I was right to be concerned with how much I might suffer on this double century given my general lack of fitness for an event like this. I was generally pleased with my performance through the first half upon arriving at the "lunch stop", which was only 2 miles from the toughest part of the route, a 10.2 mile/3200' (6%) climb up Montezuma Grade in the desert sun and heat. I filled my CamelBak about 2/3rds with ice water, drank a CoKe and ate a PB&J sandwich, and bagged another half sandwich to carry before leaving. I believe I had been drinking plenty of fluids and taking or exceeding recommended electrolyte supplements, but still I approached the climb cautiously and went to my easiest gearing and rode a conservative pace as soon as I hit as much as a 5% grade. Notwithstanding, the temp rose to 100F right away, and I began to feel the onset of leg cramps and some dizziness only about a mile into the 10 mile climb. Just after the 3rd mile, both legs were cramping and forcing me to stop to stretch out the muscles. (This is actually a fairly rare thing for me, maybe the third time I've been waylaid by cramping, and all 3 involved hot temps.) It really doesn't occur to me to quit, and sitting around wasn't going to get me to the top, so I started walking steeper pitches, and along either side of the road if there happened to be some shade (to lower by core temperature and control that dizziness). The right leg was cramping worse, so I soft pedaled the right side and applied more power with the left, but that only helped for a short while, and I started having to walk more and pedal less. All this added up to the climb taking about 90 minutes longer than what I would ordinarily expect! The surprise, ice-cold smoothie about 2/3rds of the way up was a pleasant surprise, and helped me cool down some; that, and the higher elevation had led to a slight drop in temperature. [Reference note to self: select miles 98.2/3 to 102.3/5 to zoom-in the elevation profile to the affected segment, between miles 97.0 and 104.1.] My speed sensor wasn't working to start with, and this originally uploaded with 180.8 mi and 13,229'/-13,242', with an avg speed of 12 mph. After correction (by deleting the speed sensor data from the gps recording): 193.3 mi & 12.8 mph. Yep, slow - but that's all I had in the tank! Ride's web page: http://www.mtnhighcycling.com/OceanSide_Double/Default.aspx?ID=49&Ride_ID=4