Fourth time riding this route, more or less. The first two times were on the supported ride and started from the bottom of 9 Mile Canyon. I suffered a cut tire only 3 miles into this ride while crossing the 395; I put on my spare in the dark, with Pete's help pointing his headlight in my direction - 20 minutes lost and Judy was long gone. Pete and Anthony both stayed with me, but soon pulled away as I labored up the mountain. Ken Mathis had set up a sumptuous rest stop at the Kennedy Meadows General Store, where Pete and Anthony waited for me; so, I gulped down a Coke (thank you Ken!) and took off, confident that they would catch me. I think it is incumbent on the slowest rider on a climbing ride to get a head start so as to minimize the amount of time everyone has to wait around if regrouping. Well< I refer to Coke as my magic juice and it worked its magic this time; all of a sudden, I HAD LEGS. I tracked down Judy just before Sherman Pass and Pete & Anthony had not caught me. Unfortunately, Anthony thought we would regroup at Sherman Pass and thought Judy and me must have stopped at Blackrock (Judy had, but was long gone by then); so they evidently waited up there. With water at a premium, and with the cool breeze, hanging around up there was not in the plan. It was incumbent on us to conserve water by getting to the bottom and turning back as soon as possible. Normally we should have detoured a mile away to a bed and breakfast to refill our water, but Ken had promised to make a water drop halfway up the mountain; only there was not water when we got back up to that halfway point! :-( I flagged down and asked a couple of drivers coming up the mountain to check on how Pete and Anthony were doing, and was told they looked OK, so I kept heading up the mountain. Finally, Hugh came down and told me he had made a water drop a few miles further up, and I asked him to go down and check on Pete and Anthony, and he did give them water. I took a water bottle from the water drop Hugh had made, and left the half gallon for Pete and Anthony by the roadside. Later still Ken came racing down to check on us and I told him I was concerned about Pete and Anthony, so he went and checked on them also because Hugh had presumably gone around and went back by way of Walker Pass. Pete had actually run out of water by the time Hugh reached him. I am not sure how Judy fared, but at my suggestion she begged some water off of a mountain biker at Sherman Pass on her way over the top. Judy passed me shortly before the 6000' mark, and steadily pulled away. When I found the water drop bare, I happily slowed down to ration my water. It is possible to beg water off of passing motorists, but you can't count on it. Ken had left us water and snacks at the pass, as promised, so there was no problem after that, but under no circumstances should anyone start up the west side of Sherman Pass without a sufficient water supply unless you have a follow car or are really confident SAG will turn up to support you. We were lucky because it was the coolest I have experienced on the lower half of Sherman Pass west in 7 passages. At Sherman Pass, I left the water and bag of snacks out in an obvious location for Pete and Anthony to find, and mosied on my way. Only I hit something that put a good sized hole in the sidewall of my spare tire! So I found a comfortable place to sit down and boot the tire, and to wait for Anthony and Pete since I figured they would have to be along soon. Anthony came bombing by and didn't even slow down until I called out to him; he said that Pete was well behind and seemed to be having a bit of trouble. What the hell? You can't leave the last rider behind alone, particularly if they are having any trouble! That's just nuts. I had trouble with my repair; I always pump some air in before hitting it with a CO2 cartridge, and, when I unscrewed the pump, the core came out of my last inner tube. What the heck? I tried 3 times before I could get the pump off without completely backing out the core. By then, Pete showed up, and started to head off to leave me behind with no spare, etc. I just flat out told him he had to wait. I guess I just don't get it, but without backup from SAG, and everyone else was long gone, you just don't do that in such a desolate area. Pete was a bit grumpy, but acquiesced, and he was clearly not himself. Turns out his stomach was upset from the energy bars he had been eating all day. We toodled along OK towards the Kennedy Meadows General Store, and Pete's wife, Diana, showed up in the middle of nowhere to support us. Pete had expected her but had given up on her; turns out she got lost on her way there. Anyway, she waited for us at Kennedy Meadows and had snacks and Tums, etc., and Pete felt considerably better as we climbed out of the meadows area to Pinon Pass and on down to the finish. While this is an awesome ride, it is more than a little challenging, and you should not undertake it without some redundant backup gear and PLENTY of water.