stapfam

Dried fruit is fine as it also has a certain amount of carbo-hydrate aswell,. This is mainly what you need for energy. Sugar will give you a quick blast and is gone. Carbs take a while to be assimilated but for a longer lasting energy source- they are better. My carbs on a ride are cereal bars- Dried fruit- Cake- Marmite sandwiches and rice or pasta. I also take a little bit of cheese as protein and this seems to help me aswell. Mind you- a Mars bar or a packet of Fig Newtons does not go amiss either.

One Thing I never take are power bars. Constituency of cardboard- very artificial taste and the only good thing about them is the amount of water you have to drink to get it down the throat. I do use the gels though but if you need one now- you are about 20 minutes too late. It takes that long for it to get into the system and do its good work.