Discussion: Bars

In ~2008 I got a deal on Clif Bars and had a bunch of them and proceeded to eat so many that I am still scarred. Although not as scarred as from when I worked at Charles River Canoe and Kayak in 2000ish and ate the sawdust Nature Valley bars (they were free) to the point where I had a night of stomach cramps since eating sawdust is not a great idea.

Anyway, I've been pretty sold on Lara Bars recently. Their base is dates which seems more digestible than whatever the base is for Clif Bars.

Pretty sure the base for Clif Bars is particle board.

Yeah I think so. They're better than those Nature Valley bars (definitely sawdust) and remember Powerbars (probably asbestos, or maybe just apple cores and Chinese newspapers). Oh and Kind bars which are definitely backed by the dental industry.

We've come a long way with bars in the past few years.

Some day I will once again participate in activities long enough to require me to consume "bars".

I've got a funny story about the ingredients in gels, but I'm not going to sully this log with it (even though it's Ian's log). Feel free to ask me in person sometime.

Also, I spent a few minutes back in 199x chatting with the support crew for a guy who was running the fairly insane Badwater 146 ultra. He was in a pretty good position in the race at that point. He'd run a few miles, and his van would be waiting on the side of the road with a folding chair that he would plunk down on and be handed a bottle of water and a... pop-tart. Then he'd get up and they'd drive a few more miles down the road. It was working for him.

Pop-Tarts are amazing!

A few years ago I took one out in a carpool ride to a trail run. Maartje (who is Dutch) said "what is that?" and we explained and she was not impressed.

Are you blaming the ankle and eye injuries on the pop-tarts?

Charlie DeWeese had never had a pop-tart until sometime in the 1990s, though they were quite popular among the kids in his house. I don't remember the circumstances, but at some point he had at least a bite, maybe a whole pop-tart. His reaction was, "Yeah, that was pretty much what I expected".

Charlie is a perceptive chap.

I don't think I've ever had a pop-tart. Nothing I've read here makes me think I shoudl try.

I'm one of those rare people who actually puts them in the toaster sometimes.

I admit that I had sort of liked Powerbars. As long as they weren't cold. I definitely remember thinking that they must be good for me because otherwise they would taste better.

Some flavors were better than others, but my main memory is unfortunately from a Blue Hills Traverse when it was really cold and raining hard, and I grabbed a piece of PowerBar at an aid station. It was even worse than the Highlander incident when I grabbed a big handful of what I thought were M&Ms but turned out to be Skittles.

Oh man cold powerbars were the WORST.

I’m a fan of poptarts. And pb&js, cut into quarters. And goldfish. And cookies. Recommend _The_Feedzone_, if you’re into making energy food for yourself.

As far as stuff you can buy at the store, I like larabars. I like kind bars, the crunch makes them interesting. Old skool Chewy granola bars go down easy, too, but they’re so small as to make for extra trash to carry. Candy bars I find too sweet most of the time, but if you’re not supplementing with extra gummies/chews, a well-timed snickers is magic.

Pop-tarts have a tendency to turn into a bag of crumbs in transit. There's now a product called Pop-tart Bites that are six little pieces in a bag full of air, that are somewhat more durable. Lately I've been keeping them on my nightstand in case I wake up with a splitting headache and need something to eat so I can take medication.

Back in the day--hot days--you could attach powerbars to the inside gunnel of our 8s. And they would stick.