keepamonte

This should probably go into the nutrition area but I figured I would get good results here. Last 2 years I have not had these problems on century rides. This spring I did the Tulsa Tough century ride in pretty hot and humid weather. Drank plenty of fluids the night before and used the Hammer electrolyte pills during the ride. Felt great (averaged 20-21 mph with group I normally ride) and then at about 70-75 miles started having my upper leg muscles cramp up( quads, hamstrings, etc). I drank plent of liquids, popped eloctrolytes along, and ate like I normally did in the past. I attributed it to the weather. I have been training a ton more this year than last and was really disapointed ( still finished at 5.40). I also felt I may have gone to hard to early. I have been doing numerous 60-80 mile rides during summer and routinely do the weeknight rides at 18-20mph. Yesterday I did the DAMJAM which is a very hilly hundred miler and at 70 miles started getting the exact same crampling as the last century, just not as extreme. My two buddies pulled me in for the last 30 miles. I used sustain throught the day and water. Ate pretty well, and got a good night sleep the night before. I did have a couple of stout gin and tonics the night before but felt great in the morning. It seems like 70 miles maybe my leg bonk limit! Aside from my legs, the rest of me felt great so definately not a complete bonk as I have had before. Are these hammer electrolye pills causing this?
Thanks for all replies and sorry so long. I have MS 150 coming up in two weeks and I am not worried about that, but the fall century is right around the corner.

johnny99

Cramps can be caused by fatigue, especially if your push big gears.

Barrettscv 

^^ What Johnny said.

Increase your cadence, maintain a sustainable pace and hydrate more.

A good indication of hydration is urination. You should be urinating before the event is finished.

Don't use electrolytes before the event, only at the start and during.

Avoid pure water.

Michael

keepamonte

Aside from doing more centuries, how do I train to eradicate this?

Barrettscv 

What are your current riding patterns in terms of frequency and duration?

MGtrack

You also need to make sure you've got a good diet. The RDAs from the feds are crap. Take a good chewable or liquid multivitamin/mineral and eat well. Lots of veggies, lots of sprouts and lots of whole grains.

10 Wheels

Ride slower with more spinning.

keepamonte

Monday is a brisk 30 miler with one killer hill, Wednesdays are 38 miler with good hills and a finish of 19-20 mph with 3-4 guys out of group. Saturdays are 40-80 with a finish of 18-19.5 average folowed by a Sunday 30-40 recovery ride. I eat pretty healthy and take a multivitamin.

Barrettscv 

That's a good routine if you already have a good base. Given your speeds, I expect your stronger than 80% of cyclist completing the century rides you are interested in.

Keep your cadence at 80 to 90% of your short ride average. Century riders often drop their cadence half way into the event, that may be your issue. If your short ride average is 95 rpm, don't drop below 80, even when tired or traveling at a relaxed pace.

Btw, do you drink enough so that you need the bathroom during the event?

Michael

keepamonte

Yes, I urinated about 40miles into the ride and shortly after I was done. I think it was a combination of less cadence and higher intensity early on. I have two 70mile training rides this weekend that I will test out a higher cadence.
In addition to Sustained, how much additional calorie intake should I shoot for? I had 1 banana ( 1/2 40 miles in and the other 1/2 at 60 miles), some fruit chews, a couple peanut butter crackers, several orange slices, and 2 extreme jelley beans throught the ride.

Barrettscv 

I eat the same kind of things. Most people can only process 250 calories an hour. I don't exceed 300 calories per hour for that reason. I also keep my cadence between 85 and 100, it keeps me fresh.

Also keep in mind that maintaining a 20+ mph pace is really a challange. The best endurance riders peak at about 24 mph over great distances, even under ideal conditions. see: https://www.ultracycling.com/records/mileagerecords.html

Michael

keepamonte

Michael,

thanks for your imput. It sounds like I am just not as strong in longer distances with these averages as the guys I usually have been riding with this year.

Bo-Ridley

I had maybe 10 bouts of leg cramps earlier this year. I'm pretty sure that it was just a case of not enough miles on the legs at that time. As the weather got better and the miles were racked up the cramps only happened at the end of longer rides and eventually went away completely.

