How many of you carry your lunch? This morning I carried my breakfast and lunch on my commute. IMO, makes the commute even more fun.

Every morning I stop at Panera Bread for breakfast on my way to work. I carry a plastic container with my cooked oatmeal and rasins, along with a banana and applesauce. I get a hot cup of green tea and lemon to go along with my oatmeal.

For lunch, I got some baked turkey wings, with some collard greens and cornbread. I carried all this in my backpack. I carry my food about 3 times a week. The other two times, I get a begal and tea for breakfast, and for lunch I break away from work and get something fresh at the market. However, carrying my breakfast and lunch, means more money for my addiction(bicycles), and keeps me away from the junk food.(real important)

My problem, is that I'm a restaurant manager - I have Breakfast/Lunch built in where I work! You can work on this concept and maybe the Mods here can add a forum: Bicycle Picnics

I almost always carry my lunch. Usually, it's just leftovers from home, but I love leftovers (assuming I cooked it well the first time), so that's good. I'm too cheap to eat out, though my breakfast seems a long time ago and that panera is sounding good.

Tell me life isn't sweet!!!

BTW, you should offer 1/2 price specials to bike commuters!!

On Mondays I carry in all my food for the week. One whole pannier is devoted to lunches and snacks.

Always carry my lunch - usually leftovers from the night before. Like you, I'm reluctant to spend money on lunch when there are so many bicycle-related items that seem more important. But I eat breakfast before I leave the house.

I make a salad the night before and store it in the fridge in one of those not-really-Tupperware kind of containers. Then in the morning I pop it my rack pack (with a rubber band around the lid so it doesn't try to escape!) along with my yogurt and bottle of water and I'm good to go for the day.

However, I do have cereal and coffee breakfast before I take off in the morning and the yogurt is for my 10:00AM snack.

Rick / OCRR

You ain't cheaper than me!!

Panera is a blast. My get-warm-spot too. I read the paper, and most of the time I am only getting tea or coffee..If I do get a complete breakfast at Panera it is only tea, begal and a apple.. But, that cost a whopping $4.25 Most of time I carry my oatmeal or a bacon-egg-sandwich and my two pieces of fruit from home, it only cost me a $1.58 for the tea or coffee..

BTW, most of the time my lunch is it leftovers for me too.. Dam good!!

Dam, I never thought of that.. I have my wife come in once a week and bring 3 to 4 changes of clothes. Now, I will add food. That will make my load lighter..

Good tip!!

I carry leftovers for lunch most days. It the colder weather, I don't even have to worry about a cooler.

Carrying breakfast? Sure, in my belly.

I did it once and realized that I did't like carrying a backpack while riding.

I take leftovers pretty regularly. I just bungee an insulated lunchbox to the rack, wrap it in a plastic grocery bag if it's raining.

I usually eat breakfast at home, but I keep some oatmeal stashed at my desk in case I'm running late. It's pretty common for a tray of bagels to be floating around somewhere, too.

I'm too busy to eat lunch,I eat a big breakfast and that lasts until I get home for dinner.

I am the same way on the motorcycle, no backpack. However, on the bicycle, I don't like panniers.. My bicycles are all road bikes..I will not put panniers or racks on them. Hence, the backpack.. We all have our styles, and they all be correct.

I always pack a lunch. It's faster, cheaper, and more nutritious than going out. I've tried packing breakfasts too, but I get too hungry on my ride in. I'd rather wake up 20 minutes earlier and eat before I leave.

I always eat breakfast before I leave home. But then I also carry a mid-morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack.
Food is fuel for all of us bikers.

That's what's in my other pannier.

I eat my breakfast before I leave. My office is located in a business park and so I have limited choices for lunches. I make my snacks, lunch and prime the coffee maker (not a fan of our office coffee) the night before. I carry my food for the day, coffee and a change of clothes in my panniers.

I bring my lunch in my panniers (a bagel, or a sandwich or leftovers...whatever I can scrounge in the morning), but I often am hungry enough that I eat it around 10:15 (Recess time, I'm a teacher). So at lunch, I check out the teachers' lounge and half the time there is something else to snack on.

+1 The other pannier is loaded w/t week's clothes. That's all carried on my multi-geared commuter/utility CX bike. The rest of the week I ride fg w/a seatpost rack/trunkbag combo and take whatever food containers and clothing from the day. Works pretty well. Whenever I burn out on fg I ride the multi-geared. If I burn out on riding altogether...I drive.

I keep a big carton of old-fashioned oats, craisins, cinnamon, sliced almonds, coffee, peanut butter in my desk along with a deep bowl, paperplates, flatwear, glass mug. When I'm regularly commuting I bring a week's worth of bread on Monday, power bars and some fresh fruit. Then each ride day I'll bring a snap-lock box with yogurt, anything else I want, a waterbottle with cold latte (nuke at work). My desk job allows me to have breakfast while booting up the computer and checking my email. I have a coffeemaker and microwave in my cubicle. Sometimes I'll bring in cold grilled chicken or salmon and buy a simple salad at the cafeteria.

My commuting ... sigh ... insomnia, workhours and weather have not played into my favor. Generally I have to allocate 2 hours for the commute+cleanup each way. It only works if I can log some short workdays when I ride, can wake up early, and if weather is reasonable.

I take breakfast and lunch every day in my panniers. Riding my bike assures I wont have time to ride anywhere for lunch, so if I don't bring food I starve. Usually leftovers or a sandwich for lunch (my wife makes a killer sandwich). Breakfast is usually a couple of boiled eggs or a banana.

I carry both every day. I have a pannier dedicated to my insulated lunch bag. My bag usually consists of;

1. Morning- p.b. toast w/granola, orange/apple/banana, celery w/p.b., yogurt, granola bar, any combination of above.

2. Lunch- Sandwich/wrap, baked chips, carrots/broccoli w/hummus, fruit, yogurt, almonds, cookie. Soup occasionally. Any combo of above.

3. Afternoon snack- Granola/energy bar/snickers. But i rarely eat one.

I always make my lunch the night before so i can just get up and go. I always have my coffee brewed as i wake up and take it in an insulated mug in my water cage. Some mornings i eat cereal, some days i just eat a granola bar on the train after the first mile.

I eat what i want, and i like what i eat. I make it, it's cheap and it's relatively good for me.

P.S.- don't ever skimp on the bread. Quality bread makes a sandwich. Wheat, not that white garbage.

^^^oh, if that sounds like a lot of food, it's because i leave home at 4:30am and don't return until 7:00pm. I work in an industrial area where my only option is fast food about a mile away or a taco truck. My job is great, but i work hard.

I just tote lunch each day - if I don't carry the backpack, it fits fine in the trunk. In the summer, I can get my clothes AND food into the trunk, but in the winter I use a backpack cuz I need more clothes. Also, my week can be unpredictable - some days I must drive to be able to make offsite visits (like tomorrow) that I learn about on short notice. So I pretty much operate one day at a time, hoping for a four or five bike commute week.