Cramping help and a tip
 

Finished a metric century, finally, and for the second time this year got a weird cramping. Will try to describe; cramping on the top of the thighs down near the knees. On both legs. This has happened after about 40 - 50 miles. Have not changed anything with riding position, seat, shoes or cleats from last season.

Any ideas?

Was well hydrated on todays ride and always take potassium and magnesium tabs due to past problems with other types of cramping.

Now for todays tip: Got a flat about a mile from my house on the return leg. Whip out the spare tube from the bag. Proceed to get things back in order and the darn new tube will not hold air. Rip everything down again and the spare tube has a hole in it. The hole must have been from the tube floping around in the seat bag over time and scraping against tools or whatever. Checked the tire and the hole was not from something still in the tire.

Check your spare tube which resides in your kit before you get in the middle of nowhere. Going to find a small bag or box to protect the tube from now on.

Good point oilman. I tend to wrap my spare tube in a dishrag sized bit of old ripped up towel. It protects the tube and gives me something to wipe my hands on... since ALL my flats seem to occur when it's raining cats and dogs out there.... :D

If you're SURE you were well hydrated then I'm at a loss. All my own cramping issues came from times when I was just not paying attention to keeping enough water in me. Who would guess that you can dehydrate while windsurfing, eh? Since then I'm a lot more attentive to the issue. Nothing sets the lesson in place like trying to stretch and massage a cramp out of a leg while floating out in the middle of Oregon's Columbia River while holding onto a sinker board.

Try a small lightweight sock. You can use it to wipe the grime off your hands after you're done changing the tire. Or if you got a bit of road rash on the lower leg or arm, you can tear/cut out the toe and help hold bandages up via the compression the sock slid over the limb will provide. (Only had to do this once, but was glad the sock was there.)

I windsurfed for about 15 years and it took years before it crossed my mind that lack of water was the cause of cramps. That and overextending your foot water starting -- ouch. Now I am careful to keep hydrated at all times.

Cramps did happen during a slower climb after alot of pushing on flats and rollers. If I drank anymore yesterday I would have had to relive myself like the pros do sometimes, on the fly! I was pretty well hydrated. Gatoraid before the ride and all during with a water backpak which I kept using during the ride.

Maybe I am just out of shape!

Had a friend like you that got cramps frequently while riding. One ride he left his water bottles at home and took one of mine. No cramps in a 30 mile ride. Nothing changed on the ride- same hills- same stress- same coffee stop. Only difference was that I had an Isotonic additive in my bottle(s). After that ride he bought his own Isotonic to his taste and no more cramps.

And you will be surprised at how much less salt is taken in our diet nowadays. Nothing bad in that but replace those salts- WHILST you are riding and it may help.

And the Sock Idea sounds good- DG has lots of odd socks at home. Think his cat eats the other one.

Ride easier gears . . . spin, don't 'push'!

Elaborate on the Isotonic additive? Stateside it is Gatoraid and such which I always use.

As a footnote I have had muscle cramping problems as long as I can remember. From teens till age 57! Been taking magnesium and the "just sitting at your desk" leg and foot cramps have reduced in number dramatically. Maybe I should up the dosage? There are reams of stuff written on cramps and the medical community still does not really know what causes your muscles to cramp. Hope someone get working on a solution before long.

On any ride over 40 miles, I add Heed to my water and take 2 caps of Endurolyte every hour. That's eliminated almost all of my cramping.

That said, you have to keep trying different combinations of things until you find one that works for YOU. What works great for one person doesn't work at all for another.

Only tried gatorade once and I do not like it. The one I am talking is called Isostar. as Isotonic it works but nothing extra in it. I now use Lippin. website is

www.leppin.com

and the one I use on rides is Energy boost- unless it is a long ride and then it is Carbo lode.

They are isotonic aswell but I do also take a few salty snacks with me on rides to boost the salt intake.

Feel certain you can find something in the US that will do the job better tham gatorade.

I'll second RJBTrek on using tonic water (quinine) to help with the cramps.

I missed the tonic water idea first time through.....

Is it OK if I add something extra to it? Like Gin? :D

Hey Stepfam, it's not the cat. It's been scientifically proven that all the spinning in the dryer forms a hole in the space time continium and sends single socks to another sock deprived universe.

thanks for all the input. It appears Leppin and Isostar are Euro products from a quick Google search. Looks like a grand experiment is in order.

Does anyone have any recent experience with salt tablets? And if so, how does that compare to concoctions like Gatoraide?

Not recent- But I used to race in France on Endurance events in Karting. The thing that used to get through to me was the Humidity. Then I was advised to use salt tablets. Just unloading the van on the Saturday and we were shattered. Temp in the 100's and very high Humidity. Then I took a salt tablet along with plenty of liquid. 10 minutes later and I was out practising. Gave one to the Co-Driver and we finished the practice session about 3 hours later. By 6pm we were ready for the Hotel. None of the other teams had started practising. The humidity was getting through to them. So for high humidity and temps- salt tablets will work.

Now on the cramps side- The isotonic drinks contain essential salts that assist in stopping cramps. One event I did and I came across another rider that recommended salt tablets instead of Isotonics. Talking to him and he confirmed the high humidity bit- but he was an "EX" runner and apparantly it was common practice for events over 10 miles to take salt for cramps. He said that if he did not take salt tablets- He would cramp after about 2 hours riding- but worse than that- He would be stopping to take a leak about every 40 minutes due to the amount of "Extra" water he would be drinking to keep the fluid intake up because he was thirsty.


EDIT---On Gatorade. I class this as another one of those drinks like Lucozade Sport or Powerade. They dodnot do anything for me- other than give a different taste to water. BUT- any sports shop of repute will be able to supply Additves for water bottles. Some of these may be a bit dubious on the Concoctions tah tare in them but most of the additives are for a reason- Power boost- Carbo loading drinks- Isotonic- Post ride recovery. Another name that springs to mind is Maxim additive- and this is another one I do not like the taste of but look in the back of the racing magazines or on the BIG shop websites and there are plenty of Additives that will help physical activity better than a commercial drink.

PBK in the UK has several Additives- SIS is a reputed brand and so is High 5 That is reputed to have an Anti cramping factor in its Xtreme source additive.

http://www.probikekit.com/display.ph...Energy%20Foods