Hammer gel, Clif bars, Fig Newtons

I like Gu gels. Big Apple, Mandarin Orange and Cherry Limeade. Love Clif Bars as well. Pumpkin Spice, Cool Mint Chocolate and Crunchy Peanut Butter. Other snacks are strawberry Fig Newtons and bananas.

for "just in case" stuff (i.e. stuff it in my pocket in case I suddenly flag and fail) on a shorter ride, say 2-3 hours, then I quite like the Clif Bars (+1 for the peanut butter) and my go-to gel is the Torq ones, mainly because the Rhubarb Crumble flavour one is actually pleasant - whereas most others i've tried tend to be just like fruit-flavoured snot. For longer rides I actually tend to go with "real food" - make up small bite-sized sandwiches of ham/cheese and wrap them for transit (I sourced some foil-backed greaseproof paper which is brilliant for this.) I'm toying with the idea of making up a small batch of the Feedzone Cookbook Ricecakes from this recipe, if ever I actually get fit enough to do back to back 3+ hour rides again...

https://feedzonecookbook.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/feedzonecookbook_allenlimricecakes.pdf

Gu is my go-to gel, particularly the Root Beer and Salted Caramel flavors. Clif bars (especially the Peanut Butter), Gu Chomps, Honey Stinger Chews, and Honey Stinger waffles tend to fill out the menu. I never, ever ride without at least a Gu gel or two in my jersey pocket. I usually eat Clif bars pre- and post-ride, gels and sometimes waffles during.

Having said all that, I must reiterate what @kcjchang said: experiment with various products. You'll likely find some your stomach doesn't like as much. And whatever you do, don't use untested products during big events. Go with the proven.

What are you looking for? Calories? Caffeine? Electrolytes?

I like honey stinger ginsting gels and powerbar gels w/ caffeine. But that's based on what I want out of a gel. I also like rice crispy treats.

Started drinking BCAA about an hour before my long rides. I then have a bottle with HYDRALYTE (similar to SKRATCH LABS) as it has a higher sodium content and carbs so it is not sweet like regular sports drinks. This is all supplemented with a couple of GU's and a BE NATURAL trail bar. I have found that this is more than enough for a 4 to 5 hour ride.
For commutes BCAA in my bottle is more than enough for the hour.

brocantrs wrote: »

Just wanting to prevent the "bonk". It happened to me a while ago but never again after I started drinking Gatorade and taking a peanut jelly sandwich with me. Looking for something more compact. I appreciate all of the good advice!

The most "compact" will be to add cals to your water. Gatorade is fine, or any of the other zillion options out there (just make sure there is calories in it... there are some low cal options now that wouldn't be as effective for you). As for food, granola bars, PayDay candy bars, rice crispy treats, bananas, PB&J sandwiches... or any of the zillion options in the sports bar/gel market are good options. It's really about personal preference at this point.