Originally Posted by delcrossv

things start clearing up when to go further west. There's a lot of good riding out in farm country just west of you. I wouldn't overthink it too much, you've gotten a lot of good advice but a seven hour century is certainly not a Herculean task. Have enough to drink, you'll probably find that you won't be eating as much as you thought you would. My main advice and ymmv, is to stay away from gels and the like and just eat real food. For me, at low intensity endurance rides I do a lot better staying away from short-chain carbohydrates. I don't eat them usually so I'm certainly not going to change my diet just because I'm on a bicycle. I don't have any problems eating animal protein on zone 1-2 efforts. I usually pack a ham sandwich for lunch.

Good luck and enjoy yourself! Distance riding is supposed to be fun not some sort of grueling trial.