You’re right on both accounts. Unfortunately, My life doesn’t allow me to do long hours during base training. I am fairly convinced that the intensity and duration of the ride were the culprit. Hopefully, my body will now be more accustomed to this type of effort (I did one the week earlier as well) and it will end up being pretty good prep for upcoming races.
Chad did a deep dive on cramping in this podcast YMMV
I had wicked inner thigh cramping, tweaked my cleats, and no more cramping. It was like magic. People thought that I had then too far to the outside, farther away from the crank, and that I was twisting slightly when pushing higher wattage. The former was an easier fix.
Regarding all the other cramping, are you hydrating well when you are off the bike? Do you take a PPI for GERD? Are there any other gastro type meds you are on? PPIs cause some people to cramp like it’s a hobby, and even if it’s not that, some people just cramp more than others. I use a magnesium tablet at night, and it seems to work for me. I swear by them. (Don’t take too much as it has a laxative effect)
Good luck. Cramping sure sucks…
Oh, from experience: Watch the sodium. You can overdo that really easily. I usually eat a half dozen corn chips with some hummus or salsa before a big ride, and it seems to work well for me. YMMV. (How’s your blood pressure?)
What did you do to your cleats? I’ve not really been a cramper but I’m experiencing innner thigh cramps the last week or two and I’m wondering if I need to “tweak” my cleats too.
what changed in the last week or two? Seems like an odd one to just appear unless you made a change to fit.
Nothing that I can think of…still just doing base mostly SS workouts and Z2. Had a couple of lower level VO2 workouts in there as well.
What’s weird is that last week was a recovery week and I felt good but had cramps a few times then (off the bike). I get the cramps not on the bike but when going about my day. For instance we have a little dog gate on one of our stairs and we all just kind of walk over it kicking your leg over as you go…and I get cramps doing that lol.
It might be that I’m just getting back into cycling shape and the cramps are from the work I’ve been doing.
I was a relative noob with Speedplay pedals, and can’t remember explicitly what I did, but I do remember dialing down the release angle, and moving the cleats around. I had to use the three hole adapter and it allowed too much placement opportunities, but after tweaking them I fell back in love with the Speedplay system. It was so odd too, the cramping. It was specific, and in a set of muscles that was a little harder to stretch. I mean, who thinks that biking will piss off a thin muscle in the thigh. I went to the LBS, and they suggested a fix that worked for me. If you have a shop with a bike fitter, ask them. If they are any kind of decent person, they will be more than happy to answer a question like that. (Some don’t, which is discouraging)
Good luck!
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And now, post hip replacement, I am having some inner thigh cramping. Odd, but they literally tore my leg off, and stuck it back on. I assume that it’s just that they put it back ‘following manufactures specifications’, and my original configuration was ‘a little off spec’.
At first, it sounded horrific, but now I laugh at it. My inner thigh now hits the seat post of my Neo bike, and if not that, brushes the bottle cage, but it’s all without any pain or discomfort. I made the comment that maybe everyone should have their legs recalibrated at some point before they embark on a pro riding career. I can laugh about it now… I guess it could have come out worse…
I’m writing off the cramping as my leg getting used to its new position/orientation. Hope it will pass…
I also agree it could be probably fitness and not fueling/hydration.
Almost every year in May/early June, depending on when I emerge that year from the pain cave after winter, up to 60km solo is no problem but any more and the quads start cramping and that’s with plenty of hydration in me and in reserve. And any relief I gain from stopping for a few minutes to stretch is gone after a few minutes back in the saddle.
OTOH, fast forward to the start of August and I’m riding 80+ km on gravel in 30+ C heat with no issues.
When I cramp, I cramp after riding a long technical section in mtb marathons. Due to not being a smooth rider I stiffen up and legs are pushed to an unusual position and have to stay under tension far too long.
As I got stronger and better season after season I am having fewer cramps and got away with mostly warnings last season.
I train indoors or on the road and ride my mtb only to race.
