I want to present a careful and fair review of ReadyBar. My experience is based on five long-ish bicycle rides, four fueled by ReadyBar and one fueled by a typical sandwich lunch. I ride with the Grizzly Peak Cycling club, which has more than 900 members and sponsors multiple rides in the Bay Area each day of the week. Serious riding, although the club’s motto is “Ride to eat, eat to ride.”
Ride One
A 35-mile ride to the top of Mt. Tamalpais, towering over the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County ridgelines. Starting in Mill Valley, California, the ride quickly climbs and climbs and climbs up the mountain. We stopped for lunch at the halfway point, 20 miles up. I ate one ReadyBar and drank water. That’s it for nutrition. No “energy bars”, goo packs, or other calorie blasters. After the descent from the mountain top to Alpine Lake, the route presents a long, exposed climb up the slopes of the watershed. I felt fine on this difficult stretch, and on the twelve miles back to the starting point, culminated by one last climb. No bonking.
3:05 riding time
35 miles
Vertical climb: 3,270 feet
Calories burned: 1,900
Ride Two
Another Marin County ride, from Petaluma to Tomales, then back via Chileno Valley. A beautiful ride with numerous climbs, descents, and rolling West Marin hills. Again, lunch was at the halfway point, 21miles in. I ate one ReadyBar and water. The ride is scenically lovely, but geographically challenging. It’s hard work. But I felt good. No stuffed feeling, no post-lunch bloating or lethargy. And no sugar crash 15 minutes later, like a goo pack. Lots of energy on the fast ride back.
3:10 riding time
43 miles
Vertical climb: 2,500 feet
Calories burned: 2,139
Ride Three
This ride was along the excellent Bay Trail system on the East Bay side of the SF Bay. Almost entirely flat. This time, lunch was at a deli in Point Richmond, CA, where I ate a sandwich with water. In contrast to the rides fueled by ReadyBar, I felt stuffed after lunch. I felt bloated and lethargic compared to the rides with ReadyBar. I was burping lunch fumes for miles after lunch, which didn’t happen with ReadyBar.
2:30 riding time
32 miles
Vertical climb: 237 feet (minimal)
Calories burned: 1,304
Ride Four
Across the Point Reyes peninsula to Drakes Beach and back. Several climbs and lots of up and down. At the half-way point I ate one ReadyBar and drank water. That’s it for nutrition. No “energy bars”, goo packs, or other calorie blasts. I felt great and set a blistering pace back.
3:30 riding time
41 miles
Vertical climb: 3,722
Calories burned: 2,195
Ride Five
From Lake Temescal up and over the top of the Oakland hills, down Redwood Canyon, then back up over the imposing Pinehurst Road climb. I ate one ReadyBar and drank water. That’s it. I felt fine on the long climbs back up to the ridgeline overlooking the Bay. When he made it to the top of the climb up Pinehurst, a riding companion said, “I want what you had for lunch.”
3:19 riding time
40 miles
Vertical climb: 3,516
Calories burned: 1,441
Summary
After a thorough trial-by-fire, my take is that ReadyBar gives me “good clean energy.” The bars taste good, and their dense texture feels substantial without being too filling. In contrast to a typical sandwich lunch, ReadyBar does not give you a stuffed feeling, with no post-lunch bloating or lethargy. And no sugar crashes after 15 minutes, like goo packs or “energy bars”. The bars are sturdily packaged and compact enough for a jersey pocket. ReadyBar is now my go-to nutrition choice for high energy 3+ hour work-outs like distance bike rides.
