I just did my first gran fondo yesterday which also happened to be my first century ride ever. Prior to that my longest ride was 50 miles. It also had twice the climbing I’ve ever done on a single ride at near 7,000 feet. It was the Bike MS waves to wine ride if anyone is familiar with it. Fitnes…

[image] TRusername: Could it be that I’m just not used to such a long ride? Yep. And if you were cramping at 40 miles then you were overreaching. TBH, good work finishing if you were cramping at 40 miles into a 100 mile event, just finishing must have been a real chore. Once you’ve overre…

I have a sensitive stomach and carry all my own drink mix on the bike so I don’t have to worry about whats provided at the aid station working for me. Now if they would just start using more ice in their water!

so you ran a GF with twice values compared to your maximum, started with a fast group, started drinking a juice after 50 miles, then gatorade (useless), and you wonder why you got cramps ? you didn’t do a right thing: you had to start more slowly, a GF is not just the first climb or the first 50 mi…

I also salt all over my helmet and HR straps and kit and would reliably have problems at 75-90. I now carry a tube of “ base salts ” and use a lick of that a few times per hour that seems to help even things out if struggling with the drink levels and is easier than pickle juice to get down (tastes li…

There are a couple other threads on here describing your scenario - it is a risk for everyone - even having ridden quite a few centuries, I’ve been burned pushing even just a little bit too hard and then having problems 80 miles in by making poor pacing decisions. Sounds like you took the overreach…

Thanks for the reply. The thing that doesn’t make sense is that 2 weeks prior to the gran fondo, I went on a fast-paced 50 mile ride which was my longest ride up until the fondo. I had no issues cramping at that point and the pace was faster than the group I was with on the fondo. I agree about t…

Thanks for your reply. I was actually drinking Skratch’s hydration blend prior to the race and during the first 50 miles. In fact, I had gone through at least 1,200mg of sodium by the 50 mile mark; it seems like that may not have been enough though. All in all I think it was a likely combination …

[image] TRusername: I had no issues cramping at that point and the pace was faster than the group I was with on the fondo Pace is extremely misleading. Do you mean the actual velocity at which you were traveling or the normalized power over the course of the 50 miles?

Thanks for your reply. The thing that frustrates me is that I never got to the point where I felt like I was overreaching. If you look at my power profile I spent 72% of my time in Zone 1 or 2, my avg power the whole ride was 56%. The cramps didn’t start in until I was actually on a relatively fl…

First gran fondo...all the cramps

Training

splash September 23, 2019, 11:54am 6

Give a listen to the last podcast, it was really good! There are some great follow-up clarifications from the guys crom precision hydration in the associated thread too.
Podcast 221 thread

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First gran fondo...all the cramps

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