jim10040

How do I find recipe lists for the calories needed on a long ride? There are plenty of recipes for fruit/nut bars, but they seem to concentrate on low calorie content. Any ideas for what would be good for this kind of endurance energy? Backpacking snacks?

antimonysarah

If you enjoy acquiring cookbooks, Allen Lim's Feed Zone Portables is a really pretty book and a lot of people like the recipes. (I just picked it up, so I haven't tried anything in it yet.) I think there's a lot of overlapping with hiking snacks, although a lot of backpacking foods/cookbooks are more aimed at stuff you can carry without refrigeration and cook on a backpacking stove for real meals, as opposed to eat-on-the-go.

StephenH

If all you want are high calories, backpacking stuff should work fine.

There's lots of variations on what people use. I don't normally eat while I'm riding, I stop for that, so there's not a lot of motivation to carry everything with me. If you're consuming it while on the bike, it's actually handier to use liquids. If you're randonneuring, you need to stop at stores anyway, so you might as well get stuff there as to carry it. If you're doing charity rides, they normally have plenty of food available at rest stops, so no need to carry it there. A snack's not heavy, but if you start carrying food for a day, you have extra weight and volume to deal with.

unterhausen

I don't carry much food, although I have contemplated carrying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Peanut butter is amazingly high calorie. For the most part, I buy chocolate milk and some form of candy if I'm calorie deficient.

I have converted over to using a 6 part carb/1 part protein mix in water. Considerably cheaper than perpetuum. In the summer, I use a hydration pack so that I can use my water bottles for food. In the winter, I don't have that problem.

Carbonfiberboy 

There's the commercial stuff like Perpetuem, Sustained Energy, Spiz, that sort of liquid food, or make it yourself like I and others do. There's also Ensure and its clones. My wife uses that. Then there are all the variations on gels and shots. There's the old standby, Snickers. Otherwise, cruise the breakfast and energy bar aisle in the grocery store. There's a lot of stuff there that's not low-cal. I mostly eat on the bike. I just keep it coming, a little bit at a time. Sometimes I'll get a sandwich or fruit pie.

jim10040

That Alan Lim Portables book looks pretty good, especially if the recipes are as simple as it seems. I'm looking for a home made replacement for the Pemmican bricks I used to take with me on backpacking trips. Those things were dense and sort of tasty, and to wash one down took about a quart of water anyway. Snickers bars and Slim Jims are ok, but greasy food has an unfortunate effect on my system. Sandwiches can be pretty good, but I want more ideas, something that will fit in my camelbak pocket.

Machka 

Go to a grocery store and walk up and down the aisles. There are lots of options in most grocery stores.

antimonysarah

Yeah, if you enjoy DIYing it, you'll like the book. I mostly buy my biking food, because my free time for bike-related cooking and my free time for riding are one and the same.

Heathpack 

These are great to eat on the bike because they are chewy rather than crumbly. The recipe is from the chef Mark Bittman. Sometimes I make larger batches, cut, wrap individually and freeze. I cut mine into 11 bars rather than 16-20 as the recipe suggests. The calories when cut into 11 bars are 215 cal each. I also make the granola for these bars, recipe to follow.

Bittman Chewy Granola Bars

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 1 1/2 hours, largely unattended | Servings: about 16 to 20 granola bars. | Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup crispy brown rice cereal
• 1 cup granola
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Vegetable oil for greasing.

Directions:

1. Put almond butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until they melt together; whisk to combine.
2. Put the crispy cereal, granola, almonds, apricots and salt in a bowl and add the mixture of almond butter and honey; stir well to combine.
3. Grease a 7- or 8-inch-square baking dish with a little oil and line it with plastic wrap. Spread the granola mixture evenly into the dish, pressing down gently, and cover with more plastic wrap; refrigerate until set, at least one hour. Once set, remove by lifting the edges of the plastic wrap out of the dish; peel off the plastic and cut the bars to any size you like.

Heathpack 

This is the granola recipe I use to make the granola bars in the previous post. Obviously one could also use store bought granola.

[h=2]Bittman Crunchy Granola[/h]Prep Time: 5 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins | Servings: 16 | Difficulty: Easy
[h=3]Ingredients:[/h]

• 6 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
• 2 cups mixed nuts and seeds: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds or cashews
• 1 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut, optional
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
• Dash salt
• 1/2 to 1 cup honey or maple syrup, or to taste, I prefer the lesser amt of maple syrup personally
• 1 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit, optional

[h=3]Directions:[/h]1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine oats, nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and sweetener. Place on a sheet pan and put in oven. Bake for 30 minutes or a little longer, stirring occasionally. Mixture should brown evenly; the browner it gets without burning, the crunchier the granola will be.
2. Remove pan from oven and add raisins or dried fruit. Cool on a rack, stirring once in a while until granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.

Myosmith

Lots of recipes for "energy" bars online, but depending on the type of ride and distance you are riding, you are looking mainly for something that has a combination of simple and complex carbs and maybe some fats. Some protein won't hurt, but don't concentrate on it for on-bike fueling.

