Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
I've had a good rummage around the forum this morning looking for advice on avoiding calf cramps but I'm not sure I'm getting anywhere.
I cycle around 300 miles a month, most of those miles are commuting in short bursts on a 52/17 singlespeed. My other miles are 40-70 mile high cadence low-resistance rides on a geared bike, and that's where the problem starts. If I keep to an average of about 17mph I don't have any trouble, but if I lift the average to around 19/20mph I start to get calf twinges after a few miles.
I would like to think I'm in 'reasonable' shape, my best ride so far was 100 miles with an average of 18.4mph (but I did get a few calf cramps). Last week I was out on a ride with @mattobrien and we were biffing along at a lovely pace (about 22/23mph!) after a fairly gentle start, but after a few miles I felt a few twangs in my calf. I tried to stretch them out by pushing my heels down but after a mile or so I had to emergency stop, jump off and do everything I could to avoid total lockup.
The rest of the ride was a bit of a bust and the feeling of having pulled calfs didn't recover for about five days. Bad.
Anyway, I've written enough prose here, so to make things easy on your eyes I'll go to a bullet list:
I cycle around 300 miles a month, most of those miles are commuting in short bursts on a 52/17 singlespeed. My other miles are 40-70 mile high cadence low-resistance rides on a geared bike, and that's where the problem starts. If I keep to an average of about 17mph I don't have any trouble, but if I lift the average to around 19/20mph I start to get calf twinges after a few miles.
I would like to think I'm in 'reasonable' shape, my best ride so far was 100 miles with an average of 18.4mph (but I did get a few calf cramps). Last week I was out on a ride with @mattobrien and we were biffing along at a lovely pace (about 22/23mph!) after a fairly gentle start, but after a few miles I felt a few twangs in my calf. I tried to stretch them out by pushing my heels down but after a mile or so I had to emergency stop, jump off and do everything I could to avoid total lockup.
The rest of the ride was a bit of a bust and the feeling of having pulled calfs didn't recover for about five days. Bad.
Anyway, I've written enough prose here, so to make things easy on your eyes I'll go to a bullet list:
- I naturally have a low salt diet, but have considered eating something like salted cashews the day before a ride
- I use High5 tabs and have also tried electrolyte salts in fruit squash, consuming around 500ml per twenty miles
- If I'm going on a 'hard' ride I abstain from booze for at least 24 hours beforehand
- On longer rides I consume gels, jelly babies (or fig rolls) and the occasional Snickers bar
- My lungs and thighs are totally fine when these cramps strike, so it doesn't feel like overall fatigue
- Are there any other 'on bike' exercises I could try?
- If I stop during a ride I make a point of stretching my calfs, once they're warm of course
- I'm fairly happy with my bike fit (thanks to @Marshmallow_Fluff ) and any issues I have are more related to a long stem and numb hands
