I like to ride long distances when I get out on the road. Stopping to eat in a restaurant is a real treat during those times, but it eats up time when I’d rather be out on the blacktop making distance. I like to get on the road early and put in at least a couple of hundred before breakfast.

So what do I do?

A&W.

You can get a pretty good eggs-over-easy and wheat toast at an A&W. It’s quick, it’s hot, and it’s hard to screw up eggs – although not impossible for some places. I don’t bother with the bacon or the potatoes. Who needs that deep-fried grease first thing in the morning laying like a lump in your stomach until noon?

Occasionally – but not often – I’ll get stuck and try an eat’n’puke, but for the most part I’ve learned my lesson and ignore them completely. My one exception: Tim Horton’s for breakfast, although, strictly speaking, Tim Horton’s is no eat’n’puke. It’s very good food. A late-afternoon stop for soup and a sandwich isn’t to be trifled with should I manage to find one en route.

My personal favorite snack bar is a CLIF bar. It comes in a foil pouch, and packs excellent taste into a small package. In texture, it’s much like a granola bar, although it’s soft, moist and very chewy. I’m not going to go into the relative merits of one bar over the other, since a simple search will pull up all of that information.

Added bonus: CLIF bars can be bought in bulk at any Costco. Each box will come with enough flavors to keep from getting bored with the taste.

When I want to spend time chewing, I pick up some dried beef and stuff it in a fairing pocket. Despite its salt content, I’ll snack on that for a few miles while giving my jaw a pretty good workout. Unfortunately, the salt content is a little high to make it a regular treat, so I don’t buy beef jerky all that often.

Most important of all is staying hydrated. Drinking plenty of fluids can’t be over-emphasized, and the best fluid is water, bar none.