jasony0423

Pretty much exactly that. All the different brands claim to be the best. I've tried a few, and some are horrible. Clif bars seem good, they're organic, which is good, and the choclate brownie flavor is decent. I also tried the carrot cake flavor, and wasn't as impressed. Are these the way to go, or is the gel stuff best? Barring that, is it all just overrated, and I'd be fine with just a 50 cent Snickers bar...

fauxto nick

Well calorically and content wise they make HORRIBLE snacks, all of them. They're a great food to eat during long periods of exercise, or even as a recovery food if you can't get a meal after your work out (like having to hop in the car and drive home after a race).

As far as a day to day snack, I think it's a pretty poor choice nutritionally and financially. They have a lot of sugar, and some are a bit high in calories. All things your body needs during intense exercise, but not when you're at work or jumping around town. For most people a Cliff Bar or Powerbar as a casual snack will spike your blood sugar and you'll end up hungry quicker compared to other snacks (fruits, nuts, vegetables etc).

So when you say snack do you mean on or off the bike?

As far as solid food on the bike my personal choice is Cliff Bar, but ideally I prefer taking my calories in via fluid like Perpetuem.

jasony0423

Sorry. I meant while riding for over an hour, not while sitting at my desk at work. At work, it's cucumbers and hummus.

fauxto nick

Ahhh ok sorry to jump to conclusions.

As far as over an hour I'd say that might be a bit premature, your body has enough glycogen stored in your muscles to power your body for about 2 hours or 1.5-2k/cal w/o bonking out. So it's really after the two hour point you need to dive into eating. BUT many people on here would agree it's good to start eating from the start if you plan on riding over 2 hours so that your pancreas and body is already processing food and you don't suddenly shock it with food after two hours causing your blood sugar to most likely spike. That being said to each their own and you know your body best.

Like I said I personally like Cliff Bar and I came to this conclusion by eating a mix of cliff bars and power bars on several 5-6 hour rides. I'd switch up and I noticed a far smoother release of energy from the cliff bars, where as the Power Bars typically left me hungry by the end of the hour most likely because there are more complex carbs in a cliff bar.

Once again though I lately have preferred drinking my calories via Perpetuem and maybe having some solid foods towards the end of the ride to switch it up. Your best bet is experimenting, ideally you want to shoot for an energy food that is around 220-260 calories and has a little bit of protein ESP if you're going longer than 3-4 hours because at a certain point your body WILL start using protein as your body runs low on it's stores of glycogen. For awhile I rode long distances w/o taking in sufficient protein in the latter hours of my ride and would get muscles cramps.

cshell

fauxto nick

I raise you:

kindablue

^ Biggest Cliff bar ever.

I have yet to go on a ride over 4 hours but I am a giant fan of fruit, peaches are good right now. When I am pressed for space I snack on a cliff kids fruit rope. Not very many calories but gives the body a few carbs.

That being said I also like cliff bars, however I have a weaker stomach and they feel quite "heavy" to me. Especially the builder bars.

DigiK

+1 Cliff Bars after also trying out numerous energy bars during and since college. You'll never see me skiing, cycling, or working out without one in the back pocket. TJ's Fruit bars are also a quick, natural source of quick carbs on the go.

fauxto nick

Those low calorie carb based things are great to get a perk on say a 3 hour ride, typically I'll try and give myself a little blood sugar bump and a few calories if I'm going hard for 3 hours but once you push past that 3 hour point if you haven't been fueling right most people will start to fall apart, I know of course there are people out there that can just go and go off almost nothing but I'd say the bulk of people will start to fatigue, it's just science.

tubescreamerx

Larabar

fauxto nick

Yes! Esp if you have a weak stomach, I think smaller people who need less calories would really enjoy these, for me they're not substantial enough. Best ingredients though, it's all the stuff I'd like to be able to eat on a ride but in the convenience of a bar.

clausen

A snicker may be fine for you everyone is different. I bring both gels and bars on +2 hr rides.

clausen

Those are great . But agree with fauxto nick I found them not substantial enough for on the bike. But perfect right after a ride before you can have a proper meal

fauxto nick

I gotta say a Snickers bar calorically and ingredients wise should be sufficient for anyone barring ppl allergic to peanuts or who are lactose intolerant. I guess the only downside is quality of ingredients but also a lack of complex carbohydrates. I'd expect a Snicker's bar would have a similar effect as a Power Bar does, at least for me.

mike868y

I normally eat Clif Bars, but today it was really hot out (90F+) and I couldn't bring myself to eat it. Just thinking about it made me sick.

Rupert

A couple of bananas, you can throw the peelings in a bush instead of carrying around a wrapper. As for energy bars, Cliff is my favorite by far.

Atol

STEVEtheEMT

spamushi?

do it

subframe

I go for the clif bar almost every time.

I'm addicted to the carrot cake, even though I actually think it's kind of gross. The gargantuan white chocolate/macadamia pictured above is much better. But an addiction is an addiction.

Pro Bars are also pretty good, but expensive. If you can find Pemmican Bars they're fantastic! They taste really good and are super calory-dense; a single bar is basically two clif bars... This can make them easier to pack for long rides.

But I still just eat Carrot Cake Clif Bars pretty much.

fauxto nick

Towards the end of my last 100 mile ride I need about 260 cal to make up the last hour and was out of perpetuem and frankly sick of it. I stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a protein naked juice HOLY CRAP. Probably the best thing I've had, the sugar helped my muscles as did the protein and the calorie count was perfect. I wish I had the money to have someone hand me off cold Naked Juice's out of a follow car on all my long rides.

mollusk

First of all why would anybody need to eat anything for a ride less than 100 K unless they are diabetic?

Secondly, everyone is different for what they can "stomach" while riding. You will need to experiment and find out what works for you. What works for me might make you barf (or wish that you could).

big john

All gels I've tried and most bars make me want to barf. I do like the Nature Valley bars, though.
The longer I do this riding stuff, the more I stay with regular food. I do a ride through the local mountains and stop for a small sandwich and maybe some crackers and get a Payday to go. I might start the ride with a bottle of Perpetuem and buy a Gatorade at the food stop. Works for my 8 hour ride.

fauxto nick

That's a pretty ridiculous statement. It's not about mileage it's about time, it might take some people over 3-4 hours to accomplish 60 miles while others in a pack could bang it out in 2-3. Most people WILL burn through their stored glycogen on a ride of that distance. Sure you can get away with not eating on a 62 mile ride, I've done it many times, but for people who might take longer to complete the distance the quality of that ride might degrade.

Sonoma76

tangerines.

small.

juicy.

fit like 4 of them in a jersey pocket

easy to peel with your teeth

juicy

yummy

taste so damn good

throw skin onto side of road

did I mention juicy?

mollusk

The slower you go the LESS you need muscle glycogen and the more you can access fat stores. Just sayin'.