Originally Posted by
rdtompki
I'd classify myself as a believer. I put Nuun tables in my Gatorade and have tried Endurolytes, but it's very hard to do a controlled experiment. On my recent ride-your-age ride I happened to throw a role of tums into my fanny pack. At the top of the big climb I started to get those harbinger-of-cramp twinges. I took two heavy duty tums and was able to ride the final 24 miles in relative comfort; it didn't hurt that I didn't have too much climbing to do during the descent, but I think I would have been in trouble w/o the tums.
Thanks, guys: I had tried Gatorade, Nuun, Powerade, Magnesium supplements, etc., without any luck in controlling leg cramps. I get something at Whole Foods called "Electrolyte Stamina" (comes in a distinctive dark blue bottle), and that works pretty well, at a price. In France this summer, after my collapse, I found that keeping well hydrated with plain water helped a lot - rather than using Gatorade or anything else sweet. But French weather is not Texas weather! I'll take a serious run at the Tums - I had thought Potassium was what I lacked, but perhaps it's Magnesium.
No riding in Austin, TX, over the Thanksgiving Holiday - we're down around 36 degrees, windy and raining, and it's going to stay that way or get worse (ice storm?). We will run the Turkey Trot, though.