Happiness on a Bicycle Tour: Food Extravaganza

By Frosty Wooldridge - reposted with permission - original here

Notice the man with that cantaloupe melon “smile” on his face? Why is he so happy? What makes touring cyclists live with a smile on their faces, in their hearts, and upon their spirits? During this ride down the Continental Divide, Denis and I pedaled across I-80 in Wyoming.

We crossed under an overpass when a small truck loaded with watermelons, cantaloupe melons, and Persian melons. The truck stopped. The guy got out to fix his trailer hitch. Talk about a hot day! We cooked under the summer sun. Dry, parched mouths filled with cotton balls! Lips hung up on our dry teeth! We guzzled water, but never kept up with thirst in the blazing sun! Upon seeing the melons, we pedaled over to the fellow fixing his chains.

“Sir, can we buy a melon off you?” Denis asked.“Sure, all you want,” he said.We bought one watermelon, two cantaloupe melons, and a fabulously delicious Persian melon. He drove off. We used the top of the covered trash can lid as our lunch table. For the next 30 minutes, we gorged ourselves on melons. Juice drained down onto our jerseys.

That indescribably luscious taste of melon filled our stomachs and delighted our souls. Our taste buds did handsprings on our tongues and danced around in merriment to the essence of fruit splashing like a creek over each and every section.

“Frosty,” Denis said. “I am dying of sheer melon magic running all over my tongue. Absolutely heavenly, marvelous, tasty, delicious and scrumptious!”

“Dude,” I said. “We’re living the dream. I’ll remember this watermelon lunch break for the rest of my life.”

That’s what’s so great about bicycle touring: surprise, emotional bliss, culinary joy and a certain charm that radiates throughout your whole being. Food never tasted so good and a cantaloupe melon puts a smile on your face from ear to ear. Life is good on a bicycle tour!

Denis LeMay, Frosty Wooldridge, Continental Divide, Canada to Mexico, on tour, extravagant joy with every bite of food!