Originally Posted by
Jed19
Absolutely untrue! No, make that spectacularly untrue!
I have been involved in organized sports (soccer, squash rackets, track) for a very very long time. In all those years, I have seen every kind of athlete that are fit, myself included, cramp at times. Maybe being out of shape contributes or not, but to say you do not cramp if you are in shape is definitely untrue. Watch world-class soccer sometimes (the last european championship, for instance), and you'll see every kind of fit specimen cramp at times. Especially in long extra-time games.
Perhaps I should have said, "If you are in good shape it is very unlikely that you'll cramp, while if you're attempting something harder than your usual diet of riding, it is very possible that you will. It's the difference between what you've been doing and what you're trying to do. If you are in condition to ride a hard 400k in the heat, for instance, it's very unlikely that you'll cramp on a double century. While if your hard ride is 50 miles with 50' of climbing per mile, and you try to ride a century with that same rate of climbing, you could cramp if you overdo it. If you understand cramping as a sign of insufficient training, you'll train harder and cramp a lot less often. I've never met a fit rider who didn't understand this.