Banana Math

Bananas keep coming up as the ideal mid-ride snack, and the math actually holds up. One medium banana is sitting right around 27 grams of carbs — close enough to a gel that it’s worth thinking about as a substitute, except you’re not chewing through something that tastes like medical-grade syrup. My gut handles them better than gels on longer rides, which I can’t say for everyone but seems common enough. The only real problem I’ve run into is arriving at hour two with a jersey pocket full of mush. Hard-sided pocket or eat it early.