I have ADHD and I take Adderall while touring. For those of you who don't have ADHD: It doesn't work on me the same way amphetamines work on you. I don't suddenly have this burst of energy or anything. I've been taking it for almost seven years, so there's a tolerance issue of course. It's just glasses for my brain--it brings things into better focus, and I have more control over my attention.

Too many of the other comments are the usual "no such thing as ADHD/riding should cure it" bull****. Yeah, my bicycle has been one of the biggest boosts to my mental health--but it's easily third place, behind the love of my family and friends and my Adderall.

Why I take my Adderall on tour: Because it helps me get organized/fed/packed up in the morning and not be distracted (I am also NOT a morning person, ugh). Because it allows me to pay attention while riding, which is not a small thing. It means I do less stupid things: I'm less likely to swerve into traffic. I'm less likely to ride right into my boyfriend's back because I wasn't paying attention. It means I can be "in the moment" and actually enjoy the ride and the scenery instead of following the endless bunnies in my head. It means I have the patience to ride long days. It means I am less likely to lose stuff every time we stop (I do sometimes lose things, but it's MUCH less often).

I take the short-acting version of Adderall, and I time my doses carefully. I've been on it long enough that I *can* eat while I'm on it, just not as much. And so I eat a big breakfast before my first dose takes effect, and then I nibble something (a couple cookies, a handful of trial mix) and drink some water at least once an hour. And then when my first dose wears off totally four or five hours after I take it, I sit down for a real lunch before taking my next dose. And then it's back to nibbles until dinner! You get the idea. I end up taking two or three doses a day.

Touring has some advantages for the person with ADHD, though, compared to day-to-day life...the biggest thing, for me? It's so easy to put everything away! There's only so many places to put your things, and once you get so that everything has a place, it's so much easier to pack up in the morning.

Try to get into the habit of looking around before leaving EVERY SINGLE TIME you stop. I realize this is hard and I am certainly not perfect, but I swear that every time I forgot to look around before getting back on my bike, I lost something. There was once I ended up adding ten miles to the day because I'd dropped my hoodie and went back for it, there was another time I left sunglasses at a lunch stop....yeah.