ve felt calorie depleted. It’s not a drink I have when not cycle touring, but it’s certainly good for a quick hit of energy. Fortunately I’m very tolerant to lactose so milk drinks agree with me.

Since reading Michael Mosley’s books I’ve been trying more fermented milk drinks. Kefir especially. It supposedly helps gut microbial health. 

During our tour in 2018 when we completed our 90 days in the Schengen zone and were heading to Taiwan, I realized I had to start eating healthier food instead of lots of pastries and rich food since my clothes were getting too tight.  Fortunately, it was easier to eat healthy food in Taiwan.  Now I mostly eat fish and seafood, vegetables and salads.  I definitely still eat healthy bread and carbs but in moderation.  I definitely steer away from fatty foods.   Also, I eat a lot of prunes, for multiple reasons. 

Rachael from experience there are only two countries I’d nominate as places which made me feel healthier just by being there. Japan and Taiwan. There’s something about the food and culture which is restorative. I suspect South Korea would have had a similar affect if I’d had more time there. Rural Vietnam also. 

I can’t say the same about India, the USA, Britain, Indonesia and quite a few other countries. Although they are wonderful places for other reasons, I didn’t find any of them to be particularly health inducing places to travel. Good nutrition isn’t the norm there.

The same cycle touring in my own country. It’s not easy to find nutritious, fresh food. It has to be searched for.

We’ve done amazingly well with the food in Great Britain but we seek out restaurants with grilled fish, salads and vegetables.  

Hi Graham, 

Like you, I live in Australia where it can be many kilometres between water and resupply points, depending on your route; obvioulsly, the more remote your route, the more critical your nutrition choices. 

Not unlike Michael Mosley, we cyclists tend to do nutrition experiments on ourselves. One of the most severe self experiments I did was on a ride from Brisbane/Alice Springs/Perth on the back roads. I'd fill my panniers with the most nutritional food I could find in the larger population centres and try to supplement it with what I could find in outback towns and settlements. Pub meals were a fantastic source of nutrition and really made a difference in how I felt and performed. Major supermarkets in the larger population centres were also good value. Outback settlements were pretty dire and the lack of healthy food choices took its toll on my body. 

The stretch from Uluru to Laverton in Western Australia was particularly hard; there just isn't much out there in the way of nutritional food choices. You basically had no choice but to eat what you found as you rode. 

The last stretch from Warburton to Laverton was brutal, especially the stretch from Cosmo Newberry to Laverton. I was hoping to resupply in Cosmo Newberry, but the shop was closed because it was a long weekend holiday. But luckily, I could rewater there. I rode from Cosmo Newberry to Laverton without much in the way of food except for some emergency two minute  noodles and candy bars for nutrition. The last day into Laverton my bladder was peeing out water every 10 minutes, I think it was trying to tell me it had had enough and didn't really appreciate a diet of candy bars and gummy bears. Back on a diet of more wholesome food, It took about 3 days for my body to right itself. By the time I made it to Kalgoorlie, both the bike and I needed a major overhaul before we could continue the ride to Perth. 

As a result of that four month self experiment, I found my body could exist on just about any type of food and that good nutritious food had a positive impact on both my mental state and physical performance... and that sugary junk food and candy did it harm.  I started that ride at 76 kg and finished in Perth about 10 kg lighter.  I have no intention of repeating that experiment any time soon. 

PS - The road from Cosmo Newberry to Laverton is still in dreadful shape. They were building the new gold mine out of Cosmo when I rode through and the heavy trucks had cut the dirt track up horribly. Last time I checked, it's still dirt, still being wrecked by the heavy trucks and still dreadful.... 

Victa that’s a great post. Very informative and interesting. Thanks. 

Your point about us experimenting on your with nutrition is an excellent one. I’m certainly going to try to be more selective about what I do and don’t eat on rides now that I’ve read Michael Mosley’s books. For example, I’m now much more aware of the pros of lentils, soybeans, chickpeas and other beans & pulses. And sweet potato. Compared to rice, pasta and potatoes they have more fibre and protein. 

Also olive oil has potential as an excellent cycle touring ‘food’ being high energy and easy to carry. I usually carry a couple of those commercially made dehydrated meals, but they are hardly necessary considering the wide availability of other durable, unprocessed foods such as lentils, beans and dried herbs and spices.

Hi Graham, 

I love the idea od eating legumes while on tour, but I found them impractical. I love how "durable" they are. Dingoes won't go near them, raw or cooked and they last forever down there in the bowels of your pannier. But they also take forever to cook and use up too much precious water and fuel, both of which I had to carefully ration. Pre soaking them helped, but I was often so knackered by the end of a hard day that I ate many a meal of half cooked legumes. 

I often built campfires, but stupidly didn't use them to cook with. I'll never repeat a ride like that again, but let's just say maybe I've learnt something and next time I'll finish my rides early and cook legumes  over a campfire... 

I was going to say the same, that dried legumes take forever to cook. Additionally, here in British Columbia, Canada, you can’t depend on cooking over a fire. Campfires are banned in most of the province for most of the summer pretty well every year now. The reasons might even make the news in your part of the world. 

Hi Jacqui

The same fire restrictions apply here in OZ every summer, almost everywhere, so add that to the list of leguminous difficulties. The ride I'm referring to was across outback Queensland, NT and WA, all remote desert country and in winter. So campfires were possible.