Cramps

Mike McGuire said:

I got into a pretty bad place with cramps yesterday doing a ride which
was a step up from what from what I had done before. It was a first try
at going up to Skyline from where I live in Palo Alto.

Quoted message said:

So what to do about this? How to avoid it.

Mike:

Your statement that this ride was a step up from what you had done before
suggests that your muscles were just plain overworked when you started
cramping. You may have also been somewhat dehydrated, but I think the
main cause was muscle overwork. I experienced several incidents of muscle
cramping caused by overwork while I was adjusting to riding a new bike
several years ago. The next time you try this route you'll probably get
through it without cramping.

Re: V8

I usually set out on an all-day ride with water, Enduralytes (overpriced
salt tablets), a flask or two of Hammergel (for times when I don't feel
like eating solid food) and a mix of Clif, Luna, and Balance bars. I can
recall one such time last year when riding the Mt. Hamilton Loop, I
approached the small store at Calaveras and Pleasanton-Sunol roads
desperate for a change of diet. I was hungry and didn't feel like eating
anything sweet. After perusing the limited selection at the small store I
found a bottle of V8 and a medium-sized bag of Lays salty, greasy potato
chips. I drank the V8 and ate half the chips while stopped and ate the
rest of them on the way home. I felt much better afterward. Sometimes
'junk' food is just what the body needs.

-- Bill Bushnell

Mike McGuire <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I got into a pretty bad place with cramps yesterday...
So what to do about this? How to avoid it.

---------------

ouch, I feel for, you having struggled with cramps myselfregardless of
how good condition I am in. I have tinkered with this and that, and
what is working best for me now is:

- "pre-medicating" with a couple gulps of pickle juice before a long
ride. It seems to help... I read about some pro football teams doing
it before games in hot stadiums.

- hydrating with water before, during, (and after) a ride. Having to
pee about once every 30-50 miles is a good sign.

- eating a granola bar about 1/hour

- a squirt of HammerGel about every hour

d

Should not be eaten if you do not have great teeth. Might stick in
braces or pull fillings or caps from your teeth.

[email hidden] wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

People eat Power Bars that can hardly be swallowed without washing
them down with a chaser and taste like cardboard soaked in molasses.
If you can do that, V8 should be tasty.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Bill Davidson said:

Quoted message said:

In that respect, V8-Vegetable juice is probably the best drink
commonly found in stores that contains the electrolytes needed. Of
course it isn't a classy name like Power Bar or Gatorade, but it
beats these in content. Check the label.

Quoted message said:

If only it didn't taste so bad.

People eat Power Bars that can hardly be swallowed without washing
them down with a chaser and taste like cardboard soaked in molasses.
If you can do that, V8 should be tasty.

That's the reason I started baking my own. It tastes really good. It has the
consistency i like. I make it the right size for a mouthful.
syrup, sugar, cream, glucose, oats, raisins, nuts. What more do we need 😉

--
Perre

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Ref. Perre

- That's the reason I started baking my own. Can you tell me what amount
for each ingredient and how long to bake, etc?

Thanks,
JK

Quoted message said:

Ref. Perre

- That's the reason I started baking my own. Can you tell me what
amount for each ingredient and how long to bake, etc?

Thanks,
JK

2.5 dl whipping cream ( not whipped though 😉
1.5 dl sugar
2 dl molasses ( I think that's what it's called. It 's a byproduct when
refining sugar)
100 g of liquid glucose. dextrose or any other fast sugar can be used but
glucose seems to aid in making a good fudgy consistency.

Mix and let the above simmer slowly on low heat. Somewhere around 90
minutes. It is done when a drop of the liquid will turn hard in a glass of
cold water. If it remains soft you need to leave it on the stove.

In the meantime you can prepare and mix the below ingredients

5 dl oats
1.5 dl sunflower seed
1.5 dl raisins
1 dl chopped nuts

If you don't like nuts or sunflower seed for instance you can replace with
something else, but keep about the same amount in order to keep the
consistency of the bar.

When your fudge is done according to the above you can pour your dry filling
into the pot and stir them together without any heat added. Pour onto an
ovenproof sandwichpaper. Put another paper on top and roll it out to an even
thickness of about 1 cm. Let it cool down and harden a litttle before you
remove the top paper and cut into squares. I ususally cut about 3*3 cm
pieces.
Wrap each piece in sandwichpaper and fold it in such a way that you can
easily open with one hand on the bike.
Fill your back jerseypocket with about ten to fifteen bars and go for a long
ride 😉 I usually eat one every 10 km on a hard ride. Remember that you need
to wash it down with a slug of water to help get the stuff into your
bloodstream.

My seven year old loves to help me wrap the stuff and I can bribe her to do
almost anything in return for a piece of this candy.

Enjoy
--
Perre

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