Eating on a ride

[BrettG]

Hi

What are the best energy foods to eat while riding? Some say bananas and raisins.

[Bolo Grubb]

You will need to try different things until you find what works best for you.

myself, I like powerbar brand gels and fig newton cookies. Sometimes Odwalla brand bars.

I also drink gatorade mixed weak (1 scoop of powder for 24 oz).

But you will find that everyone is a bit different when it comes to what they like and what works for them

[timmhaan]

clif bars are great. they are the perfect size for a jersey pocket, they taste good, and are easy to digest while riding. they are the only food items i bring with me.

[webist]

I think those are both good. However, there are numerous energy and protien bar products available as well. A lot depends on how long and how hard you are riding. Liquid of course is the most important intake. After that comes carbs and protien.

Another variable is your objective. I ride to keep weight off and to lose weight. Thus, calories burned over what I eat helps. Others are paying little attention to wieght and are just looking for cardio fitness or just plain fun.

I suppose then, there is a wide set of variables which apply to your question. My solution was to stop mid ride for a V8 if the ride was more than an hour. Over an hour, I carry a Balance Bar (a brand of food bar.)

[Phatman]

just about any powerbar or clif bar or balance bar will work...I find they get pretty expensive (>$1 a piece), especially if you are a broke college student riding a lot of miles.

I find that bananas work well, as well as bagels, scones and nutri-grain bars. pop tarts also arent too bad, but I would save those for rides longer than 3 hours, since they have a ton of calories. I would try for 100-150 calories per 45 minutes after the first hour and a half.

things to look for in a food are low-fat, fairly low protien, with about 4 grams of carbs to 1 gram of protien. the carbs should be ablout half sugar and about half "other carbs" not more then a couple grams of fiber.

it sounds like pretty narrow parameters, but there are a surprising amount of foods that meet these requirements. the other thing that I look for is cheapness, 15 dollars for a box of powerbars doesn't sound like a whole lot...but it adds up.

[zonatandem]

Fresh fruit: bananas, apples, grapes. All have natural sugars that get into the system pretty fast. Figbars, breakfast bars.
Less pricey than gels and energy bars and better for your health in the long run.
Water . . . much cheaper than messy energy drinks.
Long distance riding (100+ miles): caffinated tea will give some benefits.

[my58vw]

I always take either a powerbar or other source of energy food on rides over 1 hour or on any group ride. Bananas and apples are generally too big for a jersey pocket. I do straight water in two bottles and a camelback with 50 50 gatorade (or likewise) to water. On a shorter ride on bottle of gatorade and one of water work well...

[j.foster]

are there long term problems with energy bars and drinks then?

[Phatman]

are there long term problems with energy bars and drinks then?

I find the primary side effect to be weight loss...of my wallet

[timmhaan]

i've heard some sports drinks are bad for your teeth. not sure though.

[iowarose]

You can get a box of 24 Pria bars at Sam's Club for less than $14 - not cheap, but a lot less than what you'd pay elsewhere. I think that makes the cost comparable to Nutrigrain bars. Both are good because they're prepackaged and so more convenient for rides. Fig bars are good too.

I like Pria bars a lot better than other energy bars because they are easier to digest, easier to eat in cold weather, and taste better than Powerbars. Each Pria bar has 110 calories (I don't eat the low carb ones).

[Phatman]

You can get a box of 24 Pria bars at Sam's Club for less than $14 - not cheap, but a lot less than what you'd pay elsewhere. I think that makes the cost comparable to Nutrigrain bars. Both are good because they're prepackaged and so more convenient for rides. Fig bars are good too.

I like Pria bars a lot better than other energy bars because they are easier to digest, easier to eat in cold weather, and taste better than Powerbars. Each Pria bar has 110 calories (I don't eat the low carb ones).

thats only half the calories of a powerbar...you're basically getting screwed there buddy. 14 bucks for 12 powerbars, pretty much.

[iowarose]

thats only half the calories of a powerbar...you're basically getting screwed there buddy. 14 bucks for 12 powerbars, pretty much.


