Road Cycling - First 50 mile ride...Need feedback

Hello,
I did my first 50 mile ride last night. I did it after taking 4 days off.

My total road biking since 6 years ago is all this month. I have clocked after last nights ride, 286 total miles.

Eating
Turkey sand at 12:00, cliff bar 35 minutes before ride. Ride started at 4:20. hour into the ride a banana. at 1:50 I had a rest and a gatoraide bar. at mile 44 I had fig newtons(3).

I did the 51.7 mile ride in 2:46, avg mph was 18.7.

At the last 3 miles when I pushed it Iwould get calf cramps on an up pedal.

Is this normal? Is it a seat hight thing? I know that I was hydrated or at least i think I was due to having a pee 4 minutes after the ride. Did I eat enough? Should I have had 2 bananas for the potassium?


Any other input?

Dmac - congratulations on your half-century.
It sounds like you were well hydrated and ate enough on your ride, but sometimes our bodies still do things like cramp up. Maybe the second banana would have made a difference, maybe not. Don't worry about it and try not to over-analyze it.
Did you have fun on the ride? That's the important thing.
Sounds like you set a goal and accomplished it - that's something to be proud of.

Keep riding,
BCBoy

Congratulations. :thumbup:

You may not have been sufficiently hydrated. I have developed cramps from not drinking enough water the day before and during a long ride. I have learned that I need to drink water about every 15 minutes. Being properly hydrated is important!! Sports drinks are not the same as water.
Bananas are good too. :D

Ron

Could be too that you were low on salt. Being you rode that much you probably sweated a lot and depleated your salt supply. Not sure this is the problem, only a guess.

Congrats on your first 50! Sounds to me like you are back into riding with a vengence!

I tend to think that your seat must be close to the correct height. Did your knees hurt? I am new to this myself, but as I understand it, when the pedal is all the way down and the leg is in your normal riding position, the knee should be just slightly bent. On my bike, if I unclip my feet and put my heel on the pedal, my knee will be straight without having to rock my hips to reach the pedal.

Another good source of potassium is raisins. A little 1-1/2 oz. box has 310mg of potassium and 31g of carbs! Not bad for such a little package! The others have given some good advice, I am sure that you can adjust your eating/drinking to overcome the cramps.

Keep up the fine work!

Congratulations! I've found that a pack of gel food (like Gu) every hour really helps on long rides like centuries. And I try to drink a bottle of water every 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the heat and my level of exertion.

I agree with the advice to not over-analyze the cramps. I'd be happy if I just had some cramps after my first 50-mile ride at that high an average speed! Yes, it probably involves water and quite possibly electrolytes. But it's too late now. Just bask in your success and be extra careful about hydration next time. Congratulations! :beer:

The cramps were definetly lack of hydration.My boss had muscle spasms the other day because he had gatorade instead of water, and the gatorade made him sick, so he didn't drink. There is no substitute for WATER every 10-20 min.If you do use a sports drink, dilute it.

Originally posted by fubar5
The cramps were definetly lack of hydration.My boss had muscle spasms the other day because he had gatorade instead of water, and the gatorade made him sick, so he didn't drink. There is no substitute for WATER every 10-20 min.If you do use a sports drink, dilute it.
Good advice (as usual), Fubar--and just minutes ago I received email notification of an interesting article that bears you out: I hope this link works (crossing fingers)--
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/health/sportsmedicine/library/weekly/aa053001a.htm
The article says even seasoned athletes greatly underestimate their need for hydration, and that drinking sports drinks is less efficient than just drinking water.
(P. S. The link works, and will probably be good for some time.)

It only took one ride on a hot day to make me band wagon with water instead of sports drinks.

what Can I say but offer you a:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

Originally posted by orguasch
what Can I say but offer you a:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:
Oh, Orguasch, to me that looks like--yes, I think it must be--beer in those little glasses! Well, we'll just pretend we're in your restaurant....:)

Thanks for all the advise...Good to see a forum with so much helpful advise.

I plan on doing 60 the week after next and I will try these great Ideas.

Looks like I need to find a coo image to add to my postings