Cramps! Help.
Alright. The entire time I've been cycling, all two years of it, cramps have been the way I end any ride that is overly long or stressful. I've never bonked or ran out of energy, but I do start to cramp bad. Usually in my quads, for obvious reasons. I have started stretching before rides, I usually drink water and on my last 60 mile ride I went a little bit fast, but I took 3 10 minute breaks and ate a powerbar after 30 miles. I drank 4 bottles of water over 3 to 4 hours or so and averaged 16 mph in the wind - and my last 10 miles were mostly a painful crawl due to cramping
Why do I always cramp up? Are my quads just weak? Am I pushing myself too hard? Or is it a diet/nutrition thing? I'd always feel like I have plenty of energy and could ride further, but once I have a cramp it's like I can feel it coming on for the rest of the ride, and I have to be conscious of it and stand up in my pedals or take it easy the whole way. Sometimes I get stuck down at 12-13 mph because I can't pedal hard without starting a thigh cramp (this is when I seem to have gone too far, at 50-70 mile range)