satchmojack

I definitely got a slow start to this year's season (i've only been out a handful of times and have only logged maybe 200 or 300 miles in total so far), so i'm not sure if this is a nutrition thing or an out-of-shape thing.

Anyway, depending on how hard i'm pushing or how many hills i've had to climb, my quads start cramping up somewhere between the 30 and 40 mile marker.

I rode 58 miles yesterday and was packing gatorade in my water bottles. I had 3 scrambled eggs w/ cheese and toast for breakfast (then drove 45 minutes to the starting point), a clif bar during the first half of the ride, a bagel at the rest stop, and a Kashi granola bar during the 2nd half of the ride.

At our starbucks rest stop at the half-way point, i took note that my urine was pretty clear, so i think i was hydrated well enough. Sure enough, when i stood up to climb a hill at around 41 miles, my legs cramped up and I had to sit back down and spin at a lower gear to get over the hill.

This is only my 3rd year as a cyclist, but i did a few centuries last year and i think i have a pretty decent base. Maybe i'm just impatient and need to go on more shorter rides to get my legs back, or it could be that i'm not eating right.

Any suggestions?

127.0.0.1

take 3 fat tums before the ride, see what happens.

drink more water

fp64

bananas & potassium pills worked for me.

supcom

You are out of shape and trying to hang with people who aren't.

Carbonfiberboy 

200-300 miles is not a decent base. For me, 1000 miles is not a decent base. I count it from the end of last season until the first hard rides of spring, so 2,000 miles anyway. And that's not much. Most folks would rather see 4,000. If you get say, 150 miles in your legs for every week since last October, and you will not cramp on mile 40. Maybe mile 80, if there are some 10%+ climbs and the competition is stiff. Work that up to 200 miles/week, and you can kick some butt on a century.

So that's not exact, of course, but that's the idea. Yeah, I know, it's a lot of work, but what do you have to do that's more important? The eating and drinking thing is important, but you don't really start seeing the effects of doing it wrong until the 4th hour.

rumrunn6

potassium; folic acid; water; salt your food. be sure to get minimum 48 hours rest between big rides and use warm baths and massage. the baths should be at least 20 minutes long. be sure to keep the legs submerged. baths aren't only for women.