My old standby is a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie. There is some form of sugar (table sugar, honey, molasses, etc) as well as sugars in the raisins, complex carbs in the oats, and some form of fat (margarine, butter, vegetable oil) all included in most recipes. I find that making them as bars and then cutting them into small rectangles to wrap individually makes the physical form more bike friendly. The typical thin, flat cookie shape tends to become granola after not too long on the bike. Most recipes call for salt. You can use a salt blend or use half regular table salt (sodium chloride) and half NoSalt or similar substitute (potassium chloride) to provide some electrolytes. If you replace part of the flour with ground almonds you can get small amounts of calcium and magnesium as well and it helps keep the cookies moist and provides a bit of extra fat.

Another advantage of making these as bars is that you don't need a lot of fat in them (which is what makes cookies spread when baked) so a lower fat version is easy to make. You don't need a lot of fat, but for long rides, I find that it reduces the frequency that I need to eat to keep my energy up.

On group rides, I've seen other riders bring (and sometimes share) brownies, banana bread, or other forms of bars. One of the best ever was homemade fruit leather (like Fruit Rollups) that was a berry/apple mix.

anyride

Food/calorie consumption while on a long ride is a very personal issue. What might work well for one person, can turn another's stomach inside-out. Liquid calories such as Perpetuem do not sit very well with me. One exception would be Ensure. I've tried to emulate other's eating habits while on the bike, and have had mixed results. It's taken years of experimenting, and I still don't always get it right. My point... take your time and ease into new foods. I've learned the hard way with new foods on big rides. Stick with what you know works on big milage days.
c

Dave Cutter

If your thinking homemade... bake some cookies. Carry along a banana or apple. Put green tea in a water bottle with a couple spoonful's of sugar (or honey).

Weatherby

This is not an easy question because it depends on what you mean by a long ride, weather, and your chemistry/stomache.

Short rides (say under 60 miles) generally require no calories on the bike but having a nasty powerbar in the pocket makes sense because I would only eat it if bonking. If I bring tasty homemade stuff, I know I will eat them. SO, no tasty stuff for me on short rides.....just survival food.

Medium long rides(say 100K to 200K) is also pretty easy in most weather conditions for fit cyclists. Eat 200-400 calories each and every hour. Whatever looks good. Banana. PBJ. Oreos burn good. Fig Newtons are popular with certain folks. I steer clear of nuts on rides. I try to minimize wheat. No real significant protein requirements.

Beyond that, it gets personal and complicated. Experiment. Don't drink too much or eat too much as bloating and stomach issues seem to rear their ugly head somewhere in the longer distances. Steady is important. Keep electrolytes up.....salt, magnesium, and potassium and staying properly hydrated is a challenge. Sometimes stopping and eating a real meal does wonders.....like chicken and mashed potatoes and then ride slowly for a while. Rice is nice. I prefer some protein, it seems the body wants it. Only so long does the sugar in the bottles work or is tasty. In terms of fats, I am a fan of MCTs and add them to my homemade brew.

Gdogpdx

Here's just a few of the many portables that I have experimented with. Personally, staying fueled is critical for me. As soon as I start to get a slight hungry feeling I know it's important to get caloric intake going otherwise you lose energy fast. I use drink mixes very judicially and never start out with them.
1. Hard boiled eggs
2. PB&J
3. Jerkey
4. tuna
5. pepperoni
6. KIND bars

k7baixo

Fig newtons works for me. YMMV of course.

Machka 

I've used them, but I prefer certain ones of a huge selection of granola bars found in most grocery stores. We try different ones to see what we like and don't like.

the engine

I use bars like Clif Bars, or oatmeal raisin cookies, brownies, peanut butter/banana sandwiches, ect.

But, after about 100k I find it more difficult to eat on the bike, so I took an idea from my cousin while he was riding the RAAM ...

I use 16 oz. plastic bottles with large openings like you find in the grocery store paper/plastics aisle. I put in two or three packets of oatmeal (usually raisin/brown sugar or apples/spice), then I fill bottles with water. I get excellent complex carbs, simple carbs and some protein, with very little fat. It also provides water with each feed. Be sure to shake bottle before drinking or you'll get mostly water. I find it easy to swallow, and it keeps me going between controls/stops where I can get a sandwich, cookies or cakes. I also carry a few packs in my bag/jersey pocket to refill if needed at the last control/stop ... works really well for that final 30-40k, keeping energy easily topped off for the "bonsai run" to the end.

Like someone else said, I only use PowerBars, Gels for quick energy if I feel like I'm bonking (on shorter rides). Perpetuem and Ensure types of drinks don't work for me. They don't agree with my digestive system. I find "real" food works best on long rides, although sometimes I have to stop and eat a meal, rather than just quick foods on the bike.

My $.02

ronocnikral

one thing I'm incorporating from ski touring is packing around some vacuum insulated thermoses. One gets my home brewed ginger tea (ginger, lime and honey) and the other gets a soup of some form. The soup usually is packed with protein and salt (which I sometimes have a hard time consuming enough of) - quinoa, ginger, garlic, shredded chicken, home brewed chicken stock. Sure, it's added weight - I'm working on my spare tire around my waist and then I'll worry about everything else on the bike. I will say though, during this time of year in my area, it is an excellent idea to have some hot fluids. I was fine when I left my house around 5500'. Once I got up between 8000' - 9000' it was freezing and some hot fluids saved me. I'd stop, pour a little soup or tea straddling the bike, spend 3-4 mins (so not to cool down too much) and then hit the road.

Of course, I get a bulk of my carbs from cytomax.