Not if you don't want all the calories that a powerbar has. Each one=230 calories or so. I would only eat 1/2 at a time anyway. Plus, powerbars sit like a rock in my stomach and taste nasty. So, am I getting screwed by eating Pria bars? No. YMMV.

[Bolo Grubb]

Not if you don't want all the calories that a powerbar has. Each one=230 calories or so. I would only eat 1/2 at a time anyway. Plus, powerbars sit like a rock in my stomach and taste nasty. So, am I getting screwed by eating Pria bars? No. YMMV.


and this is why every needs to find out what works best for them.


Myself I do not like pria or powerbar, but do like Odwalla bars. Different people, different taste. I also have an iron gut and can get away with eating almost anything and not have any problems, but I prefer gels, fig newtons and odwalla bars on my rides with gatorade to drink.

[Phatman]

Not if you don't want all the calories that a powerbar has. Each one=230 calories or so. I would only eat 1/2 at a time anyway. Plus, powerbars sit like a rock in my stomach and taste nasty. So, am I getting screwed by eating Pria bars? No. YMMV.

I suppose I am thinking of situations where I would be out on the bike for a while, and there are few times when I would actually eat only once, thus two pria bars would be needed. I'm going for calories per dollar here

[Diggy18]

Just wanted to put in my favorite of candy corn. It's mostly just sugar for some, quick desnely packed energy. I used to use it on long summer rides, but now in the cold I don't need to eat as much. (I thought the opposite would have been true . . . :rolleyes: )

[Drayko]

I like fig newtons. I've found they give me just the energy boost I need while tasting great. I never really liked power bars or similar. But I do like my sports drinks.

[hi565]

I remember someone sayig that pop tarts were good. I havent gone a long enough ride to have to worry abuot eating, but i should think about it soon.

[late]

Drayko,
try figs. One of the big companies like SunMaid makes a bag of Mission figs in a zip lock metallised baggie. I love them, never thought of using them on a ride. But I think I will now. Thanks for the idea.

[yonderboy]

I remember someone sayig that pop tarts were good. I havent gone a long enough ride to have to worry abuot eating, but i should think about it soon.

My through-hiker friends like Pop Tarts. They have too much sugar for my liking, and usually end up with me bonking late in the ride. Personally, I prefer a Clif or Luna bar, some Kameda rice snacks, fruit, and water.

[Phatman]

My through-hiker friends like Pop Tarts. They have too much sugar for my liking, and usually end up with me bonking late in the ride. Personally, I prefer a Clif or Luna bar, some Kameda rice snacks, fruit, and water.

what I've found is that once I bust out the food, I have got to keep eating, otherwise I'll bonk.

[rOOster14]

go to your grocery store and buy dehydrated fruits. they are great. no added sugars, no mess, and they taste great. except i dont like the apricots.
-rOOster-

[akarius]

I like to eat as little pre packaged food as I can when I ride, baked potatoes are easy, and do they ever provide energy! I like to go to the bulk food store, and by all thier unprocessed seeds and nuts. I was wondering if any of you knew how to make an all natural bar, that could be easily carried on a ride? I suspect one would use honey or molasses as a binder, maybe mixed in with some oats? IMO that would be the best energy bar. Have any of you any recipie for such a thing?

[sbeatonNJ]

Pop tarts, snickers, fig newtons, oatmeal squares, granola bars, GU gel in plain is great, assorted energy bars, bananas ensure, cytomax, gatorade, and one that was not mentioned yet Yoohoo. Yoohoo is great and because its not chocolate milk but chocolate drink no upset stomach.

[sscyco]

2 hours and under = water
3 - 4 hours = water and a 200% mix of gatoraid (or equivilent)
over 4 - above + (cold weather) snickers, (warm weather ) trail mix (with dried fruit and MMs)

Plus I'm always well fed and hydrated before and after the ride.

[sm266]

Gummy bears
sliced oranges-I slice 1/2 into smaller slices and slip them into a zip lock. Then slide them under the leg elastic of my shorts.
apples
trail mix
cookies
snickers bars
Heck-I eat almost any REAL food. I prefer not to eat powerbars or cliff bars, although, I'll have the occasional gel to stave off the bonk. I eat pretty much the same on all long rides/endurance events. I've gone 100 miles on orange slices and sugar cookies.

