Nutrition or Stuffing Food in Your Face...Is this important?

Knackered today. Don't forget I did 88 miles yesterday, after a tough week. Plus, I developed a cough and sore throat within an hour or so of finishing. My family have all had the lurgy in the last 10 days, so now it's probably my turn. Worse, my son has got the vomiting virus in the last 24 hours, so lets hope that I don't succumb.

I've had a raging hunger for the last few days as I've been putting in the miles. I'm stuffing my face with food, trying to avoid sugary rubbish. Lots of cereals, pasta, milk, porridge, eggs, ham, tuna. And yet I went back to work today after a 10 day break and everyone thinks I'm looking skinny.

Nutrition is obviously as important as the actual training. My favourite food when I'm riding for over 3 hours are homemade flapjacks. I put honey and brown sugar in them, plus oats and butter. Ideally I need to find a substitute for the butter which is less fatty but tasty, AND will stick the oats together at room temperature. Some research needed. But, they go down well, are very chewable, and don't seem to upset my bowels. I've tried Tracker bars but they are hard to digest and a bit dry. I'm road-testing the SIS drinks, and apart from their 'sweetness' they seem to do the job. I hate the way my hands/gloves/handlebars get all sticky as the ride progresses.

I'm also trawling a lot of triathlon and endurance cycling sites to try and learn a bit more about supplements such as whey and creatine. Any advice out there?

Although I'm not pretending to be a total newby to fitness, my only endurance event to date was running the Mersey Marathon in 1983. My training regime was, let's call it haphazard.I never carbo loaded. I drank beer the night before the race. I used Dunlop Green Flash pumps. Cotton football shirt. 3 hours 35 mins. Bonked very badly.

So, what should I be eating to let me regenerate and recuperate quicker? Are there dietary or vitamin supplements that actually work? Is there any good research out there to support the claims of the health food gurus?

Right now the most important thing is a good nights sleep, so I'm off to bed.