Cramp

indysmith

Sometimes i get really bad cramp in my legs after a long ride (or a very fast short ride). I can feel it coming when I'm on the bike, but thankfully it doesn't usually happen when I'm actually riding (with a couple of exceptions).
What I'm worrying about though is that some time I'm going to get it really bad whilst riding and it'll cause a crash (bound to be a bad one as I use SPDs - will be hard to unclip with cramp).
Basically I want to know what causes cramp and how can I go about preventing it?

Thanks

Gr.uB

Next you will want to know where the Holy Grail is?

From personal experience my first real experience with cramp was during swimming training as a kid. We used to simply pull up and stretch the foot ( mainly in the arch of the feet ). It was never too much of a problem.

Then 20 or so years later on my first Wessex 100 sportive my quads cramped like there was no tomorrow. I thought I was going to have to pull out at the 75 mile mark. Stretching and then gingerly riding to the finish enabled me to keep going.

I've only cramped again a couple of times since, and none in the last couple of years.

i think it is a combination of several things.

Firstly - a lack of vitamins / minerals / salts.
Secondly - poor muscle condition ( not used to what you are trying to make them do - distance and intensity ).

My situation was fixed by ensuring I didn't sweat too much during a ride and if I did, ensuring I replaced the electrolytes at the time. And secondly getting some long distance rides in at a lower intensity.

Hopefully others will come along with different views soon.

endurojcb

I'd agree there.

Muscle condition plays a part. The more you cycle the more your muscles get used to what they're doing.

You also loose a lot of salts and minerals when you sweat. If you just drink water then you're rehydrating yourself (which is a good thing) but you're not replacing those lost salts and minerals. This is where sports drinks come into their own. If you're only going rding for an hour or so then they're not really necessary for me anyway. But if I'm on an all day ride then I always take a sports drink with me to replce some of those lost salts and minerals. If you look through some of the posts from the last few months in this health section. I remember seeing one post about home made energy drinks.