Food. Eating. Fueling. Important stuff for all of us, but cyclists seem to have their own distinctive obsession with food. We eat to ride and ride to eat, yet what to eat while riding is often a quandary. Energy bars are convenient jersey pocket and tummy fillers but many have a highly processed appearance, if not reality, and for the picky eater that’s not so appealing. My diet at home consists mainly of fresh, whole, organic foods so I resort to energy bars only out of necessity — PB & J has just never traveled well in my jersey pocket.

I just tried a sample of Pro Bar, a new up-and-coming brand of energy bars, which offers a great alternative to PB mush in the jersey pocket. First impressions: beautiful wrapper, with lots of fruit and sure enough the ingredients list does include fruit juice and dried fruit but it’s also packed with other certified organic ingredients: seeds and grains and nuts and spices. It’s an appetizing little bar: you can see and indentify the dried fruit, seeds, rice, nuts, oats — appears to be a great little smorgasbord for the healthy eater.

Second impression — the taste test: Pro Bar is a dense, filling bar that tastes much more like a healthy homemade treat than a processed packet of who-knows-what. It has a lot of nutty texture, is lightly sweet, slightly chewy. Yes, it tastes good, perhaps too good. Although one bar is filling the taste leaves you wanting another. I imagine that it would go down quite well in the middle of a tough ride, and for size and density of the bar (about 3”x3”) do a great job of warding off the hunger pains and fueling muscles.

Now, here’s the really good news. Bike Gallery is getting its first shipment of Pro Bar just in time for our big Spring Sale. That will give you a chance to sample these new healthy treats at a discounted price. The bar usually sells for $3.29 — yup, a little expensive, but they are organic, very filling, and have more energy packed in them than other energy bars. During the Spring Sale, April 2-5, they are marked down to $2.29 — a full dollar off. So, I say sample them, but I would really suggest stocking up during the sale, especially if you prefer real, organic food as your ride fuel of choice.

Bon Appetit!