Do you lose, gain, or maintain weight when motorcycle traveling?

Me? I’m in the maintain camp: mascots don’t really change weight much I don’t think. Any loss of youthful fluff is probably replaced with a layer of dust to cover any threadbare patches, so it evens out on the scales.

Does it matter?

As for human moto travelers, it’s probably a bit different. And mostly I was always just curious. But it might influence the decision as to whether to bring the sexy leathers that have gotten a bit tight, or go for comfort, even if those pants already hang a little looser than strictly necessary.

All I wear is a helmet Maria made for me, and the fur I was born with. But people are faced with all sorts of should-I-buy-a-size-up-or-down decisions. Maria once invested in brand new protective gear for a long trip, aiming for an easy-to-move-around-in fit; then had to buy a new pair of moto pants half-way through, because she lost so much weight, she was literally falling out of the old ones.

With hindsight, she could have made a better, more educated guess, which size to buy; especially knowing what happened on their first ‘big trip’. On that one Maria’s leather pants wouldn’t close when they set off from London. She had to hold them up with a belt and hid the open buttons under a long hoodie. Yet a few weeks into that trip, the pants fitted perfectly. So how did she get it so wrong the next time?

What affects personal weight when traveling by motorcycle?

The easy part is knowing your body’s usual propensity to gain or lose weight. You are still you; if you’re someone that piles on the pounds by so much as just looking at a chocolate bar, that isn’t going to change on the trip. But the circumstances do change, and some things are easier to anticipate than others:

• Availability of food: is the journey through an area where what you carry is all you have, or are there plenty of towns and restaurants?

• Exercise: depending on the type of riding, the quality of the roads, and how often the bike needs to be picked up after a tumble, moto-travel can be quite hard work compared to what your body is used to. Especially if the usual exertions of the daily grind merely consist of the occasional hike to the office water cooler.

• Is the food too spicy to eat all that much? In northern India Maria wrapped a piece of chapati around the curry and swallowed it before it could scorch her tongue. But in southern India the usual meal is a pile of rice with a bowl of super spicy sauce to mix into it for flavour. No chapattis to envelop the resulting balls of fire. So Maria mostly ate plain boiled rice and lost weight fast. Aidan, meanwhile, can withstand a bit of heat, and maintained a healthy weight.

The more surprising or unpredictable factors might be:

• Long waits at the border, and hold-ups due to landslides and other obstacles: Always carry plenty of drinking water, and some emergency snacks. For Aidan and Maria that’s either a packet of biscuits, or some sort of fruit and nut mix.

• Illness: A sudden three-day diet of Delhi Belly will work wonders if the goal is to reduce the waistline

The surprise

The most unanticipated factor, however, was developing different habits of when and how much to eat. Which is probably why Maria managed to miscalculate the sizing so dramatically. At home she always eats a hearty breakfast. But on the road, it’s black coffee while still curled up in the sleeping bag, and perhaps a piece of fruit, if she has one. And that’s enough fuel to start the day. Excited adventure anticipation does the rest.

The foodie routine for the remainder of the day was changing depending on where we were traveling. In the Australian outback it was so hot, that fresh vegetables would cook inside the panniers and bread would get mouldy within half a day. Chocolate would liquify, and even the Haribo Goldbears melted into a solid piece and had to be sliced with a knife before consumption.

Opportunities to stock up were few and far between, so what they could carry had to last. Maria and Aidan munched crackers and biscuits during the day, and in the evening, they would heat up a can of soup or stew, adding rice or pasta to add volume. It was meagre, unhealthy sustenance with few vitamins, but it did the trick.

When they came upon a roadhouse, they would hungrily gorge on the quintessentially Australian ‘the works’ burger. It’s the usual beef patty, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and condiments, but then they also add an egg, a slice of beetroot, and a slice of pineapple. All washed down with a well-deserved ice-cold beer. That’s all the A-Z right there.

European luxuries

In Europe the restaurants were prohibitively expensive, so eating out was a rare treat. But with all those sausages, baguettes and hard cheeses affordably available at every supermarket and corner shop, Aidan and Maria ate like kings anyways.

Mexican delights

In Mexico the restaurants were so cheap and the food so good, there was no reason to insist on trying to save money by cooking for themselves. The big meal became lunch at any roadside place popular with the locals (always a good sign).

And then, at dinner, Aidan might chef up a few quesadillas on a hot stone in the campfire.

Central- and South American habits

Some versions of this applied everywhere south of Mexico. The cuisine would change from a plethora of fresh fruit in Central America to beef in all its form in Argentina. But roadside restaurants were wonderfully affordable and the homestyle food was excellent. So Aidan barely cooked, except when a campfire invited a BBQ, or when all that meat and rice served roadside induced a severe craving for vegetables.

It was more a question of city vs countryside. In the much richer cities, the options became more international, but also more expensive, while in the countryside the restaurant’s owners would home-cook. And each is to be enjoyed for its own merits: discover local dishes in the country, then satisfy the cravings for sushi and craft beer in the city.

The rule of thumb

With all those varied factors, how come the general rule that Maria and Aidan would lose weight, still applied across the board? It’s because they are just too busy riding to bother nibbling all day, wrestling overloaded bikes along tough roads. Their usual moto-travel eating routine is coffee (and maybe some fruit) for breakfast, then a big meal for either lunch or dinner, and a quick snack for the other meal. Mind you though, if they stop in any place for too long, they pile the pounds back on, exploring the culinary delights on offer, instead of heaving heavy motorcycles through the landscape.

You always bring yourself on your travels

A long story short, Maria and Aidan love food, whatever situation they are in. Lack of availability and riding distractions might cause temporary weight loss. But excellent cuisine and tempting treats will have them indulge, as they always do, so if they lose weight traveling, they are sure to put it back on as soon as they stay still (and Maria will resume her battle to keep it to button-closing proportions).