taking in gel on your bike

What kind of gels do you use?  Some are thicker than others.

For races I use powergel because they are very wattery.  I tape them to the top tube of my bike so as I grab the pack and pull it from the frame, it opens up automatically.  Squeeze the contents into my mouth, wash down with some with quality h2o and move on.

You don't need every single last drop out of the container.  

If this is an issue, maybe look into EFS Liquid Shot.  They come in a 5oz reusable container and has about 400 calories per bottle (equivalent of about 4 gels).  Store is in your jersey pocket or bento box and take a swig every hour or so.

http://www.firstendurance.com/nutrition/efs-liquid-shot.html

Have you looked at Hammer Perpetuem?  Two scoops of it is 270 calories.

Mix up a separate bottle of it for as many calories as you'd need, just as you would for a gel flask, and nurse it through your ride. Supplement your hydration with plain water from other bottles on your bike.  My opinion: skip the Orange-Vanilla flavor. It's not good, even cold.  Just go with the Cafe Late

Basically, a gel flask would be the same concept... it has 'x' number of calories per measured amount; you would just fill it with the proper amount for your bike segment and mix with water to have a concentrate.

I do the exact same thing as Bobby Boucher... errr Adam.

Water sucks! Gatorade is better.

That's my bigget issue with GU... I like 'em but they are the consistency of cake frosting... forget about using them in the winter.

Moma says Gatorade is from the Devil!  And besides that, Vicki Vaillancourt recommends you stock with the high quality H2O

I often just have granola bars (chewey or crunchy) and even go for Fig Newtons from time to time.  I simply wash things down with the liquid.  I get some calories from the liquid, some from the solids.

I'm intrigued how one cuts their lip on a gel packet?! Is there more to the story?

This. The only drawback with this is that you sometimes end up with tons of tape gunk on your frame. Be religious about cleaning it off with Goo-B-Gone, etc. 

+1.  I use Clif Bars and Gatorade Perform during the bike segment and that has been working out nicely for me.  1 bar (split into quarters) with liquid/hr.

I quit on gels quite a while ago.  It just seemed like during a hard workout or race they tasted like flavored mucus.  Plus it seemed impossible to choke a gel down without getting that sticky goo all over my fingers which ended up on my handlebars or shirt.  Yuck.

On the other hand, I absolutely love Cliff Blocks.  These are more like jelly bellies and come in multiple flavors.  The kick is not quite as quite as a immediate as a gel, but it's there.  The margarita flavor with sodium is spectacular.  I just put a rip in the top of the package,  tape it on my top tube and screen out the blocks one at a time as I need them.  

I use a gel flask for training and long-course. Actually, I lost my flask during IMAZ and I ended up taking gels from the course. Worked out very well, except that I had to buy a new flask afterwards.

I don't worry too much about how much I take in. A mouthful is about the same as a regular gel pack, maybe a little less. I only do rough calculations for nutrition anyway. For training I generally prefer fruit, but on long rides I'll take a gel flask too.

I eat steak on the bike . j/k.  Just don't worry about getting all the gel out of the packet, switch to the energy blasts by powerbar use the performance powerbars. Perpetuem is also pretty good too which is what I used in my HIMs last year along with a performance powerbar and energy blasts.

I like the idea of taping the tops of the gel packets and ripping the top off by having the tape hold it there.

I gel on the bike with GU.

In cold weather I hold the gel in my hand for a while to warm and soften it up.

Nevertheless this is only in a race, on a training ride I don't nutritionize (up to 58miles) or stop and eat a stinger waffle. Or even eat a stinger while I ride (if I can get it open).