downtube42

On a ride with that many people, you're going to need variety.

For the fast guys, it's grab and go if they even stop. If you're going to step it up for that crowd, I'd say musette bag handups and pre-filled water bottles. I'd make that a pre-paid option, with a different color wrist-band and routing from the other folks for the handups. That'd be awesome.

We had a spring ride in Indiana that featured hot potato soup every year, and we all looked forward to that on a crisp spring day. Made in large pots, served in cups, it was delicious and could be downed quickly if so desired. Unless it's hot, I think that's a great compromise. Potatoes digest well, but it's hot and can be enjoyed.

For the other end of the spectrum, we're talking good food enjoyed while sitting down. Preferably with a live local band. These folks aren't going to bolt out of the sag stop and toss their cookies in 30 minutes; they're going to chat, eat, chat, roll out easy, and ramp up their speed over the next hour. You don't want to waste their time waiting in line, but they don't need to be in a rush while eating. Forget about appropriateness for the activity. You could go with chili, spaghetti and meat sauce, gourmet burgers, burritos, arroz con pollo. A Paris-Brest pastry for everyone would have some panache.

znomit

The bite of a quarter pounder that includes the pickle.

PeteHski

I would go with jacket potatoes with a choice of simple toppings - most people will make that work and it's pretty easy to organise. Maybe soup if the weather is really cold.

GhostRider62

Lim potatoes and his rice cakes



Cheeseburgers. Ice cold watermelon is a crowd favorite.

MNBikeCommuter

Some favorites I've had: meatloaf sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, rhubarb kuchen, hot caramel rolls, bowl of oatmeal with all the fixings, bison burgers. So much is length of ride and time of day dependent as to what hits the spot.

dennis336

I've done a group ride (Great River Ride) several times in Western Massachusetts/Berkshires. It's in mid-October so usually on the cool side (or, downright cold first thing in the morning). They've got a traditional baked potato stop with all the fixings which really, really hits the spot. I did the ride one year where the weather started off sketchy but was supposed to clear up, get sunny, and with milder temperatures. But, that never happened. The whole ride was raw, cold, and rainy. I can say that a hot baked potato NEVER tasted so good as that one.

Another fun rest stop food that I enjoyed and was a bit unusual in my experience was a fluffernutter. Probably more because it hearkened back to my childhood and I hadn't had one in years ... actually, decades.

SoSmellyAir

Belgian fries?

I heard Belgians were hardcore cyclists who invented cycling on cobblestone roads.

ZHVelo

Crepes. I would love a crepes on a ride. It's mostly carbs as well (I do mine with low-fat milk, no eggs and water and flour) either with jam and sugar, or even Nutella, maybe that one towards the end.

Non-fatty pizza, basically the dough and the tomato sauce, just carbs right there.

ZHVelo

That is heavenly!

big john

We used to stop in Carl's Jr on club rides to get a baked potato. Too bad they stopped selling them.

seedsbelize2

I lived in Sacramento in the 70s and the name sounds familiar. But I can't put my finger on it.

Darth Lefty 

it’s a large graham cracker ice cream sandwich dipped in chocolate. From SF

Seattle Forrest

I would really like to stand by my answer, but tacos is correct.

robbyville

Tour de Big Bear at the 40 mile stop guy does amazing peppered bacon. Couple slices go a long way.

they also do the boiled potato quarters which are amazing when you sprinkle salt on them. Each stop does the usual oranges, bananas, pbj etc. one of the stops before the largest climb does bbq spare ribs. I can’t eat them myself right before a climb but people go Gaga for them!

MidTNBrad

On a group ride a during a particularly hot morning, one of the guys got a 10 lb bag of ice at one of our stops and passed it around. That really hit the spot. Maybe have a lot of ice on hand if the ride is in the summer.

genejockey 

A REAL San Francisco Treat. Not that Rice-A-Roni crap!
EDIT: Though I think the factory may be in Burlingame.

big john

A friend was a local distributor for Casco Nut Sundae on a Stick. He considered It's It to be his main competition. My girlfriend worked for him as a driver and got propositioned by store owners when she was delivering.

randallr

+1 on the boiled potatoes. Had that on some long organized rides where I was going for time in Washington state back in the 80's and 90's, those are SO digestible when you're doing a hard effort.
I'd vote against suggestions with a significant amount of fat unless the riders aren't going for time. If they're getting off the bike to rest and digest for an hour (or it's the end of the day), something with fat would be great.

genejockey 

Most women don't get propositioned while delivering.

Thanks! I'm here all week! Try the veal!

Johnny Rad

Kudos on your desire to break the mold! Good for you.

+1 on hand-up’s for the first wave of “fast(er)” riders. Nice idea, but quite possibly a wee bit dangerous for helpers and riders.

Alternatively, have enough helpers at your station so riders don’t have to get off their bikes, park them and then stagger over to get in line for food and water… someone grabs their bottles and fills them how they want while someone else brings over the food platter.

If you’re near the end, consider offering ice cold mini Coke cans. Say no more! Or, stretch it by serving it in tiny cups like airlines.

If it’s hot out, offer “disposable” cold water hand towels so riders can wipe their face, neck, hands, etc. Keep the hand towels in a big cooler filled with ice water… hard to know what to do with the used towels, but they shouldn’t be recycled during the ride! Suppose you could cut the towels in half to double your available inventory. They’re not too expensive in bulk on Amazon.

MAK

I heartily second the PB&J sandwiches, but premade and in sandwich baggies. I've seen that a few rides suffered post ride illness problems because some idiots wipe snot while riding and don't have the courtesy to take their sweaty and snotty gloves off and/or wash their hands before touching food or utensils. Currently, due to Covid etc., prepackaged food should be a must.

Also...A very big hit during hot weather rides are the frozen ices in tubes (you snip the ends off with a scissor and push the frozen ices through as you eat them) that you can get in boxes of 250. They take three or four days to freeze if you just put the box in the freezer so plan way ahead. Sometimes a layer of dry ice covered by cardboard or towels in the bottom of the cooler is needed. Riders after a hot ride absolutely love these. Cut up soft pretzels are also popular.

Leinster

If pre-bagging sammies, please do so in paper bags. They make sealable paper bags now, or just close them with a bit of painters tape, but don’t put 250 empty ziploc out into the wild.

I do like the freeze pops idea for a hot ride.

Bassmanbob

I've never experienced a post ride illness, but I could not argue with your point. I'm sure it has happened, and now that you've mentioned it, I probably wouldn't do that again. I want to deny it, but it really could happen. Good point. Thank you.

MAK

The paper bags may make sense (although plain dollar store masking tape is cheaper than painters tape). Seriously, educate me...Can't the plastic bags be recycled (along with soda bottles into fleece) simply necessitating a separate marked dedicated garbage can or bin. I agree that setting plastic bags free in the wild is not good for anyone. Wouldn't paper bags just be incinerated with other garbage thus polluting the air?

MAK

I've never suffered a post ride illness either. (Now I've cursed myself!)

I can say that I used to do the Bike Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) (four times) years ago. One year they reported widespread post ride illness and attributed it to sweaty gloves and hands in common food at rest stops. This is a June ride in Georgia so sweat is abundant. They took action the following years and required that all gloves be removed and that hands be sanitized before approaching food thus alleviating the problem.

As a side note; unfortunately, they lost a few volunteers due to abuse by some of the riders who tried to be noncompliant. One very nice woman and very long time volunteer quit after being labeled, "The Food Nazi" by some belligerent a-holes, even though other riders at the stop defended her. What BRAG has done lately, I don't know. Never-the-less, in today's pandemic world, rest stops need to take and enforce whatever precautions they can.