Starting from the Shell station in Personville, up 9 Mile Canyon, through Kennedy Meadows, and up to Sherman Pass. From there, down to the Kern River (22 min total stopped time down by the Kern; a few min. for pics), a 1 mile detour to get water from a nearby B&B, and then all the way back. I was totally knackered after this one. I did not take care of electrolyte replacement, which is easier for me to overlook when it is cooler, and I started having problems with cramping when climbing back up the west side of Sherman Pass. The Garmin read 117+ degrees, but it was probably only 85 in the shade (according to a motorist that went by). The sun beating on the Garmin with no breeze must have ran the temperature up, but it did the same to me and I was suffering from the heat and pulled over near a creek (North Meadow Creek) off the side of the road where there was a mini-water fall, and I hiked over to cool off from some cold stream water (20.5 min in the area). [Avg heart rate for 6 miles beforehand: 146 bmp; afterwards, before the thunderstorm, 5.5 mi @ 125 bpm.] I needn't have bothered, because as I climbed higher the temperature dropped to the low 50's as I was caught in a thunder storm. I took cover in a port-a-potty (25 min; 4 miles from the top.), and I begged a trash bag off a motorist; while waiting out the storm, I had serious thoughts of going back to the B&B and calling Pete to come get me - LOL; as Kim might say, KF*K radio was playing a lot of negative thoughts in my head, lightning strikes, flash flood, hypothermia.... What's an adventure without an opportunity to overcome a little adversity? So, the best way to warm up is to start climbing again. Later on, there was a little hail, but nothing dramatic (like the afternoon of the first day of the High Country 1200 in Colorado last summer). With the leg cramps, I was not able to peddle with any power on the climbs or rollers I averaged a paltry 4.5 mph on Sherman Pass W before stopping for the downpour), but I was fine on the downhills and flats. Still, with my time cooling off at the creek, waiting out the worst of the thunderstorm, waiting to find the inn keeper for water down on the Kern, and a lot of other stopped time, this ride took a looooong time. This ride is "do"-able without support but it is extremely challenging to carry sufficient calories, and could even be dangerous on a really hot day getting from the Kern River up Sherman Pass West to the next available water (at Blackrock Visitor Center). My inconsistent pace at the start of the ride hurt. I rode ahead of Pete and Tom, stopped to take pictures, and then rode an interval to catch up to them again. I did more of the same when I checked out the locations of water in the campgrounds before Blackrock, getting ahead of Tom, and then catching up again. This ride is just too challenging to ride at other than your own tempo, or slower, but, above all, a consistent pace. And, for me, all the stopped time is not a kindness for my legs. I had 29 min. stopped time before leaving Kennedy Meadows, when 5 min. to refill my CamelBak would have been more than enough. 22 min. at the Sherman Pass vista the first time, when I would not have stopped unless the SAG had been there and I could have drank a Coke. Finding the drop bag at Sherman Pass on the return leg was a surprise, but I didn't really want or need all that stuff by that time, although it was a comfort refilling with water instead of having to make it to Blackrock (16.5 mi, 1000', about 1 hour); I killed another 17 min trying to avoid wasting a lot of stuff. Again, I would have killed for a Coke, but that's all I wanted at that point. I should check to see if there is a vending machine with Cola at Blackrock; there is a Pepsi machine at the Durwood B&B, but I had no change or small bills with me. By the time I made it to Kennedy Meadows, the General Store was long closed; again, I could have used a boost to get over that little climb before the descent home. > 20 min accumulated stopped time climbing 9 Mile Canyon > 9.5 min at top of 9 Mile through Kennedy Meadows > 26.5 min stopped: KM-SP - 14 min delay at Blackrock Climbing the W side of Sherman Pass: 15 min cool down at creek off the side of the road, plus another 10 min accumulated with short stops to stretch out a leg cramp (Garmin was reading 115F); then, stopped to shelter from a thunderstorm (Garmin read 50F) for 25 min, and another 18 min at Sherman Pass to consume or otherwise get rid of things left in a drop bag for me.