Saturday Ride
 

I did a planned ride Saturday and wanted some input on some struggles I had and the possible cause.
The ride was 75 miles with 5900 feet of climbing. I was doing well till around 3 hour mark and just couldn't put the power down. Got to the top of the hill and at the rest stop, ate a banana, consumed a cup of coke and a gel. I asked for the flat roads home as I was in no state to finish feeling like I did. For the next 10 miles I couldn't even put 100 watts on the flats as measured by a power meter. I was with three other people taking the same route home. We all stopped at a town and as they partook in a 10 minute potty break, I drank a bottle of nuun, ate a gel and clif bloc. After the 10 minute break I felt fine again. Was able to hit my normal numbers around 200 watts for the remainder of the ride home which was about 8 miles. So I am not sure if I have a nutrition problem that I didn't eat enough the first 3 hours, or if the 10 mins rest helped my legs recover. Trying to figure out where my problem lays so I don't go through this during my other rides this year. I don't believe it is the feet climbed as I had completed more feet climbed in less miles several weeks ago.
Thanks,

Allan

Sounds like you bonked. What did you eat/drink before the ride and during the first 3 hours? How does this compare to what you've eaten/drank before and during similar rides?

What level of intensity (HR zone) were you averaging during the first 3 hours?

I had my normal breakfast of 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and a handful of grapes. For the first three hours I consumed 2 gels and clif bar and a bottle of scratch lbs ever hour. If I had bonked, would I have returned to normal so quickly after? Heart rate for first 3 hours was 152 and average watts 130. During the no energy it was around 140 and 83 watts. Then during the final 10 miles I was able to hit 142 heart rate with wattage at 130 watts average. So heart rate zone was Zone 3 throughout the day.

Sounds like the food/fluid intake was adequate. Maybe the brief rest or maybe just one of those days.

Interesting. I'm no expert, but it doesn't seem like you should have bonked based on this. Maybe it's just a matter of degree and the time from rest stop through the potty break was enough. Or maybe it was just an off day for you. Maybe some folks in the training/nutrition forum might chime in. I had read this thread a while back on bonk recovery over there.

http://www.bikeforums.net/training-n...does-take.html


Good luck.

I took a sidewalk nap once because I was too far gone to carry on. 20 minutes and a can of coke got me back on the bike and I finished the ride. I was way under on the nutrition / drink on the ride. 5900 ft of climbing is a good amount, I did a ride with less climbing and a ton of heat, and I was dying after 2 hours at z3. I was trying to eat and pace out my food during the ride, by the legs just couldn't do it at the end.