Is there anything better?

I’d be hard pressed to find a better source of energy for a long ride that actually lasts. With 400 calories in one foil bag, that’s enough to take you up and over a serious mountain pass. Now imagine a box of them! That’s like buying a solid rocket fuel booster for your ride!

OK, I’ll concede that Power Bars come close but they’re just not the same. A Power Bar to me means I’m desperate. I’ve gone through my GUs, my granola bars, and Pop Tarts and there’s nothing else left. Out comes the Power Bar. I eat it as if I am chewing tobacco. Take a bite and shove it in your cheek. Repeat for the other cheek. Drink a flood of water and let the clumps in your mouth slowly soften up and dissolve. You’ll get your energy burst but it lasts only a little longer than a GU. Then you’re back to square one.

No, a Pop Tart is special. A Pop Tart will take you places. It will get you where you need to go and it lasts!

And I don’t accept imitations here! There’s a ton of no-name generic brands of “Toaster Pastries”. Garbage. They taste like cardboard and some smell bad. Trust me, Kelloggs got the formula down. After almost 40 years of sugary production, Kelloggs knows what it’s doing.

I have to admit that I didn’t stumble on them as an energy food myself. Arnie Baker isn’t shy about recommending them in his favorite food list. I met him once in passing while training for the Death Ride at the top of Monitor Pass. He was talkng to one of my riding buddies while I went into the wood to water the shrubs. Most people know him for his defense of Floyd Landis. I bought his ACE training book and found it useful. His website has more little nuggets to mine. Arnie’s pretty smart and he understands what the cyclist needs in order to stay powered. His advice and ideas are simple but effective. In some ways, its so simple that you think it’s kind of dumb but it’s not something most would figure out themselves. Well, at least I wouldn’t. Then again, maybe I am kind of dumb like that.

Pop Tarts… truely nothing else is better.