Originally Posted by
NYMXer
Machka, in your post you stated that "bonking" symptoms may include:
•Shakiness.
•Nervousness or anxiety.
•Sweating, chills and clamminess.
•Irritability or impatience.
•Confusion, including delirium.
•Rapid/fast heartbeat.
•Lightheadedness or dizziness.
•Hunger and nausea.
I never felt any of those things when I thought I was bonking. What I felt was a no energy, but not tired feeling. I wasn't exhausted or tired but just had no energy to continue, even though I did at a much slower pace. I also felt uncomfortable doing certain mountain bike skills and obstacles, so I walked around them. It was a very odd feeling, hard to describe but there none the less.
So maybe what I was feeling wasn't a bonk, but I wouldn't call it exhaustion either. My breathing and heart rate were fine, just a total loss of usable energy. Mentally, I was alert and willing, but the body wasn't. What would that have been if it wasn't a bonk? This was after a 4 hour (hard) mountain bike ride.
Thanks, learning a lot here.
How was your hydration? Dehydration can leave a person with no energy. It's different from bonking because bonking is low blood sugar, but there is some symptom overlap. Dehydration would be the first thing to consider.
But next, if you didn't eat anything for 4 hours, your blood sugar could well have been low. That might be the way your body tells you that it is starting to bonk. A granola bar or banana or similar at about the 2-hour point may have helped.
Bonks are a progression, and a full bonk (and I have experienced this) has you retching in the ditch and unable to stand. It's also very painful for some reason. Something like that requires a long,slow process of sipping sweet iced tea, sucking peppermint candies, and nibbling salted soda crackers ... basically trying to find anything that will go down and stay down. And gels are just too sticky sweet for that.
However, gels will help if you catch it before that point, and real food will help if you catch it before then.
