during last nights ride I ended up getting cramp in both legs simultaneously which as you can imagine makes riding a bike fairly difficult so had to push for a short distance until they recovered.

During the summer this is a real problem for me as I sweat a fair amount but had managed to sort this by drinking juice with salt in instead of pure water, about as nice as it sounds. Last night was the first time in ages I've suffered from cramp so was wondering if anybody knows how best to avoid it???? Am I just unfit, not drinking enough, not eating enough before hand blah blah blah

thanks sam

waits for the useful comments 🙂

I've pretty much got rid of cramps just by drinking more generally. Got a water bottle, drink maybe 4 -5 refills a day. YOu pee a lot more, but i haven't had a cramp since I started

elete drink suppliment helped me massively. i used to get horrendous cramp after every ride. now i use elete i cant remember the last time i cramped up.

+1
http://eletewater.co.uk/index.php?aff=davidicke

or Nuun's good too

Or Zym, they're all good! Elete can be added to any drink you fancy, whilst Nuun/Zym are a drink of their own.

Sorted me out totally.

I get really bad cramp if it is a tough ride,tried everything out there but nothing worked.Mentioned it to the doctor one day and he gave me some quinine tablets,one tablet on the morning im riding and no more cramp.

noidea, had forgot about quinine used to drink iron brew preride for it but the caffine made sweet more 😮 will check out the juice additive see what thats like.

Any idea what's the cause of cramp seem to be little rhyme or reason for its onset it was after a decent last night where as its normally after a climb

You could just have been dehydrated in general, not just because you were lacking some kind of supplementary drink.

If I know I have a race/event/long ride coming up I always try to drink more water in general before the ride, not just during.

try eating a healthy diet and reducing stimulants. more fruit, pulses, olive oil and nuts, less caffeine, alcohol and takeaways.

it did it for me, and as an added bonus I lost weight, and got stronger/faster on my bike.

or then again, rely on magic pills and potions.

Another option for taking quinine is tonic water…. get it flat and add some cordial does the trick…

flat tonic water EEEWWWWWWWWWW 😯 but if it works may be worth a go.

Mister T, already have a healthy diet almost no takeout here, tastes crap most of the time anyway. Was thinking about reducing the coffee intake and increasing the amount or water I drink but there is no portable water at work and already carry 3 litres a day in as it is, maybe adapt one of them caravan roller things into a trailer type affair. 😀

According to the doc when i mentioned it some people are just more prone to cramp than others.I have a healthy diet and make sure i keep myself well hydrated as well as doing regular exercise.
I have been know not to be able to stand up with 'knots' the size of tennis balls in both my legs which is not plesant.You could try tonic water but again according to the doc you would have to drink a hell of a lot before it was any use.

how rich in minerals is your diet?

nuts and high quality oils do make a difference imo.

I find salt works for me. Bag of salted peanuts works a treat, and/or a load of salt on the pub lunch. I'm far too lazy to maintain a regimented diet off the bike so a quick fix on it is good enough.

Pork scratchings too. No idea if they really help, to be honest, but they're tasty.