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Hitting the wall / bonking – any tips to prevent?

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  • June 2, 2015 at 10:31 pm #24146
    surfingsimon

    In-spite of a distinct lack of genetic talent I’ve turned myself into an ok sportive rider, particularly over middle distances (60-80 miles). But… I just can’t do 100 mile events without bonking / hitting the wall. I get to the 90ish mile mark and within the space of 15mins go from top speed to a crawl. Argh! Over and over again, event after event.

    I drink lots, take plenty gels and energy drinks (I usually eat around or over the 60g of carbs per hour recommendation), I try and carb load the day before etc etc. Nothing seems to prevent it.

    Mad keen for any suggestions? Its really frustrating to fall apart in the final 10 miles!

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  • June 3, 2015 at 10:18 pm #848567
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    surfingsimon

    Thanks to everyone who’s
    Thanks to everyone who’s replied – keep them coming!

    So far the suggestions seem to be:
    – less reliance on gels, more on ‘normal’ food
    – experiment with different ‘normal’ foods (raisins, coconut oil, pork(!) etc)
    – take short rests (that does work for me but you lose precious time!)
    – eat earlier and more than you think you need
    – get the garmin to ‘food-beep’ at intervals
    – don’t start too fast, and don’t cycle at threshold too long
    – don’t neglect drinking

    June 3, 2015 at 8:33 pm #848565
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    Judge dreadful

    You need to stay behind the
    You need to stay behind the nutrition curve. Trial and error on a given route, will get you the experience you need to know what, and when you need to eat, on a given ride, in order to make sure that your body is producing fuel, at least as quickly (preferably a bit more quickly) than you are using it. Once you get in front of the curve, you will be in trouble. The only way out is to stop, eat and drink properly, then wait until you are back behind the curve. I’d never resort to energy gels, unless I was miles away from anywhere I could sort it out. Even then, I’d go for cashew nuts, and jelly babies.

    June 3, 2015 at 12:51 pm #848563
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    Martyn_K

    Daveyraveygravey

    Daveyraveygravey wrote:
    Remember if you actually feel hungry you’ve left it too late, you need to be eating for 30-40 minutes time.

    It is worth noting that the brain can’t tell the difference between hunger and thirst. You will only get feelings of hunger. So keep the drinks flowing too.

    I have my garmin set to beep at me every 5 miles, this is a prompt to take on a small amount of food and drink. When leading club rides i always make sure that people keep eating, my motto is ‘food is better in you than in your pocket’.

    June 3, 2015 at 12:30 pm #848561
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    BrokenBootneck

    I did see something last
    I did see something last year, where a chap cycled 300 ish miles i think on only coconut oil, he did record it on strava but I can’t find it a the moment

    June 3, 2015 at 12:20 pm #848559
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Lots of good tips here. I
    Lots of good tips here. I find fig rolls great, you can wrap 3 or 4 of them up in foil and munch them on the move.

    I’ve gradually weaned myself off the energy “products” – gels and bars etc; I always take a couple but save them for emergencies. Eat normal food, and eat a little and often. It doesn’t have to be sweet – in the deluge of RideLondon last year, I had a mini pork pie with about 15 miles to go, it tasted brilliant!

    Remember if you actually feel hungry you’ve left it too late, you need to be eating for 30-40 minutes time.

    Do you stop at all? I find if I stop for 5-10 minutes every 120-150 minutes it makes a huge difference to me.

    June 3, 2015 at 11:23 am #848557
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    DrJDog

    The best long ride I’ve had
    The best long ride I’ve had was fuelled by bacon and egg ricecakes. I felt great from start to finish – 160km with 2500m climbing.

    June 3, 2015 at 8:53 am #848555
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    Anonymous

    Every year I hit the wall and
    Every year I hit the wall and it never gets any nicer. I once inched my way along my (flat) high street barely able to turn 34×28 before lying on my living room floor scoffing chocolate chip cookies. 😀

    Eat little, often, and early. Find what your body likes – personally I swear by honey roasted peanuts, raisins and peanut butter sandwiches, all of which are sweet enough but reasonably slow-release so you don’t get a big sugar whoosh, go like a train and then blow up. And don’t forget to drink, because your body needs liquid in order to absorb food.

    June 3, 2015 at 8:37 am #848553
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    BrokenBootneck

    As SteppenHerring said I find
    As SteppenHerring said I find on longer rides 100 + miles that i cannot manage on gels, energy drinks etc I have to have proper food, I found lard cake fantastic, but it is a suck it and see approach really what works for one doesn’t work for another. But bananas, peanut butter and Marmite sandwiches, ham and cheese sarnies seem to work for me. I use the Zero tabs for hydration.

    June 3, 2015 at 6:40 am #848551
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    Colin Peyresourde

    A good deal could be to do
    A good deal could be to do with your heart rate (by which I mean the effort at which you are working – each persons heart will be different, and so do more/less than the next man for the same exertion). If your are working in the ‘red’ or at threshold for too long then there is nothing you can do. The bonk is inevitable. This is why the pros try not to sit in the wind and work less through drafting.

    Other factors include fitness and training – the more you do the more your body will lay down glycogen stores, so if you are only cycling at the weekend try to doing some midweek rides too (or some other activity).

    Even a pro can only do 2.5-3 hours working hard without bonking IF they do not take on calories, some gel manufacturers suggest a gel every 20 minutes. I would not go down that route, but regular sips of energy drink and nibbles on food on a regular basis will keep the wolf from the door.

    Working hard closes down the GI tract and so if you eat and work too hard you’ll bonk from that too. Pace yourself and your eating.

    June 3, 2015 at 6:14 am #848549
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    CXR94Di2

    Less gels more basic foods,
    Less gels more basic foods, like flapjacks jam sandwiches and bananas. These type of foods will fuel you better, gels are for emergency fuel. If you can get to 80 with feeling Ok. Then 100 miles is easily achievable. Your energy drink should contain salts aswell as energy elements.

    June 2, 2015 at 10:50 pm #848547
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    SteppenHerring

    It is hard to get down a load
    It is hard to get down a load of sweet stuff. I remember the first time I did a 100 mile time trial and by the end of it, I was sick of sweet things and also feeling quite knackered.

    These days, for hard rides, maltodrextrin (which is barely sweet) plus a salt type tablet (High 5 zero) or two depending on temperature and a hint of squash to make it palatable. Tastes awful when you begin but when you are hitting the limit, it tastes like nectar.

    Also don’t go off too fast.

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