What snacks do you take with you when you go cycling?

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Anonymous1502

Well-Known Member
I usually take some sort of a cereal bar (I like the kind cereal bars taste wise) or a banana along with 2 bottles of water.
 
I usually take a custard and cream or raspberry ripple Torq energy bar or some jelly babies or similar.
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Cereal bars, but also the nut/fruit bars that Aldi sell. I also carry dextrose tablets for emergencies. For drinking one 750 ml bottle with lemon squash.
 

Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Around a hours ride - just a waterbottle
Longer rides - a further waterbottle with one or two high 5 tablets in it depending on how tough it will be, and a fruit/nut bar for each hour of expected riding. If its over lunchtime cheese sandwiches and an apple as well.
 
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Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
On my short loop (13 miles/60mins) - nothing
On my (23 miles/90 mins) - half a bottle of water and may take a mouthful or two
if 2hrs or more, then water bottle + cereal bars.
if 3hrs or more and planned, would probably stop for a coffee at the half way point.

Don't do all day rides any more, but if I did would take additionally sandwiches, banana etc and have a stop somewhere as well or it would be an organised sportive and there would be food stops along the route.
 
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I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
Nothing drinkwise for an hour's riding and nothing to eat unless the ride is getting close to 3hrs or more.
My commute is an intense 10 mile each way trip that takes 40 minutes and never even consider a water bottle for this no matter how hot the weather gets.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Nothing drinkwise for an hour's riding and nothing to eat unless the ride is getting close to 3hrs or more.
My commute is an intense 10 mile each way trip that takes 40 minutes and never even consider a water bottle for this no matter how hot the weather gets.
If you're not drinking on a 40 minute "intense" ride it ain't intense. Try harder
 
If I'm out for less than an hour, then just a bottle of water, plus I always have haribo and mints in the bar bag anyway.

Over an hour than I'll take a banana and maybe a pack of mini cheddars as well as the water. 20 miles seems to be the max I can do without a snackette on hand.

All day or half a day, then a minimum of one 750ml bottle plus a cheese sandwich or two, crisps, a pain au chocolat, banana, tangerines. Just depends where I'm going, whether I intend on socializing and the sort of riding I will be doing. Plus how hot (or not) it might be.

I find savoury tends to hit the spot better than sweet most times, though fruit gives a good boost. Gels and bars are not my kind of thing.
 

Twilkes

Guru
I love flapjacks and stuff like that but find they don't really give me enough of a boost when I'm riding hard or for 4+ hours; most savoury things don't really do much for me and I struggle to eat them on the move. The last most successful ride was fuelled by Ribena and Lovehearts, because I'm basically a ten year old girl on the inside.

When I did slower touring I would eat anything though, and preferably like a horse.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
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Twilkes

Guru
How many energy bars do you take with you? How much food is too much food?

A person can only absorb 60-90g of carbs per hour, depending on what those carbs are, so you don't want to eat more than that. The first energy bar I found, SIS, had 26g of carbs in a 40g bar, so theoretically 2-3 of those per hour would keep a rider going if they were riding hard. Most people have different sources of energy though, including sometimes in their drinks bottles, so likely wouldn't eat that many. Little and often is best, so if you only have one energy bar then break it into four and eat a piece every 15 minutes or so.

If you're not riding hard though, normal meals and a couple of snacks inbetween would keep you going all day. Best to experiment on what works for you, if you've never bonked, i.e. severely run out of energy, it's worth doing it once just so you know what the warning signs are!
 
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