It's all about the food

I've heard cycle touring being described as 'riding your bike between meals' and as my training mileage is starting to ramp up I'm beginning to really understand that that phrase isn't too far from the truth. As I sit here this morning munching on an energy bar ahead of today's training ride I thought I'd give a quick example. An average training ride of 50 miles will see me burn about 3,000 calories, which is equivalent to my normal daily intake. I'm currently riding every second day which means I currently need to eat about 50% more than normal. Looking ahead to the actual trip, I reckon I'll be looking at about 5,000-6,000 calories extra per day, so that means I'll need to eat getting on for three times what I'm used to. Now, as many of you know, I like my food, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous about having to find, carry and consume that sort of quantity of food every day for 3 months. Anyway, I'm off now to see if I can find a chippy that sells deep fried pizzas at 9am.