That's very interesting. Me too.

One year I was having it for breakfast and lunch too most of the time. I was also doing a lot of miles. I had my cholesterol level checked. It was 80 (eighty) ! The doc said that was OK.

Once in a great while I think the human body craves what it really needs on a sub conscious level. Sometimes it does not. ????

First I have a cup of coffee before walking the dog one mile. Then I have another coffee along with a pint of filtered water and a glass of orange juice. I keep a box of oatmeal at work and have a bowl of that and another coffee while reading my e-mail. Lunch is an apple, pear and bowl of soup, then just before the ride home I drink another pint of water and a granola bar. I think the water is more important than food for my 10 mile each way commute.

I was always kinda ascairt that eating breakfast before riding hard into work might make me hurl. Lately, been considering eating a small bowl of cheerios before heading out though...I get kinda woozy on the bike now if only I could get up early enough to do this...

I eat anything that doesn't move and smells good.

I do exactly as you, John. Can't speak for others, just me. I keep a little "gas" with me on the bike in case of emergencies (and it won't catch fire, either. ) I love to eat later...

Well it totally depends on how much I've eaten. If it's just a small bowl of cereal or something then I can head out in as little as 15 minutes. For optimal performance, I like to eat a big ol' breakfast about two hours before riding.

I also like to drink watered down orange juice, about a 50-50 mix. I-so-tonic, man.

It works exactly the same for me. I have had 50-50 juice or punch and water save me a few times at the end of a century too. Or as a bonk preventer. It's a big part of the picture before a morning commute if you don't have a lot of time between breakfast and leaving.

more than what is needed to keep your belly from grumbling, and not enough that I feel sick as my thighs pound into my belly (you would think that kind of motion would shrink my belly....).

Usually two microwave burritos will do, or similar.

Eating a big meal a few hours before riding should top off the sugar in your muscles and liver, while also providing plenty of freshly digested amino acids (protein building blocks that help restore muscle tissue) and even fats, which are important for energy in their own right. Two hours should be plenty of time to allow your stomach to be past the need for excess blood for digestion. Sounds like a plan, to me.

(Orange juice rocks. Much better/cheaper than bottled "energy drinks.")

-- I do not ride on a "full" stomach because it interferes with my breathing. In order to draw a deep breath, the diaphram has to drop well down. But if my gut is full, there is not enough room for the diaphram to drop. That limits the amount of air my lungs can inhale.

Experiment with what you like.
I being a diabetic and have only 25-miles round trip to commute, and I do ride aggressively. In the morning my sugar count varies. I found that I am okay without morning snacks until I get to work and shower. Then I will eat something at my cubical to hold me over until lunch. On the way back I have to be careful because my sugar count is at it’s lowest around 4-ish about an before I head home and I find that taking in some water-downed juice as I get dressed for the trip back gives me the fuel needed to aggressively charge up the one major hill I have. I eat some carbohydrates around lunch when I take the long way home and ride with fellow co workers. That is when I use up a lot of energy without realizing it.
I do sip water about every 10 to 15 minutes of my commute. On hot days I use a lot of water.

I rarely eat before 2 pm, but then my morning commute rarely exceeds 10 miles. I do have coffee. I'm also an oatmeal fan, but as my dessert after supper. If I do eat in the morning, I tend to be hungry all day. Even when I go on longer rides (30 to 70 miles) I don't start to feel hungry until I've been riding at least 2 hours, then I start nibbling. However, once the sun goes down, watch out! My Dad used to say I ate everything that didn't run away or get pulled away. I know that is completely against everything the nutritionist tell us, but I've never bonked. Of course I don't race.

I generally have about an hour from wake up to leave for my hour+ commute and in that time I have about 2 cups of coffee (on a good day) as my pre-ride prep. After biking to work, I eat an english muffin with some cream cheese, a yogurt, and more coffee (I'm a scientist and we're contracturally obligated to drink as much coffee as possible). I then snack on power bars, Baker's breakfast cookies, or frozen yogurt through the rest of the morning and later in the afternoon (plus as much water as possible). I pretty much always try to have a snack (something quasi-healthy like a power bar or the like) about an hour before biking home. That seems to work in that I'm not a total crank when I get to the house (from hunger, stupid drivers are another issue).

I'll have to try the 50/50 OJ/water thing tomorrow...

Because I commute at weird hours, I have a strange eating schedule... Generally I wake up at 4pm, shower, get ready for work.. ride 3 miles downtown, take the bus to work... I'll either eat then or eat later while I'm at work depending on how hungry I am.. Then I get off work at 3am and I'll usually get breakfast on the way home at a 24 hour restaurant, then ride the rest of the way home. On days in which I commute both ways, I'll generally commute a few miles, pick up something to drink and chug on that on the way in.. then eat right before I get to work. My commute is about 15 miles each way.