These recipes make great energy snacks for bike trips, and are high in carbohydrates. Homemade powerbar alternatives are far cheaper than store-bought cycling foods, and generally taste better, too.

Replenishing the carbohydrates and fats that body consumes on a ride can prevent you from wearing out on a long ride, just as riders replenish water as it is sweated and metabolised away. Snacking on high-energy foods to provide at least 250 calories per hour, as your body's supply of glycogen will otherwise give out after about two hours of brisk riding.

Carbohydrate-rich foods such as bananas and fig bars are popular, as hard riding depletes the body's comparatively tiny carbohydrate reserves rather than the for larger fat reserves one draws from when riding farther from your anaerobic threshold. Especially for a well-trained cyclist with a higher anaerobic threshold, you will eventually crave foods with more substance -- that is with more fat, to make up for what you've been consuming.

To help you sort out the great diversity keep in mind articles in the cycling nutrition section, and an article outlining the best snack foods for bicycling that we've come across, some tips about drinking, and reviews of energy drinks.

These recipes provide a good cross-section of carbohydrate-rich snacks with an energy density high enough to keep you pedalling. A good tip is to experiment with carrying more than one type of snack and allowing your body to decide which one it needs based on your cravings.

These recipes are an inexpensive alternative to the pricey commercial energy bars, and will also taste better.