Exactly 3 years ago, I spent all of Memorial Day on a bicycle, egged on by my friend Rebecca Rusch to ride “half-way up Mt. Everest” in my Rocky Mountain backyard. Since events were canceled outright in the spring (and summer and fall) of 2020, so many of us were inspired to do something challenging like this, and logic suggested that the best way to do it was to find a steep climb and ride up and down it until the 15k feet of climbing were reached. Obviously. (HA!)
I couldn’t imagine riding up and down the same damn hill all day, so I plotted myself a course all over the Front Range that would earn me the required elevation gain (plus some.) This made the ride much longer than might have been necessary, but I didn’t care. I was all in. I was craving something stupid hard. And I was weirdly excited to pack my pockets and packs with snacks to make it happen.
On the morning of the ride, I loaded up down jackets, extra gloves, packets of hydration and as many snacks as I could carry. A decadent chocolate cake made the cut, along with chewy a chewy tahini energy bar and double chocolate cookies. At the last minute, I threw together savory scallion pancakes (a lot like Okinomiyaki…but better) because I knew that having something with all Six Flavors would be key. I threw together the random veggie ingredients we had in the fridge (specifically, scallions), a couple of eggs and some sourdough starter, then fried it up in a skillet. I had been eating scallion pancakes like this with eggs for lunch as a recovery meal, and the savory substance had drawn me in. I flipped it out and wrapped it in foil, jumped into the saddle and rolled out. It was worth the hustle to fit the awkward foil packet into my pocketss – they were everything my body wanted that day.
I climbed up and out of Boulder, into Nederland, up to Eldora, then rode the Peak To Peak Highway all the way to Brainard Lake and back down into town, picking my way up and over every tiny climb I could find, munching my pancakes and goodies all along the way. In the end, my ride was 116 miles and over 17k feet of climbing – I rolled into our garage as night fell happy, and exhausted.
I have always meant to go back and re-make the scallion pancakes, to write them down and share them…but I never got to it. But, as I’m just starting to plot my big rides for summer – with more nutritional demands as a breastfeeding mama AND athlete – a savory pancake for the ride was top of mind. I’m so glad life delayed this recipe – these Pea Cakes were well worth the wait.
I’m often asked if it’s *possible* to fuel big efforts with real, whole food. The answer is ABSOLUTELY. But it does take some consideration.
First, it takes a little trial and error to find out what your body wants when you’re in motion. There are certainly times when I’ve packed something that sounded delicious at home, and felt awful to eat when I got out there. Practice, be creative, and make sure you dial things in before an effort or a race depends on a dialed feed plan.
Second, there are a few things to consider before you choose a ride (or run/adventure) food. Portability is one thing. How will you carry your snacks? It’s not such a big deal if your snacks end up squished, but you don’t want them crumbling, falling apart, or in a form that’s impossible to fit into a pocket or pack. Eating a bowl of noodles on a bicycle – not so awesome. Savory pancakes, perfection.
Also on the list of considerations when choosing ride food – how will it serve you? Sweet flavors are primo, because they nourish our bodies with calories and specifically carbohydrates. But too much of a good thing can weigh heavily on your gut. Salty snacks are helpful and wonderful to mix in and ensure electrolyte balance. But ultimately, foods that have all Six Tastes are the absolute best because they keep our bodies and guts balanced as we’re moving. These foods are particularly helpful (and easy to eat) for slower endurance efforts where you can have a bit of fat and protein. These Pea Cakes would work best in a scenario where you’re moving all day at a comfortable to slightly uncomfortable pace. If you’re doing intervals all day, don’t try to eat Pea Cakes.
The last and most important thing to think about when you’re fueling with real food is whether or not you’ll be excited to eat your snacks. If you are thrilled about the snacks you have along for the day, you’ll be excited to keep moving so that you can enjoy them. Fueling and feeling happy is the best way to eat when you’re pushing your limits – and whatever it is that will make you happy is probably great fuel for the day.
These Pea Cakes hit on all the levels for me; they are just as delicious on the ride as you imagine they’ll be, they’re easy to pack and port, full of all six flavors, and because my tastebuds all fire in an orchestra of joy when I eat them, they’re for sure a happy fuel. I just know you’ll feel the same!
One of the things to certainly be considerate of when choosing athletic fuel is digestibility. Will you be able to digest your snacks when your body is on the go? An energy bar may *seem* like an “easy food” to eat when you’re moving…because it’s in a convenient package. But is this food easy to digest? THAT is the question.
When we eat foods that have all Six Tastes (sweet, salty, sour, astringent, bitter and pungent) woven into the recipe we can rest assured that our bodies will have an easy time digesting them because the flavors themselves do the balancing. That’s right. When we taste each of these six wonderful little flavors, our bodies are creating a complete cornucopia of enzymes that our digestive systems need to stay balanced. This can help to prevent gut rot, and digestive distress when we’re in motion and very few snacks can say that…but these PeaCakes can!
This idea of eating all Six Tastes in a single meal is not reserved for real-food fuel – it’s also critical for recovery food. If your athletic fuel is not balanced with the six tastes, make sure that your recovery meal after a long effort is!
Stout, stuffed with bright springy vegetables and herbs, full of flavor, a hit of protein, and a crispy-divine crunch these Pea Cakes are going to be one helluva ride food. And, they’re pretty damn good when eaten in un-sweaty clothes, with a fork, knife and some zhoosh too.
I’m so in love with this recipe! Both as a ride food for a long endurance day, or as a quick lunch or recovery meal (they make ahead quite well, too!) If you’re enjoying them with a knife and fork, I recommend zhooshing them up with plops of cottage cheese, a drizzle of tahini, some avocado or even a fried egg or two. Sprinkle on fresh radishes, maybe hemp seeds, snipped herbs – go wild. And, ENJOY!
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