tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post8357621887807093934..comments2009-09-10T07:40:53.666-05:00Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00031247407797525883noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-184683195769193912009-09-10T07:40:53.666-05:002009-09-10T07:40:53.666-05:00Keep ridind your blog is a inspirationBuilding Materials Supplieshttp://www.ibuildingsupplies.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-55785802326658712342009-09-02T13:25:41.859-05:002009-09-02T13:25:41.859-05:00Ben, nice to have met you on Saturday morning. Some people seem to get cramps easily, and some people don&#39;t. (Fortunately, I&#39;m one of the people that doesn&#39;t). Some people figure out what causes them and others don&#39;t. <br /><br />You&#39;ve figured out the spinning trick, it&#39;s a good way to get up hills without putting out a lot of power. :)Steve Fullerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04000254083516026697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-76755928391046040472009-09-01T23:32:31.989-05:002009-09-01T23:32:31.989-05:00I know this pain and I fear it. I&#39;ve got my first century coming up (Civil War Century; CWC) coming in a couple and in the run-up to that, the last two long rides I got the cramps at about mile 35 or so, the first time &quot;bent over the bike&quot; bad. I&#39;ve been advised by my 5000-mile-a-year biking buddy to quaff Cytomax and supplement before and after with SportLegs (Vitamin D/Magnesium/Calcium). Post-ride supplementation helped a lot on Monday with healing, but don&#39;t know about the during-ride experience with it yet. I have another long ride before the CWC, I&#39;ll see if the Cytomax/SportLegs intervention makes a difference. I don&#39;t think Gatorade does it enough for me. Nothing like a data-less recommendation, but maybe some onboard electrolyte supplements would be worth a try?swmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15020379560445724018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-60394537789813575882009-09-01T21:33:05.043-05:002009-09-01T21:33:05.043-05:00<b>David</b> - I&#39;m going to try something with potassium in the future, I think. I was craving them at Malcom, but either I wasn&#39;t looking in the right place or they didn&#39;t have &#39;em.. no dice <br /><br /><b>Guitar Ted</b> - Awesome to hear you&#39;ll be back! Bring the Fargo next year, I tried talking Oly into it this year so I could have a water support vehicle for those long stretches.. hah! Thanks for the good words, my man, it was great to meet you and I&#39;m looking forward to next year. I think I&#39;ve got the formula in place finally to finish the thing (again, kinda) :)<br /><br /><b>Cornbread</b> - You know, I think that&#39;s part of it. Last year they showed up after a bit of too much pushing, then never went away. Same thing this year. I think the lesson has been learned - work my butt off so I don&#39;t have to push so hard next time!! <br /><br />And thanks, seriously, the support and awesomeness of this group means a lot. It&#39;s seriously amazing how cool everyone is, you don&#39;t expect it at first, then realize everyone is out there to do the same thing - kick some gravel up on a bike. <br /><br />And that&#39;s just freaking awesome. Looking forward to the next one!!!Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00031247407797525883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-7090060630206576542009-09-01T21:28:12.664-05:002009-09-01T21:28:12.664-05:00Stephen - The best part of the whole thing, I think, is being able to get back on. I still remember a time when I wasn&#39;t able to do that.. and I keep rememberin&#39; that just in case :). <br /><br />db - I&#39;ve found that a lot of times, with that stuff, a really easy ride will cure it. Amazing.. kind of.. I&#39;m sure there&#39;s some science to it. Heh. <br /><br />Jansen - I have not, but I&#39;m way open to it! I stopped with Gatorade for good this summer one ride where the sugar just made me sick to my stomach. Not doing that again. Ever. And thanks! That&#39;s what I enjoy best.. hearing everyone else is out there doing it too.. :)Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00031247407797525883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-90811407296382286302009-09-01T08:18:35.649-05:002009-09-01T08:18:35.649-05:00Ben, you rock. You pushed yourself to the point of no return and learned several things about yourself. I&#39;d say that&#39;s a successful day.<br /><br />FYI, cramps have been my undoing on more than one occasion. It&#39;s not uncommon when you push yourself to your limits. <br /><br />Keep on pedalin&#39; and smilin&#39;!Cornbreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00915061105465487137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-59612671954364675102009-08-31T23:15:54.142-05:002009-08-31T23:15:54.142-05:00Hey! Found your hideout here and decided to read your post on the GLGA. Great write up. <br /><br />It was great to have ridden with you, and more importantly meet you. You know, in retrospect I am thinking your gears and &quot;spin to win&quot; mantra is a better deal for Cornbread&#39;s sufferfest. Ha ha! But I wasn&#39;t that smart this go &#39;round, I guess! <br /><br />Well, you have to remember one thing, Ben. Anybody who lines up for one of these nutty gravel rides has earned a ton of respect. To have riden 80-something miles in addition? Yeah....mucho respect my friend! <br /><br />Next year I&#39;ll be back. take care!Guitar Tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10960580677548417562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-86042321746440464462009-08-31T19:34:21.455-05:002009-08-31T19:34:21.455-05:00Are you eating enough bananas? They&#39;re supposed to help with cramps.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05016012601926099367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-60684707802669029232009-08-31T11:52:07.264-05:002009-08-31T11:52:07.264-05:00Hey Ben.<br /><br />Have you tried the Camelbak elixir tablets?<br /><br />http://www.camelbak.com/en/sports-recreation/elixir.aspx<br /><br />They have electrolyte&#39;s and no HFCS (makes Gatorade a non-option for me).<br /><br />Keep riding sir, your blog is an inspiration for clydes everywhere.Jansenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07223931868618205846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-21943369361809535672009-08-31T09:23:42.134-05:002009-08-31T09:23:42.134-05:00Yeah, those days happen. You have the right attitude -- laugh it off and learn from it. Thanks for posting this; my strained calf muscle isn&#39;t half the issue I thought it was this morning.dbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09527673886975332497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13696587.post-51316304641500967512009-08-31T09:01:37.971-05:002009-08-31T09:01:37.971-05:00it happens to us all. You just gotta dust yourself off and get back on... and I am talking about it all the clipless falling the DNFing. I did the clipless fall once and have had 2 close calls. apart from that Im good. We tried to do a metric in an eventas we had completed one at home. The one we tried (a road event) had gravel pot holes and way too many hills. At MM 40 we quit and after it we have actually lost one of the people we used to ride with. He seems to have just quit after the event. I am a firm believer that what doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Only time will tell if Im just crazy *LOL*<br /><br />SteveStephen Paulk-McGinleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02361817270423567870noreply@blogger.com