To Bonk Or Not To Bonk…
Have you ever experienced the feeling of utter lack of energy, like there is no way you can possibly move. Not the “oh I am tired and don’t want to move” more of the “I can’t move”. If you have ever felt this way then you have bonked, hit the wall, canned out, and the list goes on and on.
Regardless of what you call it, this feeling refers to glycogen depletion. Basically our body gets its energy from two main sources, glycolysis and fat metabolism. And while both seem complex they are in effect quite simple. You can liken them to a camp fire. If you stop putting wood into the fire it will stop burning when all of the fuel (wood) is gone.
This post is more about the glycogen depletion side of things, but I would like to simply add that the process of fat metabolism is exactly why bears pack on so much weight prior to hibernation. Utilizing fat metabolism bears can stay alive during their winter slumber, mind you they are not really active and when they do emerge they are in effect bonking, and desperately need more nourishment.
Alright “The Bonk”. A little back ground, the phrasing can be traced back to around 1955 when a videographer was filming a piece on cycling and it was said that they needed to eat or they would hit “the bonk”. I am not sure if this was the first time the term was used for this purpose but it stuck and now seems to be fulling integrated into any athletes lingo.
Here is a barney style diagram of metabolism that I procured from Torq.
Now even if you are not familiar with the terms in this diagram simply look for things you recognize, such as carbohydrate, energy, fat and oxygen. Looking at those in this process you can surely get the gist.
Every bit of energy output is based off of the input of carbohydrates.
Plain and simple.
That is the wood for your fire, with out an ample supply you will not produce any energy. Continuing into the campfire metaphor, think of if you have 50 logs and you pile them high spray some lighter fluid and light them on fire, WHOOSH!!! You have an eyebrow burning blaze that will be amazing, producing a huge flame, getting very hot very fast and then fading out very quickly. This is by definition “The Bonk”.
Now take those same 50 logs and pile 10 of them up douse them in lighter fluid and light them, but as soon as the flames start to die out add a few more logs…now you have a sustained energy input and energy output!! Thus avoiding “The Bonk”.
So now that we understand the concept behind it, how do we prevent it?
There is no way to avoid fatigue regardless of your intake, your body will become fatigued and could teeter on the edge for a while but you will eventually shut down. No doubt about it. However you can train your body and mind to prolong your ability to endure a longer term of exertion.
There are a number of products on the market from various companies all with bona fide scientific proof that theirs is the best. Wading through this is ridiculous, but I can say from my experience that eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of water will help you facilitate your endurance endeavors. I have on occasion used the Gu energy gels, Clif shot, and a few others. For a listing of others on the market with a nutritional breakdown check this out. Now for me I have always found that in order to stay on top of it I have to pound the gels every half hour, and at a buck a piece it can be expensive.
I do know that UltraRob is a huge fan of Hammer Nutrition products and has offered to donate some Hammer Nutrition products for a giveaway!!! This will include: Hammer Gel Jug, Hammer Gel Flask, HEED Drink and a large Hammer water bottle. If Hammer is new to you, here’s how UltraRob uses the Hammer Nutrition products this post also includes info on how UltraRob alters his intake depending on how long of a race it will be. All great info from a guy that definitely knows his stuff!
In order to score some of this schwag I wanna hear your best bonk story. Leave it in the comments section or email it to upadowna@gmail.com and be sure to leave some contact info so we can get the lucky winner your goods!
This giveaway will be open until April 23, which is the opening day of the Fruita Fat Tire fest!!!
Cheers and Beers,
Yeti
UPDATE: BEN you are the lucky winner!!!!!!!
18 comments
As long as I fuel correctly, I can keep moving longer than I can stay awake. The Fireweed 400 in Alaska took me over 22 hours & I was stopped for a total of 9 minutes that included adjusting the cleat on my shoe, using asthma inhalers and bodily functions. The Furnace Creek 508 took just over 38 hours with no sleep and no stops over a few minutes.
Although nearly all of us have enough fat to go for days, we burn through the glycogen fairly quickly. Without a constant intake of carbs during exercise, we run out. Without the carbs, even the fat burning doesn’t work as well.
