Are bananas still a good food to carry when cycling?
There is an interesting Q&amp;A on independent.co.uk (though it dates from 1995) talking about bananas and tennis...


  Q. Witnessing players at Wimbledon
  chomping their way through pounds of
  bananas between games prompts the
  question: who began this sporting food
  fad and are there sound nutritional
  reasons for the players' preference
  for bananas to other fruit or food. In
  what other sports (leaving aside lunch
  and tea breaks in cricket) do the
  participants eat during the course of
  play?
  
  A. The sporting fad for bananas was
  started by sports nutritionists such
  as myself. The banana is rich in
  carbohydrate - an important source of
  energy for athletes and has
  significantly higher levels than any
  other fruit. Also, unlike most other
  forms of high-carbohydrate foods, it
  contains very little fat but is also
  high in fibre. The combination of
  fibre with the banana's three natural
  sugars - fructose, sucrose and glucose
  - means it provides a sustained boost to flagging energy levels, thus so
  many players at Wimbledon were seen
  eating bananas.
  
  Bananas are also an excellent recovery
  food for replacing potassium lost in
  sweating, something most players must
  have been suffering from at this
  year's tournament. - Jane Griffin,
  Consultant Nutritionist to the British
  Olympic Association, London SW17


Sounds like it would be good for long bike rides as well.