I bonked a lot and made all sorts of mistakes. Never cramped.
So for me issue is purely mechanical. Position, cadance and demand is different. Weight lifting, running and streching helps but no time and no home gym.
Make that n=2. Same situation for me. Observationally, seems I hve saltier sweat than other people. Occasionally get cramps during rides, particularly after a fit adjustment. But, frequently, maybe 75% of the time, I get cramps in my legs AFTER rides. Gaining fitness helps but by no means does it stop them. I have found eating salt and adding salt tabs into my routine pre-, during, and post- ride to be the most effective prophylactic reducing the occurrence of cramps to perhaps 10% of the time. Would love to hear what other folks who struggle with frequent cramping have done.
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My 2c…
Cramping is ‘generally’ from excessive load.
If you significantly exceed your typical load, cramping is possible.
You don’t train as hard as you race. Cramping possible.
You suddenly exceed your usual duration. Cramping possible.
You apply your usual load in far higher heat. Cramping possible.
Over time, as you grow in fitness and durability, your load tolerance grows higher. You essentially, raise the point at which cramping is a risk for you. You can still achieve cramping, but the load has to be very significant.
Obviously, poor nutrition and hydration lowers your load tolerance. Result, cramping.
I’ve noticed that riders on low volume ‘generally’ cramp more often. Obviously, their usual load is something like 60-90mins, with intervals. Suddenly, upping that to 4hrs with repeated hard efforts is a very significant increase.
I personally used to regularly get cramps. Since dramatically increasing my volume, I’ve never had one in a ride. After a race on a few occasions, but rarely.
If your fitness is equal to or above the load you apply, you are very unlikely to cramp.
Solution.
Regularly ride long. Weekly if possible. At the very least, one a month. These long rides will go a long way to building your resistance to cramping. They are best done outside, for obvious reasons. Long is very individual. I’d say 2 to 4x the duration of your regular volume.
Finally, do a sweat test. If you really are a salty sweater, upping your sodium intake to match will help, especially in the heat.
Still, it all comes down to load tolerance.
(Why don’t I just say fitness? I don’t think fitness is the right term, yes it certainly works, it just doesn’t line up with my experience with cramping. Fitness is such a broad term. I believe cramping comes from significantly exceeding total muscular stimulus, which you can do while having very high fitness.)
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This, 100%
And then add a fit that might not be optimal.
Also, that carb intake is loooooow, eat properly the day before and morning of, and then do 90g/h on the bike 
He’s consuming 130g per hour. That’s more than MVDP consumes during a classic.
Maybe a bit unclear phrasing
Did OP consume a total of 127g (with 1l of water per hour), or 127g of carbs per hour ?
But how many people are going to do a 4 hour ride at or close to race pace weekly?
I do LV plus 2-3 rides at 3-5 hours a week. The longer rides are at a lower intensity but may include some hard efforts between 20-50 min.
I did 3 races this year at obviously a much harder effort and cramped severely in one and mildly in the other two. I did not cramp in a single training session all year.
I buried myself in those three races which I expect to do. But there’s no way I could go that deep for that long on a weekly or even monthly rate. The emotional and physical trauma is far too great.
Says per hour further up the thread.
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All those numbers are per hour.
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Sorry, I wasn’t saying do a race simulation weekly. Just significant volume.
However, if you are regularly cramping in racing, you are either picking races that are too challenging in either length or intensity or you need to significantly increase your training load and specificity. Particularly, nearing the event.
It’s very common for athletes to ‘suddenly’ increase training stress in a race situation by crazy numbers. If you’re prone to cramping, it’s almost guaranteed.
It’s either a very slow build to the load required, or some race simulation work to better prepare yourself.
I know many people race far longer and harder than they train, but this is far from optimal. There really is massive potential in getting as close as possible in training to what you will encounter in racing.
Obviously, this is very complex in ultras, Ironman’s etc.
However, pushing into heavy cramping is never beneficial. The recovery is very slow and often ruins many subsequent days of training.
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