I think the debate about the link between cramp and dehydration is one that will go on and on .Personally I tend to suffer cramp when pushing it a bit when not very fit.I once tried to do a fast 100 miler round Carmarthenshire with a very fit friend. It was windy and stupidly I insisted on doing my bit at the front until halfway up the black mountain above Brymaman I got the mother of all cramps in both legs simultaneously.
if I had a gun I think I would have shot myself there and then it was unbelievable.I allways drink a lot so think it was purely due to over exertion.
I often wonder whether there's so much debate because of the simple fact we're all different.
I remember riding a 200 with a couple of other members of this forum, taking on appreciably more water than they did but still it was me that had to stop at a pub about 30km from the end because my bottles were empty and I just couldn't face the thought of even 30k with no more water available. My requirements were obviously different to theirs. Since I've never done more than a 300 and they had both completed SRs and longer rides the chances are at least part of that difference was down to fitness levels etc.
The first time I attempted a long (for me) ride solo I didn't take on anywhere near enough food and water, and paid for it on the hills towards the end. The worst part was on a hill that wasn't even particularly bad, approaching Winchester station. One quad cramped so I decided to stop and rest a while. As I stopped the other quad cramped, and as I lifted my leg over the saddle my hamstrings also cramped, causing me to very nearly collapse in a heap. I must have been quite a sight, on the pavement on my knees trying to stretch out both quads at the same time while not staying still for long enough for my hamstrings to notice and cramp again.
