Thanks, good information there. I suspect I was caught unawares by the first long and hot ride of the season. I had a few endurolytes and a bag of pretzels, which served me fine most of the day. But the latter half of the return ride was too hot, and I had only 2 bottles.

Wow, that looks like a beauty! It ought to make a great training ride. Can you provide riding directions for it? What about water/food/toilets?

OK...here's what I'm using this season. But, FWIW, I'm making no claims as to efficacy or safety. Use at your own risk, no warranty expressed or implied, etc., etc.

This will make 1 gallon:

2 Kool-Aid packets
The little 0.25 oz packets with no sugar. I really like the "Ice Cool" Lemon Ice flavor. It mixes as a "white" drink so your water bottles don't look like they contain glowing neon, and the taste is excellent.

9 oz sugar
Standard cane sugar (though I might experiment with maltodextrin, fructose, etc. in future). This amount means the carbohydrate content is similar to Gatorade (around 6%), with about 55-60 calories per 8 oz. You can adjust this up or down to taste, but beware of getting the sugar content much higher (it can cause stomach upset if too sweet).

1 tsp salt - for the sodium

1/2 tsp "No Salt" (or other salt substitute, as long as it's straight potassium chloride).

The above ingredients are all readily available at the grocery store.

Optional ingredients:

1 tsp Magnesium Citrate powder
Magnesium depletion has been associated with cramping, though it's not clear if the depletion causes the cramping or is an after effect of it. Alternatively, you can (and probably should) take a daily magnesium supplement tablet (available whereever vitamins are sold).

1/2 tsp Calcium Citrate
Calcium too has been associated with cramping. Alternatively (and highly recommended) is to take some Tums or other calcium-based antacid prior to the ride, and bring some along in your kit.

1/4 tsp Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C).
For it's antioxidant effects, which are supposed to help prevent cramping during extended exercise.

1/8 tsp liquid B-6
Same - antioxidant.

These optional ingredients can be obtained at vitamin/supplement suppliers - I got mine from www.vitaminexpress.com.

Mix with water to make 1 gallon of mixture, and stir well. If it's been sitting in the fridge for a while, shake it up before pouring into your water bottles, because the calcium and/or magnesium does not really dissolve.

Hope this helps...cramps suck!

What???

Seriously Foresthill is the last place with food, so you are looking at 80 miles with no sure facilities, there is nothing between Foresthill and French Meadows, nothing. There are bathrooms at French Meadows with sinks, but seriously, I would never go counting on that water as it seems pretty well unattended up there. I was carrying 144 ounces of fluids last year and I didn't run short, but I still believe some type of water filtration capability or iodine tablets are a must. The climb back to Foresthill at the end can be ungodly hot and though there's ususally some traffic on that road due to river rafting, I would not want to run out of water there. I'll get you a route sheet sometime in the next couple days, once you get to Foresthill there are only two turns to FM and a U-ey and a right to get back.

Its the Tour de Whidbey. It is held every year about Sept. It is very diffucult (super hilly) and beautiful. If you ride up the island and don't leave 525 and HWY20, you are making a mistake. If you get the chance to ride the island again, get on the side roads.

Most of the route I followed was away from 525 and 20 simply because the route was set up by the organisers of the Trek Tri-Island who wanted to keep the 500 or so riders as much out of harm's way as possible. We took a lot of backroads and coastal routes and it was wonderful so I try and repeat those same routes when I can. It would be interesting to see some other scenic planned routes as well so I'll try and look up the route map for the TdW.

Update: I couldn't let a ride beat me so badly, so I rode it again yesterday. This time the winds were brutal, but I didn't suffer like last time. I rode at the same pace, but I drank and ate more. My legs had no get-up-and-go on the final climb up Hamilton, which I assume meant that my muscle glycogen was gone. But no hammer and tongs, which was just fine with me. I just couldn't get my legs to go, no amount of concentration could get my heart rate up to 80%.

From what I've read, there's nothing to do once you run out of muscle glycogen. Eating carbs will keep your blood sugar up, but it won't replenish the fuel in your legs. The only thing to do is prevent running out of them in the first place, and that's done by pacing.

Oh yeah, the 24-mile return ride up Del Puerto Canyon from Patterson to the Junction? It's a killer. It's a long, slow, hot, exposed, windy grind up a gradual grade, finished off by an even hotter and very steep climb. I was feeling great when I got to Patterson, but I was pretty tired when I got back to the Junction.

Here is a site that has the waterworks route. Took somewhat longer than I expected to write it up. I have not done a route guide before.

Maybe I'll see you on the 7 hills of Kirkland ride next week. I haven't picked a distance yet, but I'm also considering the century. I'll be on this.