While roadies tend to focus on weight and speed, gravel cyclists are all about adventure and snacks. Your run-of-the-mill bars, gels, and hydration mixes can get a bit old though, so why not fill up your handlebar bag with something you made yourself? We’re sharing our top 5 recipes that you can make ahead of time, along with a longer list of cycling snacks you can buy at the grocery store.
Skratch Labs not only makes amazing bars, drink mixes, and gummies, but they also have a wonderful food blog, as well as several cookbooks. We love their chocolate and sea salt sticky bites because they’re a bit different from rice cakes and can fit into small spaces. Even better, because they’re made with ingredients that have a high-moisture content, you’ll feel the effects of the energy boost faster. (Picture credit: Skratch Labs)
Want even more chocolate? Then try out these super food energy bars from This Rawsome Vegan Life. Just dump the ingredients into a food processor and press the resulting batter into a baking pan. After an hour in the fridge, you can top them with chocolate or leave as is for a packed treat of seeds, raisins, dates, and coconut. (Picture Credit: Rawsome Vegan Life)
If your pantry isn’t bursting with that many seeds and nuts, keep it simpler with these four-ingredient energy balls from EF Pro Cycling. If it’s good enough for the pros, it’s probably good enough for the rest of us. The team’s nutritionist also wrote a fantastic book called, The Plant-Based Cyclist, if you want more recipes from him.
Feeling like a little kid about to go on an adventure? Then why not keep your snacks simple and make some PB&J rolls! Just roll out your bread slices, slather on the peanut butter and jelly, and roll them up for a fun treat. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Extra points if you keep the crusts on. And thank you, Bicycling Magazine for making a video. We can do this! (Photo credit: Scott Nelson/Bicycling Magazine)
Brownies on the bike anyone? Who says you can’t have dessert while pedaling around. Thanks to this great recipe for chocolate, chia, and sweet potato brownies from Bike Radar, you can get your nutrients and your chocolate in at the same time. We promise everyone will be jealous when you pull these out of your handlebar bag.
Not feeling like cooking anything or don’t have time before your next big gravel ride? Swing by the grocery store and pick up a few of these items to make sure you have a blast and don’t bonk, because bonking in the middle of nowhere is way worse than doing it in the vicinity of a 7-11.
- Nuts (salted)
- Trailmix
- Jerky/Epic bars
- Pretzels
- Gummy bears (regular, sour, or worm-shaped)
- Goldfish crackers
- Mott’s fruit snacks
- Fruit jerky
Now that you’ve got your snacks sorted out, make sure you have a bag big enough to hold them all. Might we recommend our True Grit handlebar bag? Its semi-rigid construction means it can hold tons of good food. Plus, the fabric is stain resistant so you don’t have to worry if you get a little chocolate on it.
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