I happen to be a fan of the Carb BOOM gels (http://www.carbboom.com/products/energy_gel/energy_gel.html). Tried the Gu and hated the texture – felt like trying to swallow snot. Carb BOOM uses natural fruit puree for flavoring and has no artificial flavors, color or sweeteners – if that’s important to you. The apple flavor tastes like a McDonald’s Apple Pie – yummy – and there are a few flavors that supplement with caffeine. As with most sport nutrition supplements, just be sure you sufficiently hydrate so you don’t have to bail in the middle of the race to take care of any bowel emergencies. It’s bad enough to see dog crap all over the trails…
I’m no nutritionist, but I’ve had good luck with jelly donuts. I find if I eat 1 an hour on the hour, at 33 carbs a pop, I can stay awake for 5, maybe 6 hrs in a row. As an added bonus, the 4g of fiber means I’ve had half my daily allowance before it’s time for a nap.
Which is different that to boink or not to boink.
I bonked the first time I tried to climb Pikes Peak. I started early and went strong all morning. Then when I got to treeline I suddenly couldn’t get myself to walk more than 100 ft at a time. I thought I was screwed but I stopped down and ate a bag of GORP, drank a bottle of water, and took a 30 min nap on a warm rock. After that I blasted off again and I was eating donuts on the top an hour later.
My first bonk happened the first time I tried to ride one of IMBA’s epics, the Berryman Trail in Missouri.
(Yeah yeah, no one thinks a state like Missouri could possibly have good mountain biking, much less a trail worthy of epic status. But trust me — churn through some stream beds and pop your wheels over slick-green boulder after boulder up a hill that someone decided didn’t need switchbacks and you’ll be a believer.)
I survived about 20 miles of the Berryman before the bonk hit, but just barely. I was riding with a much more experienced crew. The bad news? These guys could easily power through rock gardens that left me battered and a mile behind. The good news? Experienced riders know what to do when the newbie bonks. The guy who talked me into the ride, my boyfriend, saw me fade and took me back to the car on a cut-through. He hoisted my bike onto the rack and drove me to the nearest podunk gas station, where he bought me a chocolate milk to guzzle. I was so bonkified he had to open it for me.
Now, that chocolate-milk saint is my husband of eight years. I always carry tons of food with me now, but he still sees potential bonks well before I do (and before the point of not being able to open a drink!).
I don’t have a bonk story (just haven’t ridden enough to have one) but I enjoyed the article. Picked up the link from UltraRob on Twitter. Nice site.
Well, I have bonked a few times in my days, but a couple weeks ago I experienced the earliest “bonk” into an event ever for me. I was four hours into the Six Hours of Warrior Creek mtb race in North Wilkesboro, NC. Excellent trail system, but challenging for an endurance type event. I was feeling pretty good riding toward the front of the pack (200 riders), when my chain broke. I guess I was so focused on fixing my chain that I forgot to breathe and drink. After about 8 minutes or so I got back on the bike with extremely tight legs. After another 20 minutes or so in the saddle it was almost impossible to peddle due to the pain and cramping in both legs. Probably more muscle fatigue than anything, but certainly a first for me. I will be doing the Leadville 100 in August of this year for the first time, so I am a bit concerned at the moment. Hopefully I can figure this out before then. Thanks for the feedback and quality blog content on these topics.
I love HEED Lemon Lime Sports Drink—my four year old calls it the cupcake drink
just leaving a comment so that it’s not so “damn hard for (you) to give away Hammer Nutrition stuff” do I win?
I don’t use “nutrition products”, but hey, I guess I could always give it a try.
My bonk story…
It was my first time on a bike in nearly 10 years. A glorious day, with the sun bright and the birds chirping. I rose early and had my morning cup o’ joe, then off to meet a friend to catch the shuttle for our 30 mile mtb ride. Thinking back, a 30-miler probably wasn’t the best choice for easing back into the bike scene. But, as they say, ignorance is bliss. And ignorance it was.
I started strong and held my own, up until about mile 18. At that point I had sucked my 100 oz camelbak dry and zapped every bit of energy I had. Fortunately it was mostly downhill from this point, so all that was required of me was to keep my bike steering in the right general direction. By the time we got back to the parking lot I was ready to curl up and die. My friend had to lift my bike to the top of the car to place it in the tray (humiliating) and then he graciously drove me to the nearest convenience store for a snickers and gatorade.