JoeOxfordCT

...well as someone who frequently tries to ride farther than their training regimen prepares them for....AND suffers from frequent leg cramps, I can tell you that for me I carry a small baggie of sea salt. I've used Endurolytes and they do help but .5-1 teaspoon of salt works the best, and quickest for me. I mentioned my cure to my doctor during my last physical and he said as long as my blood pressure is fine (which it is), he's ok with it. I will also take a shot of salt at night before bed too if I've had a long ride as I sometimes get leg cramps at night too.

Fox Farm

I think that a lot of the comments here are pretty on target. I am sure that if you spent time with the Charmichale training system, they/he would train you past the 70 bonk phase that you experience. I then to have the leg cramping in the last 10% of a long ride, like mile 55 of a metric or 90 of a century. I have found that riding and watching the cadence on the cyclometer and keeping it up above 80 rpm, I do much better. On the big hills, well, you do what ever you can to pedal fast and often my gearing, even with a compact crank and a 25 tooth cassette, I am in the middle 60s for rpm.

zagnut

FWIW, I had unusual cramping problems in the Tulsa Tough, as did almost everyone I talked to. I believe it was mostly due to the higher temps and high humidity early in the season. In my view, you are cramping at around 70 miles because you are running low on electrolytes. You simply have to up the ante to get by this level. I've had limited success with Endurolytes and similar supplements. Trying to pop the pills didn't work for me, so I added the capsule ingredients to my hydration supplement, usually 2 pills per 24oz. I also add them to my premixed dry supplement that I carry on centuries. I never rely on whatever drink the century provides, I always carry dry mix in a zip lock snack bag (usually three bags) in addition to my 2 or 3 bottles to start. I've added regular salt to my drinks on other rides when I sensed that I was drinking abnormally high amounts of fluid and sweating excessively. Those little packets are available at almost all convenience stores, and I frequently add 2 or 3 when needed.

Zagnut

keepamonte

Is there any chance that too much salt and/or elctrolyte could cause this?

CrimsonKarter21

No. Salt/sodium prevent cramping. If you look at professional weightlifters, besides eating TONS of protein, they do what's called "salt loading" which is kind of like carb loading for an endurance athlete. Because of how much strain they're putting on their muscles, their cramps come on instantly and can put an immediate halt on their competition.

Drinking a sports drink (my favorite is Clif Shot Electrolyte) will prevent muscle cramping. However, only carry one bottle of it, because it's not good for pure hydration, that's what water is for.

rogerstg

Yes, and from your comment about only needing one pee stop during the ride I'd guess that you are not drinking enough either.

It could also be that with all the extra training you are doing, your muscles have not had time to repair themselves adequately.

kneed2wrydemore

You can take some of these if you're putting out a lot of sweat. As always, consult your physician first.

https://www.drugstore.com/products/pr...ELAID=61232846

DScott

Besides dehydration, heat issues, and electrolyte imbalance, insufficient fitness past a certain point can cause cramping. Basically, you're over-working the muscles/connective tissues.

The only real solution to this is time in the saddle, working tolerances up to the around the event distance. That, and stretching...

Try this link for some more info: https://www.ultracycling.com/training/cramping.html

Little Darwin

If I am reading your initial post right, on a century you are riding about 25% farther than your typical long ride, and trying to do it at a speed faster than your short rides... with more hills.

Something about this combination makes me think fatigue.

Ride more hills, and either train at a faster pace (or intervals), or slow down for the century.

I personally think you ride enough miles to do the century well. However, you may need to adjust how you do the miles.

merlinextraligh

Intervals. It sounds like you're riding enough miles that 100 miles shouldn't be a problem.

So you need to add intensity. By raising your FTP (functional threshold power) you increase the speed at which you can ride below threshold, and thereby increase the distance you can ride for a given speed.




A good interval set for century training would be steady states, i.e. longer intervals done at or just below your FTP (which is the level you could sustain in a one hour TT, or 8/10ths perceived effort)

Work up to doing these for 2x20, or 3x20, and I think you'll find that cruising with your usual group at 20mph will seem very easy, and you'll be finishing centuries fresher, and or faster.

keepamonte

Thank you all