Good answers here so far. I think it's hard for women to transition out of the mindset that sugars/carbs are bad and into the mindset that they're necessary for athletic performance.

On the bike I typically stay liquid unless I'd doing a double century. I use Accelerade (great because it also contains protein), Accel Gels and recently I have been using Carbo Pro/Carbo Pro 1200. CP1200 is good for when I'm over the sweet taste of Accelerade. The flavor is pretty mild.