I have since learned to eat a little better prior to riding, bring a little emergency nourishment just in case, and yes, ease up on the water.
I’ve never bonked, even through a 24 hr event, a 2,000 mile tour, and 2 seasons of cyclocross (including all the training). I just always have plenty of food (I prefer dates and baby boiled potatoes with a little salt) and water. I wish I had been there the first time my boyfriend bonked, though! It was his first ride with my team (I was out of commission that day) and those guys put him through his paces. I warned him, but, of course, he didn’t listen. We all had a good laugh latter over pancakes and fruit. Maybe he needs some Hammer?
I have bonked on the bike quite a few times. Guess this tells me something about my nutrition plan (or lack thereof).
Most memorable bonk was the RSVP (ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party) ride two years ago. Day 2, almost 200 miles in and less than 10 to go. One last, big climb into Vancouver.
At this point I was wrecked. Forget enjoying the scenery, I was dog-tired, dehydrated, and cursing the very idea of bicycles. My legs were turning, but not by strength or mental fortitude… merely by robotic muscle memory.
That’s when the first cramp bit sharply into my left hamstring. Unclip, shake it out, start up the hill. Damn, it’s back. Owww! Keep turning the cranks. Just get to the top and then rest.
Cresting the hill, I stopped pedaling and my legs both immediately locked in cramps. So enveloping was the pain that I was unable to twist either foot far enough to disengage the pedals. Almost at a standstill now, I jerked my upper body in vain and waited for the inevitable. Tipped right over like a dead tree and smacked the asphalt. Hard. Looked around… no witnesses, save for the passing cars.
Breathe, relax. Coast into the city and drink away the pain.
going out for a ride with a tailwind and not really realizing it. till it was time to trun around and ride home… bonked on the way home badly…
The one change I made to really help with bonking was to have a big meal the night before. If I eat basically as much as I can (usually carb-loaded pasta but pizza seems to work as well) I can do a century the next day on a PBJ and a couple of Cliff bars. I’ll finish stronger if I also have a waterbottle with Hammer Perpetuem and HEED mixture.
I have found on long rides with a lot of climbing that it can get really hard to eat later in the ride. Liquid food is usually still palatable so I usually try to eat more solid food in the first half of the ride and save the liquids for the last half.
My bigger concern is keeping the electrolytes coming in to prevent cramping – just HEED doesn’t seem to be enough. I’ve found taking a Hammer Endurolyte and a TUMS together once every couple of hours is enough to see me through.
Usually I’m pretty conscious of what I eat before a ride and what type of nutrition I bring with me on a ride, and as I result it wasn’t until this weekend that I actually had my first bonk.
My buddy came in from out of town and we had a 100k route planned – I brought what I though was sufficient for that type of ride. After fighting a serious headwind the entire way out (there’s still snow here so we were on the road) I found that I had pretty much burned through most of my fuel, but I was still feeling great, so there were no worries.
After chatting with a couple guys at a rest stop we learned that a really nice mountain pass road was completely clear of snow, but still closed to traffic… Though the ascent was going to be a grind, we couldn’t pass up an open road descent like that, so onwards we went.
Overall, it was a great ride, and we were making really good time, but we were pushing the pace the whole time (~50km/h with the help of our tailwind) and I felt myself slowly being sapped of more and more energy.
Eventually I couldn’t hold our line anymore and I had to yell at my buddy to stop… I felt like I literally couldn’t turn the cranks anymore – a new, and awful feeling to me.
We sat by the side of the road unsure of what to do, since we were still ~25k out and neither of us had brought our cell phones (stupid, I know). While we chatted and pondered our fate, we both looked through our pockets searching for something that might help me bounce back (since rest wasn’t really doing the trick).
Luckily my buddy found a smashed up pack of GU and the bottom of his pocket which I ravenously devoured. Not 5 minutes later we were up and running again and I had enough jam to keep truckin’. I was really surprised with how quickly I bounced back!
Our random winner in this give away is BEN!!!! Whooo hooo Great job Ben!! Results courtesy of Random.org.
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