[shreklookalike]

Energy sandwich:
Take 2 slices of whole wheat toast, spread peanut butter on one, honey on the other, sprinkle on some cinnamon and a handful of raisins then stick them together. Yummy.

[B10Cycle]

I like water, granola bars (Nutrigrains, Chewy Bars, but I personally prefer the Nature's Valley bars), bananas at times, sometimes Power/Clif Bars (but those get pricey).

Sometimes I'll eat a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I ride. I've heard those are very easy to digest. I just saw someone else mention peanut butter and honey with raisins, same kind of thing.

Bagels are also good.

I heard someone else mention V8. I love V8 as a drink when I'm around the house, but I'm pretty sure I would boot if I drank it while I was riding or exercising, but that may just be me.

I used to love to eat Pop-tarts, but they are terrible for you. They have SOOO many calories and they're just disgustingly sugary.

I like to eat Rice Cakes for breakfast, but I would imagine if I tried to take them on a ride I'd end up with a pocket full of dust. They're very low calorie and no fat so they do make a nice snack.

Craisins (like Raisins, but Cranberries, hence Craisins) are amazing. They're no fat and have a bit of sugar and carbs for energy and they taste great. Apples, clementines, and pretty much any fruit you like and can bring along is good.
These have worked well in my experience, but it probably depends a lot on how your body reacts and digest things. Try different stuff and experiment to see what works best.

[Galico]

On a recent double century, I took sushi rolls in my support vehicle. Salmon and Crab-kept on Ice in a cooler in bags wit h soya sauce. Perfect mix of Carbs,Protean and Salt. Slammed down about four each of the rolls at three rest stops. Kept them cold ate them fast. I used my hydro pack-it was hot and used around 220 oz of Crank Sports energy drink (www.cranksports.com), plus 64 oz cold water. Two 150 cal gels/hour and kept nibbling cliff bars and bananas and all day. I swear the Sashimi was magic, or maybe it was the rice. This ride was a "Rolling Picnic".
I finished strong, felt great and was totally salt encrusted at the finish.

[apmech]

I always carry a cliff bar and Carb-boom gel when I go out for a ride. Both are easy to eat and digest and taste good too!..

[Al.canoe]

I guess it depends on your objectives. Mine is to replace Glycogen/ATP as fast as possible as I'm most often on the bike for 4.5 or 5 hours when I road ride. I also like to recover quickly so I can be active later in the day or early the following day.

That all means I try to keep the fat very low and the carb to protein ratio at least 5 or more.

I mix it up between homemade Oatmeal cookie squares, a little fruit, energy bars (I like Odwalla), Bagels and Gells to try to stay around the correct ratio. I also "dope" the water with electrolytes (ERG) which adds about 80 cal of sugars/liter.

Al

[jsigone]

On my MTB i carry 2 gatoraid bottles, 100oz camelback and 2-3 powerbars

On my first road ride, I carried 2 water bottles and 3 powerbars, refilled half way through w/ one water bottle and poured gatoraid in the second bottle.

[caloso]

When I'm on the edge of a bonk, nothing works better than a good ol' fashioned Snickers. The only problem is that they're too melty to keep in a jersey pocket on a hot day. Clif bars aren't too bad if you can find a box on sale. I get them at Trader Joe's.

On a winter Saturday group ride (50 miles), I'll usually just take a water bottle and a Clif Bar to eat at the turnaround. On the way home, I'll stop at the bakery for a huge apple fritter.

[surfncycling]

Your body can process and use around 60grams of carbs an hour.

I've been eating 250 calories an hour on longer rides and it has helped me lose weight, and perform exponentially better on a day to day basis so experiment a bit and don't assume eating less on a ride is better. (I was eating about 125 calories an hour with bad results)

Oh ya, and if you want quick energy that doesn't kill you when its gone, I've found that absolutely NOTHING is better than maple candy.

[hi565]

I bring clif bars and two water bottles with a mix of powerade and water. I personally will never eat a different power bar other than clif I have used alot and they work and tatse the best.