Favorite Snack Food for Ride

I currently carry about 6 pounds (21000 kCal) of lipid reserves that should see me through 465 miles of cycling if necessary. There are a few hills where I would need carbs but I generally stay in the aerobic zone and cannibalistically auto-snack.

The chewy Nature Valley bars are probably good. I used to like the Nature Valley crunchy bars but they went through a disappointing evolution. First they were too hard to chew so they reduced the amount of "hardener" (probably sugar), which made them very friable. They solved that problem by adding a bit of moisture, making them seem stale. To keep the moisture in, they added a plastic layer to the packaging, making them impossible to open without crumbling. Hello, Nature Valley, have you heard of focus groups?

Brian

I used to have the Kind brand bars - dark choc and salt something or other. Pretty good. I never ride far enough to be too worried about snacks anymore though. When hiking I take bars, nuts and dried fruit.

Last summer, when I couldn't get the Kind bars, I made my own with packet of mixed nuts, crushed up a bit, fried in butter with chia seeds and almond flour, sesame seeds and melted dark chocolate, cacau powder and peanut butter. They needed a good chilling before eating and melted easily once they were out of the house. Nice experiment but not practical. And I doubt they were that much cheaper than buying the bars anyway.

I just get a cheaper variety now from local supermarket and they arent quite so good, but they do the job. Kind started off at an ok price and also 4 big bars per pack, then they went to smaller bars and charged them same price.

Good one! Sadly, they don't sell them on this side of the pond. Of course, they would magically transform into a cookies if they did.

Cheers
Jim

I make my own granola bars (oat flakes, soft brown sugar, peanut butter, assorted dried fruits - dates are good, chocolate chips). Once made, I wrap them in parchment-backed aluminium foil and freeze them. Depending on how long a ride I'm on I'll stick one or two in my pockets to fuel me at intervals.

Alternatively, a small bag containing salted peanuts and raisins to graze on is quick and convenient.

But of course, no ride is complete without a pub stop for lunch! This weekend I went on a longish circuit around the Yorkshire Dales and stopped off at a pub called the New Inn, in Appltreewick (between Burnsall and Bolton Abbey, in Wharfedale). Apart from providing traditional Yorkshire chips (fried in beef dripping) and an excellent selection of draft ales from local breweries, the landlord has an excellent display of steel bikes, hanging from the ceiling of one of the bars. These didn't include a Viscount, but did feature a Dawes Galaxy, a Holdsworth, a Claud Butler, a Merckx, and a newly restored Cinza Adorni.