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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on June 4, 2017 at 9:23am

Not talking specifically about the items you mentioned but more of a general conversation, I am not a big fan of the energy and recovery foods because I think they are, generally speaking, over-processed, potentially filled with preservatives and tend to be high in sugar. Also, I always go away from the long ride filled with energy snacks feeling sick and icky (and like I had too much sugar on a Halloween night). To a certain extent, they can be hard to avoid. When that's the case, I tend to go for chocolate-flavored Gu, gummies, and peanut butter old school Power Bars used sparingly. 

For the most part, I eat real food. If it's an unsupported ride, I enjoy having a lunch stop and eating real food rather than convenience store/fast food/energy snacks. I tend to feel much better afterwards and no stomach aftereffects. I've also packed food into the pockets of my kit - cheese and crackers, bananas, etc. A friend of mine swears by hard boiled eggs. There's also this cookbook for prepping for a long ride:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937715000/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_UOgnzb2RQ...

Skratch Labs Portables

I also really enjoyed their energy cookie mix. You can also find some great recipes on Bicycling Magazine's website if you do a little searching. 

As you can notice, I have a lot of opinions about this mostly because energy snacks made me queasy when using too much or for multi-day rides but good in a pinch (bonking). Also, I saw this documentary on sugar and it profiled an athlete that used those snacks and drinks a lot and ended up pre-diabetic and with other health issues. Scary.

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Permalink Reply by Tiberculosis on June 5, 2017 at 1:56am

Agree with Yasmeen. Real food options when possible. I am fond of the Skratch Labs stuff and the Portables book is very good. Larabars are probably my go to favorite, they're mostly made of dates (which are also good on their own.  I make these brownie bites which are good and small. Like blocks as opposed to gels. Going to experiment with Skratch's hyper hydration powder (lots of salt) on an upcoming endurance MTB race, hoping to use it only as a last resort. In terms of recovery, I tend to aim those long rides (5-6 hours) either ending somewhere where I can access real food or at home. Again, not a whole lot on the products you were asking about, more $0.02  

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