well, call me a convert. I took what i've learned in this thread and put it to use today.

I ate a good lunch around 1:30 then around 4:30 headed out for a ride. Around the end of the first hour I pulled over at a deli to refill my water bottle, thought of what I learned here and looked for some fuel. Unfortunately the bet choice available was a snickers bar, but That was good enough. at the end of the second hour I stopped again for water but remembered...electrolytes! Grabbed a Gatorade and refilled my water bottle with that. By the end of hour three I was at my office and I know I can do the commute from there to home practically on empty so I just pushed on.... I intended to go 25-30 miles today but ended up doing 51 first time I've done that successfully, and according to the little iphone app cyclemeter I averaged 15mph over the course of the ride and climbed 2500 feet.

Got home and my roommates had grilled chicken for dinner so I had immediate protein i could stuff in my mouth when I got home. That felt really surprisingly good.

Here I sit now, 40 minutes after having come home, cramp free...a little sore but feeling better than I ever have after rides of just 35-40 miles.

Thanks guys!

honestly if I'd left earlier and brought a pb&j sammich I might have made a century out of it. well at least a metric century.