Severe leg cramps - What did I do wrong?

[Mshue]

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of riding the ~15 mile Red Rock loop just west of Las Vegas (if you have to be in Vegas, I highly recommend you rent a bike from McGhie’s and make your way to Red Rock National Park). About an hour and 45 minutes into the ride, on my third time around the loop and roughly 3.5 miles into the opening 5 mile, 1000 foot climb I developed severe leg cramps. This has never happened to me before in any sport, so I’m trying to figure out what happened.

Some more info: I’m 40, and I live in Wisconsin, so this was a lot more climbing than I’m used to. Also, it’s very early in our season (I’ve only ridden a couple hundred road miles outside along with roughly twice that amount in roller time). I drank about 65 ounces of water before the cramps hit. Like an idiot, I left my gels in the car during the first two loops, so I had to wait until I finished the second loop at which time I had two gels and a banana before heading back out. I didn’t feel “bonky” like I have in the past when I didn’t eat enough and felt pretty good other than the leg cramps.

I’d guess that the combination of the strenuousness of the effort this early in the season, the lack of food intake early in the ride and my age are the culprits, but am wondering if there’s something else that I can do to avoid this happening in the future. Thanks for any thoughts.

[Bud_E]

There have been numerous "cramp" threads here but the basic idea is that you are losing electrolytes ( sodium, potassium, etc ) through sweating. If you are replacing the lost sweat with plain water, you are diluting the electrolytes in your system to the point that your muscles will cramp. Riding in dry heat makes this worse. You need to at least partially also replace the lost sodium,etc. ( with Endurolyte capsules or the like ).

I ride in desert-like conditions a lot during the summer and lose a lot of salt through my sweat so I deal with this a lot too. Good luck.

Here's a reasonable overview on the subject: http://www.roadbikerider.com/cramps.htm

[maunahaole]

Airplane cabins are extremely dry inside. You were probably more dehydrated from the flight than you realized.

[chuckred]

If you're from a more humid climate, you may not be used to your sweat drying so fast. In the desert, your sweat may dry before you even notice that you're sweating. Thus, you're losing fluid and electrolytes without even realizing it... add to it, travel, airplanes like mentioned before, early season with more climbing than you're used to, etc. sounds like a recipe for cramps!

[WadePatton]

Speaking of electrolytes, I recently learned a really good reason to reduce sodium intake. Seems that the more you take in, the better your body gets at dumping it. IOW the rider who eats less salt will lose less salt--and thereby not require so much supplementation.

Of course potassium is usually the issue and I'm using Hammer supplements--at less than recommended dosage. I have cramped twice before--very shoddy nutrition and training involved. Sunday's race will tell if I'm doing better with such things. ;)

[thwart]

Hey Mike-
Hot temps you're not used to, and fairly large amounts of electrolyte-free water... add some climbing in... :crap:

A learning experience.

Oh, yeah... and you weren't riding the Zanc. ;)

[Kines]

were the cramps on your inner quads?

[Mshue]

There have been numerable "cramp" threads here but the basic idea is that you are losing electrolytes ( sodium, potassium, etc ) through sweating. If you are replacing the lost sweat with plain water, you are diluting the electrolytes in your system to the point that your muscles will cramp. Riding in dry heat makes this worse. You need to at least partially also replace the lost sodium,etc. ( with Endurolyte capsules or the like ).

I ride in desert-like conditions a lot during the summer and lose a lot of salt through my sweat so I deal with this a lot too. Good luck.

Here's a reasonable overview on the subject: http://www.roadbikerider.com/cramps.htm

Thanks for the link - it was a good overview. I clicked through to Hammer Nutrition, which has good info also. I suspect you're right about the imbalance.

And thanks for the gentle reminder to search other threads. Should have done that first. :crap:

[Mshue]

Hey Mike-
Hot temps you're not used to, and fairly large amounts of electrolyte-free water... add some climbing in... :crap:

A learning experience.

Oh, yeah... and you weren't riding the Zanc. ;)

I almost bought something for my water bottle at McGhie's, which in retrospect would have been a good idea. And the dry heat: It's amazing how dry my shorts and jersey were after nearly three hours of riding. Some serious evaporation.

I would really have loved to attack the descents with my Zank. As it was I was riding a Cannondale Super Six with Mavic Ks (with bladed spokes), which did not descend remotely as well as my Zank. I know lots of folks really like Cannondales, so maybe it was the bladed spokes causing the problems in the relatively high winds. Or, more likely, the Zank is just that good. :beer:

[Mshue]

were the cramps on your inner quads?

Problem started with the small, teardrop shaped muscle just above my knee on the inside of my right leg. When I bent my leg to stop the cramping in that muscle, the hamstring got into the act. Then I just remained motionless until I regained consciousness (ok, I exaggerated a little at the end there).