Foo - Help me avoid the Bonk.

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View Full Version : Help me avoid the Bonk.

USX Sid
05-31-04, 09:16 AM
I've started riding again after 10 years and 120lbs. I weigh 300lbs right now, though a lot of that is still in my legs, and I've recently quit smoking. I've been riding a bit lately, trying to get at least two miles everyday with the highpoint being 14 miles last Friday. I've been eating less and more nutritiously than I have been the last few years also and drink only water and 'organic' teas & juices now. No more soda.

Yesterday(Sunday) I went for a quick 4 mile roundtrip and it felt like I bonked really early and had to fight for every revolution, even downhill. I didn't ride Saturday at all due to horrid weather and ate well Saturday evening and Sunday morning. I had plenty of water and actually emptied my big 24oz bottle inside the first two miles.

I know I have a loooooong ways to go, but I ride 14 miles Friday with hardly an ache, and now I über-bonk on a quick 4 mile spin? What am I doing wrong?

LordOpie
06-05-04, 05:45 PM
sorry, not sure. No one should really bonk on such a short ride. I'll assume you were out for 30 minutes? Unless you were treating your body badly for the previous day, like drinking a lot of alcohol and not consuming anything else, then your body should've had what it needed.

So, I'm gonna guess it was a psychological bonk and it took your body with it.

I re-read your post and you said that you "...ate well Saturday evening and Sunday morning. I had plenty of water and actually emptied my big 24oz bottle inside the first two miles."

If you didn't have enough electrolytes -- sodium and potassium specifically -- AND you drank that much water, I'm gonna guess you washed the salts out of your body. That'll mess you up.

I start every ride with a banana, OJ, and/or V8.

Keep it up!
Rev.Chuck
06-05-04, 08:53 PM
Be sure to keep it easy. You may have been pushing to hard? I have an exertion point, that if I pass, I am toast for the rest of the ride.

P.S. I have bonked HARD, it is more than no energy. I was laying in the grass, borderline hallucinating and had to be picked up(Two miles from the finish :rolleyes: )