| UPDATES
Food Policies
Meal Plan Options • Food
on the Road • Snacks
and Beverages at the Rest Stop Locations • Lunch
Food in The Stopping Towns • Dinner • Breakfast • Meals
Provided by Local Community Groups
Hi
everyone! We have been receiving a lot of questions about how we’re
going to handle the food on our events so we wanted to give you an update
about our food policies moving forward.
We’ve been managing cycling events for 15 years now, and have also
participated in other events as cyclists ourselves for many more. We are
aware of the significant importance of having plenty of nutritious, high
quality food conveniently available at a good value; we know first hand how
food can make or break an event. We also respect that
everyone
has their own personal food preferences, and sometimes, it's not always possible
to please everyone.
The food and beverages we have available on our events may not be
fancy to some, but they are of great quality and quantity. You'll be able
to easily fuel up for the upcoming ride and replenish yourself from the ride
you completed
with the right kind of food. Our food and beverages are rich in carbohydrates
and have been designed to meet the specific nutritional needs of cyclists.
If you have any special dietary concerns (vegetarian, food allergies, etc.),
you must let us know when you register. Vegetarian options will be available,
and we will make every reasonable effort to be able to accommodate all other
dietary requests.
Quick Food Story: At breakfast, a few days into
a cycling event he was participating in, Rob (Bike Wisconsin's
owner) was feeling a bit hungry and happily ate eight pancakes,
eight sausages, and drank eight cups of coffee; he still didn't
feel that full. We understand from personal experience
the incredible amount of food you will eat.
Meal Plan Options
As a result of the inconsistent quality and value of the meal plans offered
in previous
years, Bike Wisconsin will no longer offer meal plans (such
as dinners or breakfasts)
nor handle any payments for food. When a food item is not already
included as part of the event, all participants
will now pay for it on their own.
Food on the Road
Snacks and Beverages at the Rest Stop Locations
All snacks, beverages, and sports drinks at all rest stop locations will
be all-you-can-eat and are already included with registration for every
participant. No need to worry about finding food on the road, having enough
money, or eating food that is not the most appropriate for cycling! We
will also
have rest
stops set up at the main lodging site both before the start of the ride
so you can stock up before the first upcoming ride and also at the end
of the ride
so you
can
replenish
yourself
from the previous ride at the end of the day.
- Click
Here for more information about our snacks.
- Click
Here for more information about our snack item selection.
- Click
Here for more information about our sports drinks.
Lunch
Lunch on the road will be entirely on your own, most likely in one of the
small towns we pass through. We will not provide a separate lunch other
than our included snack items and sports drinks items at our rest stop
locations. If you want to get lunch on the road make sure to carry some
extra cash with you on your bike since it will not be included with registration.
Enough time will be designed into our riding plans and rest stop cut-off
times for you to be able to eat lunch if you want.
- Click
Here for more information about lunch on the road.
Food
in the Stopping Towns (Dinner And Breakfast)
Dinner
We believe that local restaurants and taverns in each stopping town are the
best places for our participants to get the best possible dinner at the
best value at because it is their profession
to do so. They are inherently motivated to do a great job in order to earn
and keep your business and their atmosphere gives you the best local flavor
of each town we stop in.
One of the best things about having dinner at restaurants is that you will
be able to go and eat dinner when you want to. You won't arrive at the end
of the ride at the same time as every other participant, so why should you
wait to have dinner all at the same time? You won't have to wait to eat all
hungry and tired from the road until a specific serving time, only to wait
in a incredibly long serving lines with everyone else who had to wait for
dinner.
In larger stopping towns where there are numerous restaurant options available
within a reasonable walking or biking distance from the ending location of
the ride, you will go and get dinner on your own. We will work closely with
the local restaurants in the stopping towns so that they are expecting and
fully prepared for us! If not enough restaurants are near the main lodging
site we will provide shuttle transportation for you that will run late into
the night.
In very small towns with a limited number of restaurant options we will
coordinate a group dinner with a local food service provider either directly
at the main lodging site or very close to it. Dinners will have a local
flavor and vegetarian options will always be available.
Breakfast
We will provide an all you can eat continental style breakfast every morning
directly at the main lodging site that is included with registration for
every participant. You’ll be able to stock up on a good, nutritious
breakfast for the upcoming ride without having to travel anywhere else!
Don’t worry, we will have plenty of hot, very fully caffeinated coffee
available (you wouldn't believe how often we get asked this).
Unfortunately, at this time we will not be able to provide any hot items
(bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, etc.) as part of our breakfast so if you
want any you will need to get them yourself at a restaurant in
the
stopping town or on the road. However, we are however working with local
food service providers on being able to provide hot items oursleves for an
additional fee so stay tuned for more information!
- Click
Here for more information about our continental style breakfast.
-
Click
Here for more information about the specific breakfast
item selection.
-
Click
Here for more information about regarding additional
hot breakfast items.
Meals
Provided by Local Community Groups
We do not believe that local community groups or schools are the best possible
food service providers in our stopping towns because providing food for
our events is generally a one-time occurrence for them in the middle of
the summer. Providing enough quantity and variety of fresh, quality food
while minimizing waste can be extremely risky and challenging for
them and many problems have occurred in the past as a result. They
need to know exactly how many people to serve and be guaranteed payment,
but
is
impossible to know the exact number of people to serve and a guaranteed
payment is a very poor incentive to do a great job nor does it provide
any real repercussion if they don’t.
We do understand that food sales still can and do greatly benefit local
community groups as fund raisers and we look forward to providing
them the opportunity to have food for sale that will supplement the
items already included with registration that we cannot provide
ourselves. At the rest
stop locations these items could include such hot grilled items as brats,
burgers, hot dogs, veggie patties, cold/frozen items such as ice cream and
ice cold pop, and homemade items such as cookies, brownies, lemon bars, and
church lady pie. At breakfast these items could include the hot items that
we can’t provide ourselves such as pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes,
etc. Stay tuned for more information!
We will also continue to provide opportunities to benefit local community
groups in other, much less risky ways than food sales. |
