Have been making my own power bars for ages... honey, peanut butter, oats, raisins, dried fruit, and nuts in what is a simple recipe.

Supplies the range of sugars you need for short energy bursts (honey) and more complex carbs for extended efforts (oats), peanut butter and nuts provide a moderate amount of protein and fat which are good for recovery and the dried fruits and raisins provide some additional sugars as well as other nutrients.

Figured he cost to make my own is about 50 cents a bar and find them for more satisfying taste wise and leave me feeling more sated than energy bars and gels.

For a day long ride I will pack these and fruits like bananas which I eat early on and apples which are good later in the ride and start my day with hot oatmeal so will usually be good for a few hours before I need to recharge with a bar.

Will agree that real food is best... the supplement industry is huge and they work hard to convince you that you need high tech foods to perform at a high level and these tend to be rather costly.

Fig Newtons are great and you can find organic ones that have no HFCS or added sugars... figs in themselves are a super food and are even better fresh.