Bonkity bonk

[onepunch]

Bonked hard today riding at Red mtn. Could not even pedal flat single track without boggin down. Had to stop and sit 4 times in the last half hour of the ride/push. Tech sections were like riding with no hands and a blind fold. Awful feeling. I usually mix a bit of gatorade or some thing in my camel, but just water today. I guess a few calories are better than none after ur tapped out...i hate to eat any thing on xc rides unless they are long, and i stop completely for a bit. Iv used gells for other sports, but not much for riding. Gonna fire a few in the camel for just this kind of case. Im sure every one has had this go down a few times.

[DARTHYOGA]

Ouch, brutal day.
Unroasted nuts and dried fruit are great, they don't aggravate your stomach and deliver quick energy when you're that low. Better luck next time!

[gary j]

i bonked HARD 2 weeks ago with 15 minutes left in a 7 hour ride. i couldn't hold a straight line climbing up the lyloett berm. worst feeling of my life.

my bro's took care of me with a gel and some candy. i think it's good to go there so you know how to avoid it next time.

glad to hear you made it out okay

[Ned]

i think it's good to go there so you know how to avoid it next time.

Pay attention to this. You learn how to write cheques your body can cash by making mistakes here and there. Ride enough and it'll happen fo shiz.

[connor]

I bonked crazy hard last year at the triple crown, we had made it up to the lot at Cyps fine, but then rode down roaches and Sexboy, and I could barely walk down everything.. It didn't help that it was like 35 degrees out, and for some reason I tried to ride everything with my fork locked out..

[the Master Plan Dan]

I bonked once riding up Fromme... when I tried to do it fast... on my big bike.

Got to Air supply and then almost couldn't stop shaking until thank god I had a Power Bar in my Camel Bak...

Scary I tell you... bring water and some food... then you will be prepared.

Sucks, but glad that you made it out okay!

Cheers!

[XXX_er]

I've bonked a couple of times after about 2.5 hrs of vigorous activity ,power gels/water/power bars will get you back on track

ironicaly its usually very fit people who bonk easiest cuz they don't have stores of fuel in the body.I think you gotta eat more for breakfast and definatley eat/hydrate as you ride

[biggles604]

Bonking is not fun, it's happened to me twice, once on a 250km road ride, I blacked out in a ditch on the side of lougheed highway, it came on slowly and I was in denial about it, I bounced back fairly quick.
The second time was scarier, it was a couple of years ago, I had done a fairly brief Eagle blast, nothing out of the ordinary, but I guess I wasn't fuelled up right for it, it hit me hard and fast, I was passing out in the saddle. I made it to the gas station 2 blocks from home and couldn't go further, I bought a chocolate bar and gatorade and couldn't figure out how to unscrew the lid of the bottle, really scary. It was made worse by the mild hypothermia that started to set in, I was shaking uncomntrollably for several hours, and it took days for me to feel normal again.

I now always carry power gels in my pack to cover my arse in a bonk situation, and I make sure I eat properly for the ride I am going on. One bonk is excuseable, the second is just stupid :P

[Ned]

One bonk is excuseable, the second is just stupid :P

I dunno about that.

One bonk is your first forray into digging into the couch for enough loose change to buy your way into the realm of riding beyond your physical limits.

Blatant stupidity aside, and not that I'm saying it's good, but subsequents might be construed as pushing the envelope and teaching your body and mind to cope and adapt and not implode into a ball of flaming, useless wreckage in the middle of a high risk ride where there are no Coke machines, food, hot tubs or beds to slither into post massacre.

Gar, I'm feeling like a good deathmarch ride would be the ticket.

[connor]

I bonked once riding up Fromme... when I tried to do it fast... on my big bike.

Got to Air supply and then almost couldn't stop shaking until thank god I had a Power Bar in my Camel Bak...

Scary I tell you... bring water and some food... then you will be prepared.

Sucks, but glad that you made it out okay!

Cheers!

I don't think you can bonk after 1/2 an hour, I think it's called being lazy. :)

[gary j]

while i would agree that most bonks are preventable and even careless, i would also agree with ned that when pushing the envelope you are bound to cross the line from time to time.

for me the learning part is in identifying the signs and fueling and/or bringing things back in time. but how do you know your own limits until you find them.

[the Master Plan Dan]

I don't think you can bonk after 1/2 an hour, I think it's called being lazy. :)

When you ride up, ride down and then meet your bud at the yellow gate... and then ride back up?

So there Connor!

HA!

[gary j]

When you ride up, ride down and then meet your bud at the yellow gate... and then ride back up?

So there Connor!

HA!

actually that's still only 2 hours. not exactly the red zone.
so there twice!

*please not sarcasm*

[Rat]

I used to carry winegums incased I bonked but I always ate them because I had the munchies.

old stale powerbars are best.

[XXX_er]

I don't think you can bonk after 1/2 an hour, I think it's called being lazy. :)


I think you need at least 2 hrs of INTENSE physical activity cuz after 2 and a bit hrs you have run down the bodies fuel and if you didnt refuel ... yer phucked

an old GF of mine who had the sixpak and zero body fat used to do a winter multisport race in PG. She's ahead on the xc ski,looked good on the 10k run,looked great on the speed skate , fine when I see her running into the pool after the 5k so i go park the car .Looked like shit in the pool for the 800m ,she is just standiing around in the water not able to do anything ... somebody gives her a flat coke for quick fuel and she finishes .The next year food and water at each transition and no problems

I bonked twice on the same 32k out n back trail ,hows that for stupidity?I thot I had eaten enough but obviously not ,it was actualy kind of fun the second time ... kind of deja vu

[the flying moose]

what about if you bonk while loading the bike onto the car and then decide to forget riding and you spend the rest of the drinking while sitting in your kids kiddie pool watching the girl next door and her friends sunbathing in skimpy bikinis? is that being lazy or being smart?

