Sekhem

You've got to invest the time planning your ride strategy. Sit down with a map and find out exactly where gas stations/ convenience stores are along or near the route. Figure out your travel time between restocking opportunity and do the math to figure out how much of what you need. If the ride is in a rural area, you might want to give them a call and find out what hours they're open. Give some thought to how your needs might change if you encounter bad weather, hot conditions or problems along the way and figure out how you are going to accomodate such issues en-route. The more uncertain the conditions the more conservative I am with my water on the ride. Fill up when you have an opportun8ty even when you think you have enough. Keep a full emergency bottle. As much as I detest products like hammer, I carry baggies w/ powder with me because I can can carry emergency calories with me without much bulk or weight.

**You should be dialing in your resource management strategy on practice rides***

about what to include in a drop bag - should you do a future ride that provides that service. I rode my first 1200K last year and had a near GOTTCHA. The ride went through extreme rural areas. There were services in all of the little towns along the way BUT all the shops are strictly 9-5. Several riders had to drop out because they found themselves facing 180 miles without access to food or water. The route was an out and back and I knew that I was going to be returning in the middle of the night- and so I stashed away what I needed on the outbound. At the drop bag site people could stop and sleep briefly and eat. The only food that the organizers provided were stacks of cold petrified pizza. While I normally have nothing against pizza, it is the one thing that I can't have on a ride. I had packed several full meals in my bag- sandwiches, soups, oatmeal everything i needed. It saved my ride.

good luck on your ride