Long distance cycling cramps

Panda_Jack

Hi. I've been taking 50 mile rides on the weekends and generally about mile 40 or so my legs will start to cramp up. Any tips on how to combat this, as I'd really love to start doing century rides soon.

cheangela

I pack bananas in my jersey and eat 1/2 of one for every 45 minutes. I also like sucking down a bunch of coconut water during long training rides too for a little extra performance boost.

Dynamic stretching is also a great cramp combat mechanism :-).

taldie01

You can get some electrolyte mixes that have a higher sodium content. Also there are salt tabs you can take. May help.

cacrat

Water, water, water. It is possible that you're just "bonking" and you need some quick glycogen, aka gels or goo, but I'm guessing water since you would have run out of energy at most around mile 30. I'm guessing this based upon an average 15mph ride and after about and hour or two your glycogen stores will have close to run out, thus needing a boost. But since you're having these problems around mile 40, or 2.5-3hrs in, I'm guessing lack of proper hydration.

Panda_Jack

@cacrat - At first I thought so too, but I started bringing my camebak (mule)on those rides as well and still cramp up.

My ride is basically 25 miles each way. At the halfway point I'll stop and rest for 10-15 minutes and have a banana and maybe a soyjoy. I'll stretch before the ride and at the halfway point. When I start cramping I usually just push through it since I'm almost back home by that point, its just that there's no way I'd be able to keep it up if the ride was any longer.

Maybe I'll pack some gatorade or something as well as see how that works out since there's a lot of potassium in that too.

DrIanKellar

Anything over a century, I use electrolyte drinks (SIS Go or Nuun). Never had cramps.