I understand the boink point now...
 

Since I picked up cycling a couple months ago and joined this forum, I've read some threads that have talked about hitting the "boink point". Today, I hit it. It happened at the 26.5 mile mark on a planned 30 mile route. I felt a wrenching in my gut and I wasn't sure if I could make another pedal. I stopped at the store and ate a snickers and a fruit drink. Got back on the bike and felt better about a mile or two down the road. finished the 30 miles and felt pretty good.

Did I do right? What can I do to keep from falling off the table like that again? I am training for a century in nine weeks, and plan on increasing my weekend rides for the next nine weeks.

Simple, eat and drink before you feel the need. By time you feel it, it's already settled in. Congrats and pushing through it.

Boink is something you do with your significant other. Bonk is what you mean.

For me, a bonk is usually accompanied by cramps in the legs and my brain housing group telling me, "you're done for the day, big boy." For me, avoiding the bonk involves attention to fuel and fluids. As I understand it, it's an individual thing, and one has to determine what works for him or her. Fortunately for you, you experienced it early on.

And yes, you did OK, because you finished the ride.

Fuel and fluids. Experiment, and stay with it.

I'm thinking an organized ride that offered a "boink point" would become very popular in a hurry. At least until the law shut it down. :lol:

Bonking is much less fun. Best way to avoid it is to eat and drink before you feel hungry or thirsty.

It's probably possible to bonk during boinking. Regular trips to the fridge are probably a good idea!

Did a ride today and preparation was yesterday. Last night and had a Curry with plenty of Carbs in the ride and Nan Bread. No alchohol and it was water for Liquid refreshment. Today and no breakfast but a couple of cereal bars during the ride and 2 litres of energy drink and 1 of water. Only 65 miles spread over a lot longer time than it should but after the ride I was starving. Had a Meat pie washed down with a bottle of water and that was all I ate till I got home. Shower and change and check weight and I have not lost any weight during the ride. I had hydrated enough and I feel right------BUT just about to have a Kebab abd a few bottles of cool stuff that the neighbour has offered me but I reckon I will be in bed by 9pm. I now feel shattered.

But a normal ride and I munch right from the start after a breakfast. Cereal bars- Dried fruit- Cake and anything else that is in the larder.

The secret is to extend the point at which the boink or bonk occurs for maximum satisfaction.

What's a larder?

I eat plenty of food and drink lots of water before the ride. I bring lots of food with me as well as energy shots with lots of caffeine. You don't want to run out of fuel either way.

A larder is a food store. By that I mean a place where food is stored, not a shop where it is sold. I'm guessing its roots are from the word "lard" and have something to do with a cool cellar where such perishables were once stored to keep them from going rancid.

I take a shower before i boink;]

Food Store-Normally a cupboard that is built into the brick work of the house and keeps a bit cooler than the ambient temperature without any additional cooling.

Oh, my bad... I was bonked. Just wishing I was boinked! :beer:

To avoid bonking in the future carry food and drink with you. Some people (like me) carry gels (Hammer gel :thumb:) or fig bars or PBJ sandwich or oreos or whatever won't melt and ooze all over you and the bike. Water, Gatorade, PowerAde, etc. for drinks. Drink one bottle of liquid about every 10 miles.

If just one Snickers bar fixed you it wasn't much of a bonk.

Generally the bonk doesn't hit me until around the 3 hour mark. When it hits I get shaky feeling and cold sweats and don't feel like I can continue on. Then I'll eat anything in sight. Convenience stores used to have little fried pies - a day's calories worth of fat and sugar in a pastry wrapper - they were perfect.

I guess that everybody's different but a pancake breakfast is guaranteed to put me into a bonk in 3 hours. I do much better with eggs, bacon and hash browns.

In the old days people would cook meat then cover it with melted lard or suet in order to preserve it. Maybe that's where the word "larder" comes from?

I do a lot of charity rides with my cycling team. Many are 50 to 100 mile rides. I don't know what works for others, but this is what I do to keep from getting bonked. It hasn't failed me yet.

Try using a gel pack 30 to 45 minutes before you ride and bring several more with you for when you need them. You should consume one gel pack every hour of riding time. On organized rides, I normally take three water bottles, one with water, the other with some type of electrolytes and the third with a mixture of water and Hammer Perpetuem. Perpeteum is a quick recovery mix that also helps eliminate acid buildup in the legs. The organized rides usually have all sorts of granola bars, bananas and other energy foods as well as water and Gator Aid at the rest stations. The stops for the rest stations are frequent enough that you don't have to carry a lot of food stuff with you. During the ride, I normally use GU Chews. They are like gummy bears but contain sugars and caffeine. I normally let them dissolve instead of chewing them because they last longer instead of giving you a sudden burst of energy. But you can chew them when you need it.

You can also try taking some Star Burst or similar candy with you. It is full of sugar and letting them dissolve, rather then chewing them, will help keep your mouth closed and help to eliminate breathing through your mouth. It also keeps your mouth moist.

On non-organized rides, I normally take a small handlebar bag (so I don't have to put everything in my jersey pockets) and put my normal gels and chews and some extra electrolytes and Perpetuem along with a PBJ sandwich and granola bars that contain nuts or peanut butter.

Now you've been taught, & I also know the difference now.
Thanks for the fun.

Why would pancakes do this ?? How about corn ??

Pancakes never have legs for me, only good for an hour or so, same with a bowl of oatmeal with half an apple cubed in it. I'm not sure how folks get by on minimalist breakfasts.

Corn? Yeah. Grits, hashbrowns eggs and sausage is a fine brekky.

Often times I'll have a big burger and boiled potatoes for breakfast and a lighter meal at dinner.

Did I bonk? Last Tuesday, I rode 8 miles to work, a few hours later 4 miles to a coworker's house, then a few hours later tried to ride 28 miles back to my car. The first 12 miles of the 28 were flat, then 7 miles uphill, the 9 miles downhill. I couldn't make it up the hill, which I've done before without too much trouble. I hadn't eaten too much that day (Athena, remember), and sorta kinda ran out of water, and it was hot. But I had to get off and walk! Even walking was hard. I didn't feel sick, just really weak. Is that what a bonk feels like?

Tabriz

Sounds like a bonk to me...

Boinking vs bonking has been covered (or uncovered) so I will address the intended subject.
If you are doing a century in 9 weeks you will need to learn how to fuel & hydrate as your mileage increases, figure out what works for you. It is not so much what you think you need but what you can tolerate without it upsetting your stomach, you will need more that what you think you need particularly at the 75 mile mark. 3 hours of ride time can still be done with a little early fueling and gatoraide in the bottle. Much longer than that needs a better fueling regime. You need to find what works. When I was first learning to ride centuries I would put in 300 cal/hr, usually a granola bar, piece of fruit and a gel pack. I would hydrate with weak gatoraide mix in one bottle and nuun in the other. Worked great for me.

Both activities are called 'bonking' in the UK which could lead to embarrassment if a cycling conversation was overheard ...

As for larders - we may have been a bit tardy here in adopting American refrigeration technology, but we eventually did and I think we stopped building houses with larders about 50 years ago! ;)