I always, always, always bring some kind of energy bar with me on rides, even the 1hr high intensity rides I've been doing after work. I bonked completely one time, having felt hungry at 16 miles from home (last convenient place to get any food), and decided to risk it. I practically CRAWLED home, wanting nothing more than sleep, but a Snickers bar revived me (good thing it was around Halloween!)

Anything over about 90 minutes, I also bring at least one bottle of sports drink - I use Cytomax, since I know it works and it goes on sale at the local Performance store frequently.

Yesterday's 59 mile ride, I ate a banana before leaving, drank 2 x 24oz. bottles of Cytomax and ate one snack/nutrition bar. The last 2 hours of the ride, I would get a hungry feeling, and take a slug of drink, and every so often a bite of the bar, and I made the whole ride with no issues.

55 miles with diet ice tea and nothing to eat? That's nuts. Sorry, but do you really think your body can run on nothing but its own stores for 4 hours at that effort?

Well, I guess you know the answer now!