[Joe Dick]

I think you gotta eat more for breakfast and definatley eat/hydrate as you ride

this is very true. well not in the same league as a bonk, I regularly see the same people hitting the wall on day four of a five day grind. it's always the people who wake up just before the truck is rolls out of the lot.

though it's not always about eating more, it's about eating right. if you on a deathmarch (or more to the point, if you don't want your ride to turn into a deathmarch) make sure you've got a mix of protien and carbs for breakfast. a cup of coffee and a piece of toast is not breakfast. if your riding hard, your not going to feel hungery till it's too late. eat every hour or so. does not have to be much, 1/4 of a power bar, hand full of trail mix...

The last time I remember bonking was on my touring bike. legs hanging over a cliff on the side of the road, shaking, as trucks rummbled with in inches of me while my wisperlite heated up the last of my soup mix and water into a thick paist. that was in the middle of 13 hours and 150km day on my bike, most of it over 4000m.

[Joe Dick]

what about if you bonk while loading the bike onto the car and then decide to forget riding and you spend the rest of the drinking while sitting in your kids kiddie pool watching the girl next door and her friends sunbathing in skimpy bikinis? is that being lazy or being smart?


my only question is who's kiddie pool is this, I don't have kids. oh well I least I dont have to get up to take a piss.

[ChunkyMonkey]

...
though it's not always about eating more, it's about eating right....
...but make sure you do eat enough. This is not the same for everyone. Some people burn calories faster than others. Top athletes burn calories faster than the average Joe, so vary your intake until you get it right.

Here's what Lance typically eats on race day for breakfast. For most of us, we'd be puking if we attempted to eat this much.

'Two bowls of whole grain cereal topped with skim milk and fresh fruit, a three- or four-egg omelet and some pasta, rice or potatoes.'

You also want to give it time to digest. Allow a good 1.5-2 hours before your ride start.

[XXX_er]

they also eat on the bike in designated feed zones where it is bad form to attack ,an articale on team motarola said they eat about 9000 calories to stay fueled for the tdf

I seriously doubt a couch potatoe could exercise enough to "BONK" as we know it before they collaspsed from exhastion

[XXX_er]

what about if you bonk while loading the bike onto the car and then decide to forget riding and you spend the rest of the drinking while sitting in your kids kiddie pool watching the girl next door and her friends sunbathing in skimpy bikinis? is that being lazy or being smart?


yes

[Lady Gravity]

i've only bonked once, and it was scary as hell. i rode my heavy ht (.243, kujo tires) from coquitlam to downtown. going there was fine, but coming home i bonked about what is normally a 20min remainder of the ride. could hardly pedal and had to keep stopping. i had a power bar, which helped, but i think i still walked a lot of it. that 20min took me about an hour. haven't actually done the commute again, altho now i have much lighter bike to do it on.

actually that bonk taught me a lot, i can pretty much recognize now when my body is going into the overload mode so i can refuel.

[biggles604]

Proving Lady G is teh smart. When I first had that feeling I figured it would pass and tried to push through it, it wasn't until the tunnel vision set in I knew something was wrong, by then it was too late, and like I mentioned earlier, I woke in a ditch.

i've only bonked once, and it was scary as hell. i rode my heavy ht (.243, kujo tires) from coquitlam to downtown. going there was fine, but coming home i bonked about what is normally a 20min remainder of the ride. could hardly pedal and had to keep stopping. i had a power bar, which helped, but i think i still walked a lot of it. that 20min took me about an hour. haven't actually done the commute again, altho now i have much lighter bike to do it on.

actually that bonk taught me a lot, i can pretty much recognize now when my body is going into the overload mode so i can refuel.

[Ninja]

I seriously doubt a couch potatoe could exercise enough to "BONK" as we know it before they collaspsed from exhastion

Hahaha Sooo much truth to this comment!

[enduramil]

Pay attention to this. You learn how to write cheques your body can cash by making mistakes here and there. Ride enough and it'll happen fo shiz.

So true. Watch ultra endurance athletes at a 100km run, riders at a 6 hour enduro or racers at the IM.

One can eat and hydrate right, yet still bonk. The difference between the weekend warrior and those who are highly trained is experience. Experienced athlete's will know the warning signs, slow down and take in stuff to stop it.

Bonking is all part of the process of both training and learning.

[XXX_er]

like I said bonking on the exact same ride was a little disconcerting the 1st time but kinda fun the second time

I challenge y'all to try it again & enjoy the experiance

[Hack On Wheels]

I seriously doubt a couch potatoe could exercise enough to "BONK" as we know it before they collaspsed from exhastion

Awesome! Good to know that I don't have to worry about bonking.

[ChunkyMonkey]

The difference between the weekend warrior and those who are highly trained is experience. Experienced athlete's will know the warning signs, slow down and take in stuff to stop it.
....yet they still bonk. Even experienced althletes sometimes either don't spot the warning signs, or fool themselves into thinking they can blow past them.

[onepunch]

i recently got some power bar gels with a carbohydrate, eletrolyte combo. It also has caffine. Two always in my cammel now. I will update if i ever have to use em. 1.89$ each. What else does any one recomend??

[safetee]

haha i like this thread. My first bonk was on the cheakamus challenge, which was also my first endurance race. I finally realized why the race used to be called see colours and puke. Vision literally becomes very distorted.