Excruciating pain, top of both legs

[Daveyraveygravey]

I haven't experienced this before and wondered if anyone else had? I did a charity ride at Goodwood on Sunday for MS (which was a great day out) and started really well. The object was to do 21 laps of the 2.38 mile track and so complete 50 miles in what should have been a 3.25 hr time slot this morning. I'm guessing there were about 300 cyclists there, maybe less.
I had done 10 laps, really pushing myself, and was deciding if I should break next time round or the time after that, when I started to notice a pain at the tops of my legs, just below my butt cheeks. I get this on rides sometimes, but normally 2+ hours in, not about 70 mins. I realised that I had hardly been out of the saddle, and maybe had been too fixed in a low aero position, either on the drops or down low on the stem, a bit like an improvised TT position. Maybe I had also been pushing too hard, certainly it was the hardest I have ridden continuously, although at that point I was still able to lap consistently. Within half a lap, it was excruciating, and I knew I would have to stop at the end of the current lap.
Pulled in to the pits, and getting my leg over the top tube was murder. I couldn't squat, I couldn't even sit in a chair. Eventually I sagged on to the grass and lay on my front, then rolled over and started bending my knees, pulling my feet up to my bum and pushing out gently. Walking also helped. For a time, I thought I would be going home in an ambulance I was that concerned.
I did get back on the bike about 15 mins later and managed 5 or 6 laps but they called time, so had to stop. It still hurts now, 5 hours later, although not as much. Two days later it has almost gone but not quite.
So is this cramp or something else? I have had cramps in my calves feet before, but that feels a bit different, and hasn't happened on the bike or after a ride. As I say, I do get the pain to an extent after 2 hours, but moving on the saddle or coming out of it makes it go away. Today, getting out the saddle helped, but not completely.
I have had the shorts for several hundred miles, but I think maybe I wasn't sitting on the padded parts. I rode the bike over 5,000 miles last year and nothing about the position of the bars/saddle/stem has changed.
What really worries me if this happens on Ridelondon, or worse out on a solo ride 50+ miles from home, I will be well and truly up the creek.

 

[JasonHolder]

Cramps yes. Cramps brought on by an extremely stressed muscle. Ever worked hard in gym etc and you go to contract muscle and it locks up?

 

[Mo1959]

Don't suppose it could be pressure on the sciatic nerve??

 

[JoeyB]

Sounds like cramp or muscle fatigue to me. Did you drink enough before / during the event?

I get that after a heavy legs session at the gym, sometimes during which is interesting!

 

[Peter Armstrong]

What about you position on the bike,
A general rule is that if you have pain down the back of your legs its because your saddle is too high or too far back, and visa versa.

 

[Hacienda71]

If it is cramp then you might want to try drinking an electrolyte drink during the ride. A lot of people seem to find they help. You could improvise and add a pinch of salt to your bidon when you make up your regular drink.

 

[JasonHolder]

SALT take a pinch and snort it gets in brain faster. Hacie has salt on the brain permanently!! Lol

 

[MikeG]

SALT take a pinch and snort it gets in brain faster. .......

Some of the worst advice you'll ever receive, but luckily it is so transparently stupid that no-one would contemplate following it. Salt doesn't do its work in the brain, of course, but in the bloodstream and thence the muscles..........never mind the damage that salt would do to the mucous membranes of the nose as it desiccates them.

 

[JasonHolder]

Well done mike. My point is people should get salt off the brain because supplementing it with a pinch or 2 isn't needed and leads to worse performance

 

[vickster]

Why not just say that rather than giving dangerous advice, even if tongue in cheek! Honestly

 

[JasonHolder]

Sorry. To be clear. I'm NOT recommending snorting or ingesting salt in any way shape or form.

 

[Saluki]

Sounds like cramp to me too. Maybe your potassium levels are all to cock. Unfortunately with either high or low potassium levels the symptoms are the same but with most sporty types its a low potassium problem. Bananas and Tomatos are the way to go but its not an instant hit. It takes time to get into the system. I have a banana and a couple of tomatos most days to help with cramp.

I used to get top of leg, base of bum cramp when I was working with horses. Some days I could be 12 hours in the saddle (various different horses, I didn't make one poor horse work that hard) and I would often be in the sort of agony that you are describing. Electrolyte drinks, bananas and stretching worked for me.

 

[MikeG]

Sorry. To be clear. I'm NOT recommending snorting or ingesting salt in any way shape or form.

Even that is a load of nonsense. Salt is our primary source of sodium, which is a requirement of the body for a number of reasons, including growth. To obtain the minimum daily requirement adults should eat between 1.5 and 4.2 grammes of salt per day. Here's the science.

It is just as bad, potentially, to under eat salt as it is to over eat it. Here's the science. Now, granted, most people in this country eat too much, but to advocate, as Jason has just done, "not ingesting salt in any way shape or form" is another piece of un-informed overstatement on his behalf. There has been some science done on salt levels in endurance athletes, and the following is taken from the above source:

Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH), however, is common at marathons and other endurance events.[5] 13% of the athletes who finished the 2002 Boston Marathon were in a hyponatremic state, i.e. their salt levels in their blood had fallen below an acceptable level.

See what I've done there, Jason? I have thought about what I am writing before hitting the "Post reply" button. I have backed up claims I have made with links to authoritative sources (please feel free to use Wikipedia as a starting point, as the references are usually very good, even if the Wiki pieces themselves can be flawed). I haven't just shot off the first thing that came into my head.

Your opinions on salt are valueless, but so are mine. Therefore, rather than personalise this, I have gone to the people who know what they are talking about, and obtained the science.

 

[Daveyraveygravey]

Thanks for the replies, I'm understanding a bit more about it now. I plan on having a bike fit soon, will try foam rollers, and just knowing it can happen if I stay in one position too long will help. It's Tuesday night and it still twinges a bit when I stretch, so going up stairs or trying to walk fast. I was worried on the day it might lead to long term damage or effect.

Bananas are a problem for me, I'm allergic to them. I had been steadily increasing my banana intake over a couple of years and my body became intolerant, great huh!? Need to look up other sources of potassium.

 

[MikeG]

Bananas are a problem for me, I'm allergic to them. I had been steadily increasing my banana intake over a couple of years and my body became intolerant, great huh!? Need to look up other sources of potassium.

Me too. Fortunately, there are lots of other common sources of potassium. Clickety click. Another site.