Ya, it was my try at humour....on some fourms I wouldnt be kidding. but here its layed back....

The big thing with the gels is that it sits in your stomache better then a solid. plus is easier to take on the bike/run, it is really easy to do while riding at full speed(aslong as it is a straight away).

If you have been training with cliff bars, dont try something new. What works for you could totally mess you up. If it works it works.

With the coffee thing. I have heard that green tea is a great replacement for that. Not as much cafeine, but alot less chance of it upsetting your stomach.

Oh, and I am kinda biased(on the training thing). I am 21, live on my own, but stay ay my parents house on the weekend(friends there, work here). They are training for an ironman. Plus, me and my siblings have always been into competitive sports of some sort, so my parents could do it easy.

Like I said, the best way is to play with nutrition on training, so if you bonk hard on a new bar/gel, and thats the only change, then you know not to use it. In this position, like I said, stay on the bars, your body is used to them. Be carefull about drinking too much water at the end of the bike(to much will make it slosh in your stomach, which makes you sick....I bonked because of this once). Other then that man, you seem to have a fairly good working knowlege of basic nutrition. Just need to fine tune it. Best of luck in the race, let us know how it goes...