One Oct. I did the Lance Armstrong century. At the time I was living in Ohio and wasn't used to mtn roads although I was used to lots of traffic and narrow roads (we toured Maine, Vermont, Nova Scotia that summer). We climbed the LaSalle mtns where the Big Nasty is. The climb didn't bother me as much as the downhill. I managed to make the cattle crossings without walking but the downhill on the other side totally freaked me out. I had not ridden such a long downhill, was not comfortable braking from my drops and totally lost it when I came around a curve and the road disappeared and all I saw was a large drop over the side. I got off the bike and walked to the T at the bottom of the road.

The other experience I had was dealing with the altitude. The climbing wasn't that hard except it was very slow due to not adapting to the altitude. I remember it took me 3 hrs to ride 25-30 miles. It blew my mind away. Agreed there is no source that I remember on that ride for food or water. Our ride was sagged with plenty of supplies.