Learned a new word the night before I did this ride - Hypernatremia (Apparently it's knew for spell check too, so I don't feel so bad). It's what you become when you take in TOO many electrolytes! Thanks ChatGPT for that. Looks like I might be way overdoing my electrolyte needs on my rides…and that is why my mouth goes bone dry in the last 15mi or so on my rides. I thought it was the opposite! One of the main signs of being in a state (?) of Hypernatremia is feeling very thirsty or dry mouthed (check) and feeling very sluggish (check) as well as bloated (check). Also learned that I am WAY under fueling on my rides with carbs!! 25g gel an hour…nope, should be starting at around 60 to 75g an hour and building from there. Got a new fueling strategy to work on for my rides. Sorta tested it out today on the ride. Cut way back on my electrolytes and tried to beef up my carb intake. It's a bit tricky and brings math into it all, crap. What I figured is I should be be taking in around 800mg of sodium per hour. That's half of one of my LMNT packets (not a whole packet) and a gel that usually has around 200mg of sodium in them. Should be shooting to drink two bottles of water every hour and a half. Alternating between clean water and LMNT water. Bringing the Salt Stick Capsules with in case I need them towards the end of the ride…but not taking them otherwise. Was shooting for two gels an hour on this ride. That'll get me 50g an hour. Still shy of where I should be…Not sure I could do three! They make high carb gels that have 40-60g in them and I need to look into those. The ride…new one. Rode out to Festival (is it a town?) never been. Worried about the highway like road I am riding on for 10mi in each direction to get out there. Didn't know what the shoulder was like or traffic. What a fun ride…can really move on the Sun Valley Parkway out to Festival and back. Felt good today on the bike! Think the tweaks to my fueling were working, at least moving in the right direction. Still got dry mouthed on the way back, looking for more water the last 5mi or so. Will keep at it. About half-way out to Festival on that Parkway I passed a guy (stopped for a nature break?) He was getting back on the bike just as I was passing, He caught up to me and we rode together the rest of the way to Festival and he did most of the loop with me. He lives out there. Good guy. Enjoyed chatting with him and the company for a stretch. Plus he had music playing on a speaker in his bottle cage. Not sure I would give up a bottle cage for a speaker…but he can :). I can see this ride being brutal on a hot or windy or a hot and windy day! Today it was perfect!