jfblodi

First time, and after only 20 miles, too. About 35 degrees and overcast with 10-15 mph winds. What a drag. Had to detour from our normal route and practically push her the whole way back to our SUV (luckily we took a 5 mile shortcut), which sucked because at about 20-21 miles is when I usually leave her going at her normal pace, go on ahead and crank it up for the last 9-10 miles to get in a real good workout. Now today, she doesn't want to go out. I mean, I'm not really that upset because not a lot of guys get to have their wife/GF/SO ride with them, so I guess I'm lucky in that regard. Still though, I'm bummed about today's ride

slim_77

feed her...but not after midnight!

The Weak Link

Buy a tandem. It'll never happen again.

blonduathlongrl

humm... ok.
so she didnt have a good ride and you missed out on yours, s*** happends now get out there and make up for it!

BikeWNC

My wife doesn't get the opportunity to ride very often, so when she comes along I ride at her pace. I don't drop her because that would assure she never wanted to ride again. Besides, it's just nice to spend the day on the bike together which doesn't happen all that often since our daughter was born.

EventServices

You did the right thing: never drop a bonking rider.

So you had to give up your dreams of hammering. I can think of worse.

531Aussie

any Brits here?

bonk.....hee hee hee

big john

Some people don't do as well in the cold. Was she dressed warmly? Did she eat and drink enough? Sometimes we forget to drink when it's cold and get dehydrated, which makes us colder. Don't let her get discouraged, maybe next ride just cruise an easy pace.

msheron

We all bonk every so often.

jfblodi

Not a Brit, but I know whacha mean

pedex

20 miles? bonk? not likely

Mangio LaStrada

What good is a "tough" body if you haven't a tough mind and a strongly considerate heart to go with it? Hope you didn't ***** at your wife for bonking or not going this morning. Consider, my cat, or anybody's cat, if their legs were long enough, could physically outsprint you. Hopefully, they wouldn't make a better partner than you, too.

jfblodi

I would never get on her for that. Didn't even let her know it kinda bummed me out at the time that she bonked. I'm just glad she goes with me

BTW, good news! She's going with me, leaving right now...30 degrees

banerjek

+1 Especially for people that ride less often, it depresses them like nothing else. Whenever riding with people who are not as strong, it's best to hold back and cut the air for them when you can -- but try to hide the fact that you're doing this.

Save the hammer for when you're on your own or when you're with people who are up to it.

hanny

The fact that you guys seriously talk about "the hammer" makes me never want to admit to riding a road bike. Don't you just feel like cheesy bastards talking that way?

banerjek

Depends on the company. I'd feel pretty fruity wearing my cycling kit except when I'm riding fast by myself or on the road with others. You won't see me in a grocery store in anything skin tight.

I'd feel like a dork talking about bonking with normal people (so I don't), but I guarantee I give it quite a bit of thought -- even for commuting. Heck, I ate 2 extra cheeseburgers in addition to my normal snacks an hour before riding home in that wind storm simply because I knew I'd be in trouble if I ran out of energy on that night miles from home.

But this is BF. People like to ride hard. They sometimes bonk. So I don't sweat the cheesiness.

barba

20 miles seems short distance for a bonk even if you have not eaten much.

Strong Bad

20 miles in cold weather for a someone who hasn't ridden much?
Bonk = very likely.

Machka 

+1


Not unless it had been a VERY long time since she last ate. (i.e. lunch the day before and nothing since)

blonduathlongrl

t4mv

+1 For anywhere near Sackatomato it's a gimme, even in the foothills.

pedex

actually methinks the less fitness one has the harder it is to bonk, very tough to ride at a fast enough pace to deplete one's glycogen stores if you have poor fitness, you will give up from other reasons well before it gets that far

to do it in 20 miles you'd have to ride fast enough to make 1200-2000 calories go away and that pace would cover that 20 miles in well under an hour unless its all uphill

bonking gets thrown around quite loosely, its actually pretty rare, I guess so few people have jobs anymore which require actual aerobic physical labor that the average person doesnt know squat about their limits or fitness in general------been there done that, that was me a few years ago, classic couch potato

you can ride well over 100 miles at a fairly easy pace on an empty stomach and not eat and never even get close to bonking, all depends on how fast you use up the calories, you can cover a whole bunch of miles at 50-60% max heart rate and barely be taxing your glycogen stores after the first couple of hours

Jarery

Doesnt matter how much they ride. Sore muscles from lack of use does not equal a bonk.
A bonk at 20 miles would mean the muscles had to be almost entirely drained of glycogen prior to the ride.

ratebeer

For comparison, as a kid I'd test my bonk by foregoing breakfast and heading out, usually through canyons and over 1500 foot hills, with water, cash and a couple granola bars. I remember 64 miles being the modal score.

Still I know a couple of people who can have hypoglycemic issues with or without exercise related glycogen depletion.

jfblodi

BONK (condition): "Bonk has long been a colloquial term...but has recently become more commonly used as a jargon term by endurance athletes, primarily cyclists and long-distance runners, to describe a condition when the athlete suddenly loses energy and fatigue sets in, usually caused when glycogen stores in the liver and muscles are depleted, resulting in a major performance drop...symptoms of depletion include general weakness, fatigue, and manifestations of hypoglycemia, such as dizziness...." (Wikipedia.com)

Well, whatever the correct wording should have been, be it "hit the wall," "ran out of gas," "lost it," "suffered a severe energy depletion," or "bonked," she did one or more of the above, your guesstimates notwithstanding. For the record, last meal: the night before. Fair enough? Sheesh