i know im not the only one on here who goes off the beaten track for multiple days at a time so i thought to share this...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gbmQRmuv88c

very much for the north american audience but i learnt an awful lot.

her are some of my take aways.(all numbers refering to calories per 100g)

- he divides foods up as follows:
heavy is anothing less than 388
moderate is between 388 and 441
lightweight 441 to 494
very lightweight 494-547
ultralight 549-600
hyperlight is anything above 600

- when it comes to breakfasts go for granolas over oats (aim for 448-520)

- biscuits aim for 500+

- dark chocolate is great and he recommends green and blacks 85% (650)

- crisps aim 550+

- when it comes to bread as good as youll get is probly tortillas

- fried items = lighter, baked = heavier

- coconut rules the roost!

- pepperoni/chorizo can be 430-536 , while tuna packets come in between 135-296 (i just check a mackrel in tomato sauce can and the one i have is 192)

- nut butters are usually in the ultralight/hyperlight catagories

- pumpkin seeds (633) and sunflower kernals (606) also great

theres also free excel and pdf documents of a lot of foodstuffs and how they rank. he does go into fat/protein/carb percentages and stuff which id like to understand more.

is this too over the top for bike trips? its obviously designed for a hiking audience, but i kinda see my bikepacking predominately as hiking on wheels

Didn't someone (ultra runner?) once work out that pork pies were the best calorie to weight food ... something you actually want to eat rather than blocks of lard, etc.

pork pies or scotch eggs are my go to grub when cafe's are unavailable.

Same here. They're bloody ace

Might branch out to sausage roll every now and then too

I did this once. Worked out that pretty much the best thing you can do is dark chocolate covered cashews.

Nuts are generally a no brainer for this given they're mostly fat. Takes a bit longer to absorb than sugar though.

Also, it's worth considering that some of the chews are basically edible sans water (due to their high water content), but if you're scarfing down crisps / salted nuts etc then you're definitely going to need a bigger water supply.

Interesting but, for me, in the UK, on a bike, and as someone who views eating as pleasure not just fuelling up, this is a level of nerdiness too far.

It’s useful to have some basic knowledge about calorie density but I’d only go to these lengths if I had to carry food for a long trip without any chance of resupply. That’s not very common on our little island.

Camelback-mounted piping bag full of chocolate buttercream icing FTW.

if I had to carry food for a long trip without any chance of resupply. That’s not very common on our little island.

you clearly have never tired bike packing as a vegan[ its getting better for sure but not enough i would rely on getting food somewhere remote] and I have a spreadsheet of the most calorific food I can carry. Every ride is trully self supported you dirty cheats

Typically, grass has 33 calories per 100 grams (roughly 4 calories per ounce) and 3.3 grams of carbs, 2.2 grams of protein and a whopping 4.6 grams of fiber.

Well I for one didn't know that

Watched this while preparing dinner last night. Might have to rethink my Clif bar addiction...

Vaguely related, I just ordered a bunch more of those stupidly expensive, but delicious, Real Turmat meals.

Cliff bars are great but a bit expensive here ( They're a dollar each in Walmart in the US).
Chocolate Hobnobs are far cheaper and offer greater calory density (494/100g) than the average Cliff Bar ( approx400/100g) . The Cliif Bars are probably healthier though with half the fat ( and a quarter of saturated fat) of the Hobnobs while also having twice the protein.

woodsmith wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:04 pm Cliff bars are great but a bit expensive here ( They're a dollar each in Walmart in the US).
Chocolate Hobnobs are far cheaper and offer greater calory density (494/100g) than the average Cliff Bar ( approx400/100g) . The Cliif Bars are probably healthier though with half the fat ( and a quarter of saturated fat) of the Hobnobs while also having twice the protein.

Several years ago I did LeJOG and was eating a pack of dark chocolate hobnobs a day.

There aren’t many times in life one can sit on one’s bum all day, doing very little, eating biscuits, and still lose weight.