What a great thread! I am also eyeballing my first century in July (and another one in Oct., if that goes well), but I'm nowhere near up to 45 miles in a single ride, yet...mostly due to living in the great white North. I'm really looking forward to that challenge, but it does freak me out a bit. The cramping thing is a real concern for me, as this was the deal-breaker with all 3 of my marathons. No matter how well-trained I was, how many electrolytes I ingested, or how painfully slow I went-out I hit "pre-cramps" by ~ the 16 mile mark, then the real deal would follow a few miles later.