The Dreaded Cramp - Advice please

[Woz]

Is that High Zero stuff CRC were putting samples in the deliveries (which incidently I chucked the bin not really looking at it ) ?

My sweat is almost pure brine, and on a hot I day have a face like salt lake city - I figured out I just need to make sure I'm topped up enough since I loose a lot of salts; it seems to work.

I think there may be a danger of actually drinking too much; what you want is to retain a balance of sufficient minerals. If your wee-wee is too yellow, that's a sign of not being hydrated enough. Constantly peeing clear is more of an indicator you've had too much to drink (and I'm not on about Stella ) .

 

[RobMac]

I think there may be a danger of actually drinking too much; what you want is to retain a balance of sufficient minerals. If your wee-wee is too yellow, that's a sign of not being hydrated enough.

Yes! Yes! Yes! :?

 

[Woz]

Isn't the internet fantastic. I found this little gem!

First thing I'm gonna do is get my CRT calibrated, print it out, and get it covered in plastic at the local cobblers. It will slip into the back pocket on the cycling jersey nicely. I'll whip it out discretly in the woods or at the side of the road. Might even use it in the gents at the pub too.

Not sure about that number 8. With that colour I would assume your are using the chart on the wrong orifice.

 

[lumos2000]

berocca turns my pee orange

 

[AdamAsh]

Some great advice.

Thanks a lot for the input.

I'm going to try & get my fitness up from zero at the moment!

I'm deffo going to try some salted crisps.

I'm going to try that additive for my drink too.

WOZ, when you mentioned stopping & putting feet on ground... That's exactly when it went worse.

Worst feeling ever. Especially as nobody else in my group suffered from it. I was like a lame dog!!

 

[rockz631689]

A couple of things (as already pointed out above.....)

Dehydration - were you out on the amber nectar the night before? Need to top your fluid levels back up but water doesn't cut it. Apple juice is good, or sports isotonic drinks (stay well way from Redbull/Mother/V etc). Drinking water whilst riding is also important, but you must also top up your electrolytes too, as well as eating regularly. Shotz or similar are great, but you've gotta find something YOU can handle. Gels and power bars sit really bad with me, so every 15 minutes I eat a couple of jelly beans (100% carbs!), wash them down with 100-150ml of Electrolyte fluid and 150-200ml water (remember you must have at least 1ltr of fluid per hour of exercise).


Know you body - yep, says it all really. Getting fit will (to some extent) help you out, but no matter how fit you are, you'll still cramp if your body doesn't like what you're doing! If you start cramping, or feel any pain, stop! Take a rest, keep your arms, legs, back, neck etc moving and stretching but more importantly keep warm. 10-15min resting, but continued moving like slow jogging can help stretch/warm your body in different way to riding. Get back on the bike and continue, at a slower pace. If you cramp again.....head home - your mind is probably saying "I can ride another 30km" but your body is saying "P**s off!". Get home, get warm, rub baby oil into your muscles (trust me....it works!) and live to ride another day. If you push on, you'll do more damage, run the risk of losing concentration and end up probably crashing that retro steed you are riding!

Is your bike set up correctly? Yeah, it looks cool and retro to have the seat post fully extended, and a 150mm stem so you're leaning/laying flat, but if you're not comfortable on the bike, your arms are over-extended and your little legs are so stretched that when you pedal your knees are almost locked out and your hips are swaying violently then you will burn more energy, create more lactic acid and generally end up in a world of hurt. Get a bike fit. Good shops do them, it relatively cheap and will probably give you an excuse to buy more retro parts!

I'm no expert, I just like random blurtings from time to time, but I've done enduro MTB racing for a long time (4hrs, 6hrs, 100km etc) and regularly knock out 100-180km road rides....not saying I'm fit or qualified to talk about sports science or biology etc, just my own experiences....hope some, if not all of this can help out fellow riders!

 

[legrandefromage]

I was told bananas, something to do with potassium levels.

 

[Deleted member 13859]

i used to suffer with cramp in my calf's but a few bananas and high 5 zero tabs have sorted the job nicely

 

[Neil]

As somebody else suggested, first thing that popped into my mind was any booze the night before?

Some people seem prone to it (although that may well be environmental, as much as anything else). Probably a few factors came to bear - not being that conditioned for that type of activity (or that fit at all), maybe spinning a bit more than pushing a bigger gear may have helped.

As to the various cures, I'd agree, that there's no need for pre-prepared gels - although they may be more convenient, there's always that factor to consider. Decent hydration, a couple of bananas and a bag of crisps should be perfectly fine. And as others have suggested - don't get thirsty, keep having a sip all the time.

I supplement with magnesium for other reasons, but if you find yourself normally predisposed to cramp, and you're looking after the other things, a one-a-day magnesium tablet may help. Supermarkets tend to sell them very reasonably in their vitamin sections (I find Morrisons sells these sorts of things at quite good prices).

 

[Woz]

Just thought of another factor, perhaps the most obvious!

Make sure your muscles are warm and dry!