Well, just to underline the "everyone is different" theme, I generally have a peanut butter and honey sandwich with coffee as my pre-ride meal. Then I take two water bottles with Heed if it is under 3 hours and Perpetuum if the ride is longer. I limit on the bike snacking--it tends to make me feel sluggish. I'll take a gel along for emergencies and sometimes the club stops at a bakery that is too good to pass up--that's not really a nutritional requirement, but yum.