I was on a 4-man relay team. I did the 1st lap which was extremely muddy and slick as it had rained heavily the night before. It took me 2 hours to do my initial lap. At the start of the race, the sun started peeking out and the wind picked up, thus drying the track. We had to push our bikes up the hills as they were very slick. The mud would cake on our tires so badly that the wheels wouldn't turn. I'm sure I (we all did) expended too much energy on pushing our bikes, but it had to be done. We had to take sticks and clean the mud off our front and rear derailures so our gears would attempt to change. Brutal 1st lap.
The track started to dry quickly with the sun out and the wind. When I tagged up with the 2nd rider in our group, he busted out a 1:36 lap. I was semi-livid.
The 3rd rider went and I went to the van to lay down after some lunch as I was still getting over a sinus infection. I began to have leg cramps. I ate bananas, drank a lot of Gatorade, drank more electrolyte formula.
I tagged up with the 4th rider and the trail was almost completely dry when I went out at 3:25 PM.
About 40 minutes into my lap, I began having bad leg cramps. I plodded through the remaining portion of my lap, feeling I had really let the team down. When I crossed the finish line, I was in tears from the pain and the frustration. I fell off my bike after I tagged up with the next rider and they offered to get the aid personnel. I just wanted Gatorade and bananas to alleviate the cramping, which they did. I made it back to the van and collapsed. I woke up about 30 minutes later, cramping badly.

I've tried Hammer products, Infinit, the whole gamut of things to eliminate cramping to no avil when the heat sets in on a mtn bike course. Solo (pros) riders were doing it for 12 hours nonstop. Amature people were doing it on single speeds for 12 hours. I'm so disgusted that I can't get a handle on my leg cramping issues in mtn. bike racing. I can do a half century on a road bike, put together a 25 mile road bike and a 6 mile run brick with no problems. I guess with mtn bike racing, I go too anerobic very quickly, then maintain it for so long and I sweat heavily that I loose all of my calcium and sodium.

I have no earthly idea what to do differently.

Rolled around on the ground locked up with leg cramps with people watching.


Severe leg cramping.


Post race was a blast after I got rid of the cramps. Lots of vendors, food, tons of free swag (complete bikes, frames, etc.) Camped there after the race. Lots of pro competitors: Pua, Tinker Juarez, Rebecca Rusch... I'll do it again next year.