Yes, I do stretch after riding while cooling down, have also ate a teaspoon of salt before at bedtime the last 2 nights and drank a shot of vinegar(oooh). Also drinking a Gatorade, and so far so good.
Pat

sodium, calcium, potassium & magnesium taken regularly and in appropriate amounts. caution too much magnesium can cause loose stools.

also there's nothing like a hot soak in epsom salt bath (rich in magnesium) plus bath soap of course for a minimum of 20 min after every intense ride. massage the legs during the bath. for bath soap I like Dr. Teal's Foaming Bath, Eucalyptus Spearmint and you can find it at grocery stores CVS, Walmart and Christmas Tree Stores and I guess Sears ...
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM7706495702P?ci_src=184425893&ci_sku=SPM7706495702&sid=IDx20130125xMPBEAx004

they make a product that combines the two but I prefer the cheap epsom salt from Walmart and using just a couple ounces of the liquid soap

My legs start cramping on the bike around the 40 mile mark. Sometimes I'll get cramps after the ride, getting off the couch or in bed, but not always.

I'm beginning to think cramps are caused by pushing beyond your physical conditioning. It's also a self preservation response where the brain shuts down the muscles to save glucose. At least this is what I've read and it seems to fit my problem.

Usually, on the bike I feel strong strength wise, but the cardio isn't as good, so need to slow down to catch a breath and off I go again. The legs are talking, but I keep pushing. After 40 miles if I stand up, wham, legs cramp up. Had this happen several times, extremely painful.

Now, I try to hydrate more often, at least every 15 to 20 minutes, spin more and stand up less. This helped me get through my first century this month.

On hydration, I usually weigh myself before and after a ride to see how much water weight I lost. A good indicator to see if you're hydrating enough. On the century my weight didn't change. This was a huge improvement over previous long 70 - 85 mile rides where I would lose 5 pounds, even after drinking 3 24 oz bottles and a 32 oz. Gatorade.

About the legs.....even it they ache, I can still ride hard. Figuring by riding through some pain the legs will get stronger. There's some truth to this, but at the same time, there's a limit to how much the legs can endure. I believe this is why legs cramp.

So here's my solution....
* start rides hydrated, drink plenty of water or pre-ride energy drinks
* spin more - if the legs start talking, drop to a lower gear and spin
* drink quality energy drinks, no HFCS are drinks with lots of sugar
* for rides longer then a hour, eat
* on rides longer then 2 hours, pace yourself, don't start to fast, know your limitations

Post ride, the V8 taste really good, so does chocolate milk. A week ago, I tried coconut water for the first time, not bad and has a lot of potassium. I prefer the flavored water vs plain coconut water. Here's the brand I tried carried by Costco.
http://vitacoco.com/

I do thank God I have never had cramps while on the rides!

Well I bought some "Nature Made" 550 mg Potassium Gluconate and Calcium & Magnesium Supplements (333 & 133 mg respectively) and they seem to help on the same hills as the last two weekends but in much hotter weather. Either that or I'm just getting back into being used to the hills. I'm only taking them the day before and day of the ride along with the usual stuff I feed my face with.

Take a potassium supplement once a day and your legs will stop bothering you.

Example.......
http://www.drugstore.com/products/pr...k=g&matchtype=

....or eat 2 or 3 bananas a day.

^^^, exactly! FTW Mikey.

Bill

I would get calf cramps after particularly hot and humid rides-even short rides of an hour or so. Never on the bike, but usually in the evening or in the middle of the night.

Drinking a little can of V-8 and eating a banana after the ride helped substantially. On longer rides (2 hours or longer) I also use these little flavored electrolyte tablets made by NUUN. They taste better than the other brands I have tried.

It took me a while to figure this out, but the instant I started to feel a cramp coming on, I would drop my heel and raise my toes up, stretching the calf to the max and 90% of the time this would end the cramp immediately. Conversely, pointing my toes down (totally relaxing my calf) seemed to bring a cramp on if I wasn't careful.

Lack of potassium and other salts is my guess. Try adding some Emerg-n-C packets or other multivitamin in your water.

leg cramps? listen to everyone with their own solution and try them all. the research is clear on the fact that nobody knows what causes the variety of leg cramps that are seen and nobody has a single solution. stretching for some. Ca or Mg for others. hydration is the key for some people, point this or move that for some. In my case they come on a few hours after a strong effort including climbing and are held in check by not pulling my foot back toward my butt. No combination of solutions have prevented me from getting them.

I have purchased a Zynex NexWave unit from my sports rehab facility. I mostly use the NMES setting at night on my inner thighs. This has helped me immensely. My insurance covered most of it. I call it my "Sports Taser" :D

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=326798

http://www.zynexmed.com/products/#nexwave

re: "In my case they come on a few hours after a strong effort including climbing and are held in check by not pulling my foot back toward my butt."

that's how I pulled my hammy. the morning after a big ride I used my right foot to lift the toilet seat. tilting it up to the left but returning in a bent position then whamo! an enormous spasm that locked my hamstring. I had to massage and force the leg straight. it turned black and blue directly above my knee on the back of my leg. not fun.