dtharakad

Do you get cramps and lockups in long rides.. what is the remedy.
I'm 39yrs 5'6'. 65kgs. Ride Giant Contend3 2018 with claris group set. This is the original set up of the bike.
When I ride beyond 80kms, my cramps start. My longest rides have always stopped due to locked up thighs.

Add..
Even when I ride with ample water, and lime+salty home made juice.
Anyone has similar experience?

jaxgtr

sounds like you are depleting your electrolytes. You are not eating enough on the long rides. I had this happen once and only once. I live in a very hot and humid local and I took in too much water once and sweat out all my electrolytes and did not replace them. This was back when I had just restarted cycling. I was just using water in my bottles. I was over 50 miles and really started locking up....since then, I make sure to pre-eat properly, take electrolytes in my bottles and have some solid carbs during the ride.

Random11

Never happened to me. I associate cramps with dehydration. Are you staying hydrated? Perhaps a sports drink like Gatorade would help to replace some of what you're sweating out.

Koyote

I'm not sure why this needs a poll.

Drink more fluids, eat more while you ride (100-150 calories per hour), get some electrolytes. If you do all of that, something like this is probably unnecessary, but won't hurt.

And make sure your bike fits properly.

DaveLeeNC

I have gotten cramps on long rides 3 times that I can recall. In those cases it was not dehydration. But in all 3 cases I was pushing myself well past 'my norms in cycling'.

OTOH, I do get cramps randomly (seemingly unrelated to cycling) maybe once or twice a month (generally inner thigh area) and these are resolved by straightening out the affected leg (which can be quite a painful effort sometimes). The trigger seems to be a change in position of the leg, but that 'triggering position' seems to vary.

I have come to accept this as just how I am.

dave

unterhausen

Cramps are not well understood or easily treatable. However, one way to get them is to push yourself too hard. This time of year, as it gets warmer, one thing to keep in mind is that heat lowers your muscle's capacity. So some amount of effort that would have been fine when it was colder is now pushing yourself too hard.

indyfabz

Very rarely do I get cramps. A friend of mine started getting them fairly regularly on long rides. I gave him the nickname Sir Crampalot.

Chuckles1

I get them now that I'm in my mid- sixties; never got them when I was younger. And I get them after rides, hours later, not during. If I do get a crampy feeling when cycling, I slow down for a while and it passes. I've been trying to understand what brings on cramps for the past five years at least. There's no particular cause that I can point to. A mystery...

JayKay3000

If you're putting too much salt in that homemade drink you could be inadvertently causing your body to get rid of more water and accidentally causing yourself dehydration.

bargo68 

No choice for "I love the..."
c'mon!

dfrench52 

Hot pepper is a cure that my wife has found useful for leg cramps after working out (so far, I haven't had the problem). We heard about this on The People's pharmacy, broadcast from Durham, NC but you can obtain podcasts.

The particular episode is: https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/arti...-muscle-cramps

We just put a few shakes of Tabasco sauce into mug, put in a pinch of sugar ( optional), add a tablespoon or two of tap water, swirl the mix around a time or two. Then she'll toss it back. Cramps abate within seconds for her. Maybe it's the pain from the peppers that makes her think about that instead of cramps.😂

datlas 

Same experience. You can try the electrolytes and mustard and hot pepper concoctions. Some people DO respond. I do not.

For me, best solution is ride longer but slightly less intense. Has allowed me to extend the “cramp zone” from 70 miles to 100.

caloso

Pickle brine.

jaxgtr

my wife does not ride the distance I do, but she does a lot of standing as a RN and while she is crafting. She gets cramping quiet often in her hands and feet. She uses Bob's Pickle Pops to help relieve that.

https://www.amazon.com/Expect-More-B...7L42Q5KD&psc=1

downtube42

Some people stop and drink pickle juice, Others stop and drink electrolytes. Some stop and stretch. Some stop and eat bananas.

They say it's the pickle juice, electrolytes, stretching, or bananas. I expect it's the stopping. My first brevet beyond 300k, I cramped at 70 miles and thought I was done. But I was 30 miles from anywhere, so I slowed down and carried on. Five miles later I was all good, and 110 miles later I finished strong.

Cramping triggers are not well understood. Exhaustion seems involved, but cramping can be triggered without any fatigue at all. Electrolyte imbalances, low potassium, and dehydration are often blamed but there's no evidence for any of these being causes. With this much uncertainty, the topic is rife for hucksters.

'02 nrs

vein surgeon recommended carbonated water.worked the 1 time but the taste didn't.tried carbonated apple cider-works.helps alleviate stomach gas and the leg cramps soon after.https://www.target.com/p/martinelli-...s/-/A-14753150

indyfabz

Ever hear the story about the Pickle Juice Bowl between the Cowboys and Eagles? Hottest NFL game ever. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan had the team drink pickle juice before the game. Several Dallas players had to leave the game because of cramps. The Eagles were fine and crushed the Cowboys.

krakhaus 

I did a painting of The Cramps a few years back for an exhibit in Hollywood.

Aroyobob

Coconut water and grapefruit juice are both good sources of potassium. Coconut water is pretty inexpensive.

dtharakad

i usually do 140kms a week. with 50, 60 or 30km rides. this also could be. cause this week i wasnt active due to rain + working late. Also was not eating as usual due to the ride.
maybe I should eat bit more than usual prior 1-2 days. and taking an electrolyte from previous day.
then during the ride maybe stretches soon after cramp appears.
This should help.
I also was reading milk is a good electrolyte + it has carb in addition to potassium and sodium. maybe that could work as well.
now is the experimenting time....
thanks everyone..

chaadster

I get cramping sometimes, and I associate it with overuse, i.e. riding too hard and long for my fitness level.

Rides4Beer

Cramping is typically due to lack of fitness/endurance, or rather, pushing past your current fitness/endurance. Rarely is it actually dehydration (assuming most people eat and drink at least some on longer rides). Proper pacing for the distance, and continuing to train for more endurance, are the best way to prevent cramps.

John_V 

When I got back into riding, 11 years ago, I was getting cramps on a regular basis, especially night cramps. Here in Florida, it's common to get dehydrated so I made sure I was drinking lots of water and electrolytes on my ride but I was still getting cramps. I started taking a potassium supplement, once a day, and have never had a cramp since then. At 74, I'm still doing my 40 mile rides on a regular basis and up until I started having some medical issues, two years ago, I was putting in 10,000 plus miles a year. I'm not saying potassium supplements is the magical cure, but it worked for me and as inexpensive as they are, they certainly are worth a try.

rsbob 

In my 30s when I regularly road centuries and would push myself for personal bests on hot days, I would cramp up, even after drinking the recommended one bottle of sports drink per hour. I believe I was sweating it out faster than I was replenishing. At the time I associated it with muscle fatigue coupled with dehydration. I would even get horrendous Charlie horse cramps hours afterwards or while asleep.

now in my 60s rides of 50-75 miles on hot days I don’t cramp on rides but hours after. I try to maintain adequate hydration and eat carbs, on longer rides but sometimes it still happens when I push myself. When it happens, I take 3 large gulps of dill pickle juice and a magnesium capsule and am good.

On Amazon there is a pickle juice marketed to Athletes for cramp prevention.

cyclist2000

I have had a cramp while riding before and I try to stretch the leg muscle by pushing my heel below the pedal with the cleat still locked into the pedal. The problem is hydrations as everyone has stated. I also have night leg cramps when riding a lot. I am too cheap to buy the pickle juice but buy large jars of pickles and eat 3 pickle spears before bed, and when the pickles are gone saved the pickle juice. This helped but my doctor thought that I might be ingesting too much sodium.