Due to extreme time limitations, there have been occasions when I literally fell out of bed, consumed a go-ahead bar and hopped straight on the bike for a 30 mile ride.
The other day I was riding with a small group and riding quite well. However, after about the half-way mark I could feel my body was out of energy. My legs were feeling weaker and I could feel fatigue. I knew I had to stop in a shop and get some lucozade. By the time I stepped into the shop I could feel a touch wobbly and weak.
I drank the lucozade and was feeling better after 15 minutes.
Paula Radcliffe says that sometimes it's a good thing to train with not much fuel inside you. She says it makes you draw on your reserves and burn up fat. I don't do this as a particular strategy but it's more down to severe lack of time to ride. There are times I'm so busy I may have forgotten to buy some glucose to drink or maybe I set out on the ride on an impulse.
Is what I did the other day harmful? I didn't have outright energy bonk but I could certainly feel the beginnings of one which is why I stopped off. Even then, lucozade is hardly a replacement for meals during the day, prior to riding. I sometimes have to fuel up in haste before night sets in when I get up around 16.00 p.m.
The other day I was riding with a small group and riding quite well. However, after about the half-way mark I could feel my body was out of energy. My legs were feeling weaker and I could feel fatigue. I knew I had to stop in a shop and get some lucozade. By the time I stepped into the shop I could feel a touch wobbly and weak.
I drank the lucozade and was feeling better after 15 minutes.
Paula Radcliffe says that sometimes it's a good thing to train with not much fuel inside you. She says it makes you draw on your reserves and burn up fat. I don't do this as a particular strategy but it's more down to severe lack of time to ride. There are times I'm so busy I may have forgotten to buy some glucose to drink or maybe I set out on the ride on an impulse.
Is what I did the other day harmful? I didn't have outright energy bonk but I could certainly feel the beginnings of one which is why I stopped off. Even then, lucozade is hardly a replacement for meals during the day, prior to riding. I sometimes have to fuel up in haste before night sets in when I get up around 16.00 p.m.