Cramps

I rolled up for the Coastal 200km brevet on Saturday feeling underdone but nonetheless looking forward to the ride.

It was a beautiful day and the first 60kms up to Bald Hill revealed a few surprises. A deer by the side of the road near Horsley and a whale sounding off the shore at Stanwell Park.

Furstratingly for me though I once again had painfull cramps in my thighs from the 80km mark which forced another withdrawal. For the last few weeks I have been taking a magnesium supplement, drinking lots of additional water and doing some gentle stretching. What I haven't had though was time on the bike.

One of the frequently cited reasons for cramping is not training to the ride intensity, which is challenging as to traing for a ten our ride, I need ten hours to train!

Somehow I'm going to have to build more cycling into my week, though with the compressed daylight hours at this time of the year its not easy to do and it will be difficult to get the requisite miles up.

In the meantime I'll carry on with the water and magnesium and vary the stretching regime a bit to focus on the things.

In other news, I've decided to by a newer fast(er) bike. I've settled on a carbon frame - a specialised Roubaix and will be built up with an Ultegra groupset and Mavic aksium race wheels. The geometry of this frame seems a pretty good compromise between stiff and comfortable and it is a good fit for me. Should weigh in sub 8kg. Not exactly featherlight but much lighter than what I am used to.