Krystian

Price is a bit steap, but more because I try to stay away from processesd foods, so food that comes in a goopy format just doesn't apeal to me. Oatmeal bars are about as processesed as I ussually go, and who doesn't like snickers once in a while. I think the bannana before ride, dried fruit and nutts will probabaly be what I go with. I have a few energy gells in case I really need the energy but perfer to use them as a last resort.

recursive

I'm partial to fruit snacks in pouches.

big john

Once on a long climb we stopped and we were all starving. One of the guys pulled out some slices of pizza and the rest of us thought about mugging him.
Something about climbing for hours on a cool day that makes you hungry.

StephenH

Chopped barbecue sandwiches are hard to beat when you can find them.
Pimento Cheese sandwiches seem to work well.
Consider Perpetuum.
Yellow Zingers with icing. Zero bars. Mountain Dew Throwback when you can find it.
Ride far enough and anything looks good.

saratoga

Salted mixed nuts, banananananas and dried fruit like apricots or pineapple work well for me on longer rides. I like clif bars, but they're too hard to swallow while riding because of the requirement to stop breathing. Normally I stick to liquids and gels during races.

I've also found nothing that kills the after-race headache from low bloodsugar and dehydration like Sam Adams.

mark1974

my tummy doesnt feel good when i eat artificial sugar, i can eat hundreds of fresh fruits and not have a tummy ache, but if i eat somthing where there is alot of sugar and its not from fresh fruits i get tummy ache. anyone the same?

LesterOfPuppets

I really miss Oskri Turkish Delight bars. Kinda seems like they stopped making them, though. Sold out on the website and @ Amazon.



Ingredients: 25% pistachios, 22% rice syrup, 13% apricots, 12% pumpkin seeds, 10% honey, 10% buck wheat, 4% amaranth, 4% crisp rice

Trailblazer3

2+ hours at high intensity -pb/banana/honey sandwich is my favorite. Quarter the sandwich up and nibble throughout the ride. I will also do clif bars in pinch. I will also supplement with EFS drink for electrolytes (I am a HEAVY sweater). I need a bigger food source like a sandwich on anything over 2 hours or I am flirting with a bad day in the saddle.

1-2 hours? Sport beans/energy gel or something in those lines. No need to get much heavier than that for me, even with hard intensities. Closer to an hour and I do not need anything unless I doing lots of hillwork or pushing LT/above LT. 1 1/2 hours is about as far as I can strech without at least a gel on slower-paced rides. I typically will gel every 45 min.

Its taken a lot of experimenting, but I have found the above has worked the best for my body.

FKMTB07

You ever have those crackers that are like orange cheese crackers w/ peanut butter sandwiched between? Basic concept, only better. Sounds weird, but tastes good. Only hard thing is eating peanut butter while you're riding hard -- can't breathe.

garciawork

I LOVE Honey Stingers personally. Its either that or Hammer Vanilla gel. And coffee.

TMonk

Perhaps what you are mistaking for "artificial" sugar is simply a product with sugar concentration greater than or equal to what is found in fresh fruit.

Remember, your body can't tell the difference between glucose/fructose/sucrose that comes from a plant, from a solvent extraction or even from a synthetic reaction.

To the enzymes in your muscles and the fauna in your gut, sugar is sugar is sugar.

sqharaway

Since the OP mentioned getting tired at 2.5 hours in, it's worth mentioning that at this point you really need to have consumed some protein, in addition to the carbohydrate-rich snacks others have mentioned. Nuts and whole grains (usually in an energy bar) work best for me on longer rides. If you regularly do these longer rides, you may want to consider a drink like Perpetuem, which is high in carbs, protein, and fat. I use it on any ride over 3 hours in length.

TMonk

^
True.

Your body demands amino acids in addition to carbohydrate monomers and fatty acids for fuel after this point.

If you don't provide your system with a supply of amino acids (AA's), it will provide some by itself by cannibalizing muscle tissue and breaking down proteins to their constitute AA's.
There isn't a huge metabolic demand for AA's relative to fats and carbs, but clearly it isn't an optimal situation and it is easy to eat some protein during a ride.

Cliff bars with 8g of protein are plenty for me. I take a little bite every half hour or so.

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