"The Trough"

I have a really high metabolism. I sort of knew this before the trip, but it really came to my attention (and everyone else’s) very quickly on our WIBBC adventure. You see, I really need to eat something substantial every 15 miles that I ride on a bike. When I say substantial I mean two tortillas with almond butter and jam/honey/dried cranberries every 15 miles. If I don't eat, then my body starts tapping its emergency energy reserves. As a result of this emergency energy reserve draw down, you get to deal with cranky Bjorn. And no one wants or needs to deal with cranky Bjorn.

So, on day one of the trip, I let everyone know that I needed a snack around mile 15. Everyone politely obliged and pulled over into a ditch. Nearly everyone had a tortilla with almond butter and dried cranberries during our 10 minute break. Then we headed back down the road. Thankfully, Mark Shepard's Farm was only about ten miles away, so a pit stop to let Bjorn refuel was not as inconvenient for the whole crew. After a tour of Mark's Farm and lunch, the rest of the team went about solving my metabolism and eating way more than everyone else wanted to issues by creatively developing a “Don’t let Bjorn go Hungry Plan.” The plan went a little like this: every stop that we make someone in the group needs to ask me if I need any more goodies (nut and dried fruit trail mix, granola, dried cranberries, dried figs, almonds, wild grapes, beef jerky, etc.) in my handlebar bag, which sits nicely in front of my handlebars and allows me to eat while I am riding. Throughout the long rides when we don't stop to eat (20-30 miles) I would satiate my hunger by eating those foods out of my handlebar bag. By the end of the trip, the group had affectionately named my handlebar bag “Bjorn's Feeding Trough” or “The Trough” for short, which I think is quite fitting.

Now that you have been introduced to ‘The Trough’ or my handlebar bag, I figured that this would be a great place to talk about the kind I use. I use an Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Medium Sized Handle Bar Bag. It is quite a delightful bag because it can carry 6 lbs of goodies, it is waterproof, you can attach a map to the lid, it can be accessed while you are riding, and it easily is removed and can be used as a man purse. Beyond holding tons of food, a handlebar bag is a great place to put a lot of important items that you want to make sure remain close to you.

On a typical day this is what you will find in my handle bar bag:
-pens and paper for note taking
-keys to my bike lock
-fork
-spoon
-butter knife (for applying almond butter to tortillas)
-cheese slicer (who knows when you are going to come across a delicious WI artisan cheese!)
-swiss army knife with bottle opener and cork screw
-sunscreen
-digital camera and case
-digital camera charger and downloading cable
-external hard drive
-wallet
-check book
-change purse
-cell phone
-cell phone charger
-cell phone hands free cord
-reusable chico bag
-food (granola, apples, dried fruit (cranberries and mangoes are my favorite), polenta bars)

I simply cannot think about my bike touring days prior to purchasing my trough. Beyond keeping my energy (and spirits) high, my trough lets me have all these important items right at the tips of my fingers! If you haven’t tried a trough yet, I would highly recommend it! You won’t be sorry.

Cheers to high metabolism and touring with a trough,
Bjorn