Thanks for all the very good advice, it's greatly appreciated.

Clifton, can you give me suggestions on what to eat during the ride other than powerbars and gels? I was expecting them to be my main source of food on the ride. Powebars, Cliff Blocks, gels, bananas, along with some HEED. I'm not planning to stop and do a full lunch, but keep dumping around 250 calories into myself every hour.

Scott