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I also have been training for a difficult race and working on my feeding, trying different things to see what works for me. I used to think in terms of roast beef sammich, apples, cheese, etc, real food, but I was pretty consistently bonking after 3-4 hours.
This season I've been feeding myself with carbs at roughly 300 calories/hour. The difference is amazing and I'm able to do hill intervals after 4 hours. At first I was using sports bars but they are difficult to swallow after #7 or 8. The key is to eat frequently, I have 300 calories 15 minutes ahead of the ride, then 150 every 30 minutes.
Last weekend I tried a product called "Tailwind", its a carb powder that you mix with water and drink. Tasted good for the 7.5 hours of riding and I felt fantastic the entire race. It is expensive for sugar food, about $1/100 calories, so I'll only use it for important races.
If I were you I'd immediately start to explore the various modern endurance foods that are available to you, see if you can find one you like. Examples are: Perpetuum, Heed, CarbPro. I'm sure there are more. Try getting a few carbs in you at a more frequent interval, it worked wonders for me. Being able to drink them is very convenient though mixing is a bit of a chore.
The other thing is that its pretty much impossible to eat too many electrolytes. Your body is great at removing excess salt, but its important you have enough.
The triathaletes at slowtwitch.com are fanatical experts about feeding. Research there.
Good luck!
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