Isn't RAIN this coming Saturday ?

Well, you said you've tried it on short rides without any problem (but not saying anything about the distances covered in these short rides).

The thing is, you don't know yet how you'll react to it over the course of a long ride, say, over 100 miles, and this weekend would be a heck of a time to find out if it disagrees with you over the long haul.

We can give you all sorts of anectdotes, but the reality is you'll just have to find out for yourself how well it works for you.

If I were you, I'd stick with whatever form of nutrition you've used on your previous long rides. If you like solid food, stick with solid food for this weekend's ride. I'm assuming there will be plenty of SAG stops to keep you fed?

You'd be better off saving your experimentation for long, non-event rides.

One thing I would recommend is Hammer Gel. That stuff's great when you need a pick-me-up. I've used it with regular food (in my case, bagels, payday bars, and whatever else might be in front of me - I like food too )