Calf muscle cramping up

[Hi Ho Silver]

I'm having a problem with my calf cramping up: When I stop, I prefer to just put my left leg down and prop myself up by by tip toes (my butt stays on the saddle). I find that it is easier to take off from this position than unseating myself and putting my whole foot down.

For some reason, whenever I do this now, my left calf muscle starts to immediately cramp up. Is there a particular exercise I can do to prevent this from happening?

Thanks for any suggestions...

[Sky King]

ouch, don't do that anymore
are you drinking enough? Do you notice it more toward the end of the ride, if so could be a hydration issue.

One of my favorites for calf muscle - get on hands and knees, For left leg, take right knee and push against calf on left leg, starting close to the left knee and massaging the calf all the way to your ankle using the right knee. Then switch legs. Is a cheap, effective way to work out the knots.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah, my inclination would be to say don't do that, too ...

That said, generally if I have a muscle that wants to cramp during an exercise, I can avoid it by engaging the opposing muscle. So, when you're putting your ankle in that extreme dorsiflexion, try tensing up the tibialis anterior as well.

Now, when I try that in my chair here, it makes my foot want to cramp ... so that's all FWIW.