Originally Posted by
chasm54
.............. Intensity is key. When training for racing I couldn't hack a low-carb diet, I couldn't hit the numbers on interval sessions and couldn't recover adequately between training days. But when just tootling along at touring speeds, one mainly burns fat and bonking isn't an issue for hours.
Much of the advice to newbies on these forums is misplaced. People are told they must eat every hour when on the bike or something terrible will happen. And then they're disappointed when cycling doesn't seem to help them lose weight. A ride of two or three hours at cruising speeds doesn't really need food.
+1
Lots of energy floating around in the bloodstream.... and plenty more available for most people. As long as a cyclist, runner, soldier,
whatever doesn't burn fuel faster than the body can draw it from it's reserves you should be fine.
For me... I can plug along at about 12MPH with no more regard for meals (or other food) than at any other times.
But a friend of mine that worked in the diet industry once told me that some people have trouble accessing fat/food/fuel reserves. That after years or even decades of being over-weight. Some people never actually knowing real hunger (a day or two without food)... a body can seem to forget how to access the stored food/fuel reserves. So... a new cyclist/dieter may experience something like a bonk.