Public Service Announcement. Don’t eat 2 big pieces of Beef Jerky on a long ride. Especially not a 100 mile ride that became a 107 mile ride because you got lost on a 90+ degree day on a route with zero shade and plenty of hills, that you didn’t even start until 10:30am when you are planning to run 5 miles afterward.

The Jerky might look very good while you are standing in the air conditioned convenience store. It may even taste like heaven in your mouth… As you chew on the salty dehydrated piece of goodness you might even think “Nothing on earth could be better than this Beef Jerky is right now.” But you could be wrong to think this. Beware, for the once extolled Jerky may come back to bother you. If the first piece doesn’t perhaps the second piece, the one you just had to have because the first one was sooo good, maybe that one will. Maybe not in 5 minutes, or even 45 minutes, but eventually it might bother you like it bothered me. For the last hour or so of my ride I had the mild sensation of wanting to vomit. Prime suspect: Said Beef Jerky. I’m not saying my 10th gel or the fact that I was starting to get a little heat rash were not factors in the equation. My gut feeling just pointed to the Jerky as the guilty party. (That was such a bad pun. Forgive me, I couldn’t help it). I still wanted to vomit a little on my run and this was not improved by ingesting the occasional lemon-lime Cliff shot block.

So please my gentle readers, heed my call and avoid the Beef Jerky. Save it for some other time. The human body is only capable of so many things at once.