How to fuel while riding?
The thing holding me back on longer rides has been nutrition. After some experimentation, energy gels seem to be my solution. Load up on carbs ahead of the ride, first gel 45 minutes into the ride, and subsequent gels every 20 minutes. I'll need about 8 of them for a 3˝ hour ride.
My question is, how do people manage this without stopping? I've been keeping them in a handlebar bag, but maybe I need a different bag, because it's difficult to open and close with one hand. I need to extract a gel packet from wherever I'm keeping them, tear off the top, stow the torn off part somewhere without littering, consume the gel, and stow the trash. Are there handlebar bags which are better for this than the one I'm using? (If so, recommendations, please.) Jersey pockets? I haven't tried it, but eight packets seems awkward in a rear pocket, to say nothing of putting trash back there.
Also, a similar topic is water. My routes rarely have good opportunities to refill water bottles. A Camelbak-style reservoir solves the problem for me, but I understand it's some sort of roadie fashion faux pas?