thewalrus

This thread inspired by the 'Do you litter on rallies': https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/138509-do-you-litter-bike-rallies.html

I've always been impressed at how pro riders can stuff their jersey pockets from a feedbag, toss the bag, and immediately start eating...

Do you eat while riding? Can you tear open sealed packages like Powerbars / Clif Bars safely?

It looked as though riders in this year's Tour de France weren't eating from commercial packages, but something easier to tear open with 1 hand and teeth (aluminum foil).

I would not trust myself to open and eat a clif bar while riding, they're sealed too tightly.

gurana

I dont' race or anything, and I never really ride when I don't have time to stop and have a snack. If it's like a powerbar, I'll stop to eat it, because if I've pulled that out, it's prolly because I'm depleted. If I just need a little boost and I go for a gel, then I'll usually stay on the bike.

TheKillerPenguin

I open things and eat while on my bike, but if I remember to I open the package before I get on the bike so I can just reach into my pocket and eat.

gurana

Do you take it out of the package, or just get it started? I hope you don't do that with gels

worker4youth

Whenever I eat while riding, I get powerbar stains all over my gloves.

nova

Other than chico sticks i re wrap my candy bars of any sort in natural unbleached generic coffee filters. Makes it much easyer to eat and ride. Dont have to fuss with plastic wrappers foil or other.

TheKillerPenguin

lol, just get it started. i don't like to do this on hot days though since it gets stuck to the jersey pockets.

and no, I don't do it with gels

Arizona-Cyclist

Sometimes, when I am in a rush to leave the house, I just take the fixin's and make myself something on the bike. Last week it was PBJ. I forgot a knife though and had to use a tire lever. Trickiest part was pulling that inner seal off of the peanut butter. You know how it is vacuum packed and i just coudn't get it off. Almost ran into the guy in front of me. I offered him a PBJ as a peace offering, but he thought the bread looked too mashed up. Then I got jelly all over the brake hoods and it was rather sticky. From now on I'll stick to things like turkey and alfalfa sprouts on a pita...

DannoXYZ 

So one time at the Stanford road-race, on a long boring straight, a Berkeley guy sat up and pulled out a sandwich of some sort; a ham&cheese I think. He looks over at the guy next to him and asked, "Excuse me, would you happen to have some Grey Poupon?". The guy answerd, "But of course." and pulled out a jar of Grey Poupon and a knife. He holds the jar open and the sandwich guy reaches in with the knife, scoops some up and smears it on his sandwich. Needless to say, the guys around them gave them a couple extra inches of space...

puddin' legs

All the time on longer rides. It's a necessary skill. sit up, pull something out of the pocket, open, and eat. Powerbar, sandwich, banana, whatever... usually use both hands to open more interesting/challenging packaging. The tough part is figuring out what you can eat that won't cause gastric troubles.

EventServices

Learn to eat at 25mph.
If you're ever in a race, good luck getting everyone to slow down and wait for you while you wrestle with a foil wrapper.

SteveE

I can get the packages open - no problem. It's getting the food down that's hard.

ed073

Yes.

And I've crashed while eating.

allgoo19

I feel like throwing up while riding even if I eat the food before the ride.

I try to get used to eating on the saddle, so I just bought a Performance bicycle version of Bento Box, one of those small bag(box) that attaches to the stem and the top tube. I'll start with little bites of fig newton or something similar. Swallowing part will be the hardest.

DannoXYZ 

The trick is to breath through your nose in between chews and swallows. If you're breathing hard through your mouth, it's easy to inhale whatever you're eating.. Babies can apparently breath and swallow at the same time...

TexasGuy

I can ride fast fine while eating with no problems.

SteveE

Yah, I was on a club ride once and sat up to eat some fig newtons (letting a select group from the A=ride surge ahead), when a couple of my friends came by trying to catch them and saying "Hop on, Steve!". It was impossible to choke down my food and I was working so hard to stay on these guys wheels (both experienced Masters racers), I couldn't even reach down to get my water bottle. Eventually I had to give up the chase and only saw them 7 miles later at the top of the climb.

SteveE

krazyderek

with power bars just start the tear in the package, the rest is easy to do while ridding, powerbars thought are the hardest bars to actually take the wrapper off though once you get it opened, it's like pealing gum out of your hair, there's no easy way to do it other then just rip it out.

simplyred

I eat humble pie ALL the time when I ride - it's not hard to do that when you're riding in a fast group

But honestly - I usually use my teeth as the third hand to open packages and such.
Much safer in my opinion - as I can barely ride without hands still.

jameyj

I wrap my food in grape leaves before I leave and then when I am ready to eat I just pull it out of the old jersey and drop the grape leaf on the side of the road in the grass where it can biodegrade away. :-)

ImprezaDrvr

Oh, yeah, humble pie is the best when you're riding.

But I've gotten to where I can open powerbar and gel packages on the bike and eat them. Haven't done a long race in a while, though, so that'll be interesting. It's different holding a line when you're by yourself.

I maintain that riding with no hands is a great skill. Not only can you do stuff like open food packages, but you can also learn a lot about how your bike handles.

merlinextraligh

If you're going to race any distance you've got to learn to eat. Gel Packs are good when you're going fast. Easy to open with your teeth, and you can get them down, even when you're close to coughing up a lung.

-titanium-

Its not tricky to eat whilst cycling, grab food form pocket iwht 1 hand, take other hand off quickly to open it and htne eat whilst riding with one hand. This is why I asumed you meant, can you 'stomach' the food and the answer is that although i feel fine after eating resonable amounts, if i cycle hard my appetite is represed a huge amount and i dont feel like eating much and ussualy dont, i might have a nutri-grain bar every 30 miles, i ride 30 or 60 miles ussualy.

OC Roadie

Even better is to use a gel "flask". The gel is cheaper this way and there's no wrapper to deal with. The opening works just like a water bottle.

cycle17

I have no problem what so ever eating on my rides. I can do it well up to about 21-22 mph. In fact I prefer it to stopping most of the time. I pretty much have to eat on any ride longer than 30 miles. I usually bring Cliff Bars that I cut into bite size pieces at home and put in a zipplock baggie. Sometimes I forget to pre-cut them and just use my teeth to tear open the wrapper. I also use Gu Gel packs and put the used ones in a ziplock baggie. I sometimes bring bananas, but not on really hot days. As someone stated above, I find it usefull to remember to breathe thru my nose between chewwing and swallowing, and always wash everything down well with whatever is in my bottles that day (water, gatorade etc...). Not eating = bonking. Just my opinion.