Share with us your worst bonk experience

Jerry Sievers said:

Hi there. I've been riding about 5 years now on a Catrike Speed trike
since losing the left leg. In pretty good shape, I'm able to cover 75
miles at an overall avg pace of 16MPH or so.

In better shape this year than ever, I was able to clock my personal
best S. Florida MS150 ride time on the way down there on day 1. I was
running out of gas on the first day and the stump leg that goes in the
prosthesis cramped as usual during the last 25 miles (which I have
accepted as par for the course).

Ate great carbo food Friday night and was careful to load up again
Saturday morning. As I said, Sat went pretty well...

but Eureka!

Those cramps that I've been living with toward the end of all long
rides I think were the early stages of either or both of dehydration
or low blood sugar and I just never new it.

A bit of partying Saturday evening and a light dinner of seafood
sandwich and the usual sides. Few beers and a little water (not
nearly enough). Your body can fail to give the proper signals of
hunger and thirst sometimes when excitement is high.

Anyway Sunday morning rolls around way too soon and there's no time to
grab any breakfast. We get the bikes out of the pen and hit it, doing
the first 20 miles at 19MPH which I struggled with more than usual.
Drank Gatorade and munched a few bars at the first big rest; so far so
good.

At about 40 miles out I start feeling the cramps again and slowing
down bit by bit. Generous teammates lowered the pace to keep me with
them. Pain got more severe, knee (the one that I still have) started
to hurt, and the foot was aching too.. I am hurting big time and the
pace is winding down to a crawl of just around 12MPH when we luckily
reached another rest.

By this time, I was panting like a shaggy dog in the desert sun and
seeing spots.

Pulled under a tent in the rest stop and teammates brought me a full
bag of ice which I laid on my chest. They also brought ice cold
gatorade which I tried to drink but couldn't get down. I asked if
there was any at room temperature. Everyone else waited on me and I
never got off the trike.

A great big Gatorade bottle arrived soon (1/2 gallon I think) and over
the next 30 minutes I drank nearly all of it. Rest stop worker told
my teammate that noone's ever asked for it *not* chilled before.

Meanwhile as the hyperventilation began to subside, I started to shake
all over but still felt very hot. This was a serious bonk indeed.

Kept the ice bag on me and moved it around a bit trying to get some
relief for the knee too.

Some riders offered me a few packages of that "Runner's Goo" and I
sucked down about 4 of them also. Before long, feeling full to the
gills but coming around nicely. I had a hunch I could get going again
soon.

Once the shakes stopped, I was too full to drink any more liquid or
eat more whatsoever and breathing and general comfort return to
normal, we headed out and took it up gradually from a 10MPH pace to
see if I was going to really do OK.

Aside from feeling the full belly of Goo and Gatorade bouncing around
in there and an occasional nasty burp, I got rolling and we reached
the usual cruising speeds again.

The final 30 miles in 92 degree heat went well and the incident was
over.

To consider how much additional fluid I continued to drink then and
after the ride before finally peeing the first time was truly
shocking. Honest estimate is on the order of 2 gallons or so, but I
have no idea really.

Someone at one of the rest stops mentioned that there were quite a few
down riders this year due to the heat. Sheesh! Be careful out there.
I hope never to need be reminded of this lesson again.

May I never whine about being old/fat/slow/weak/tired/in pain/busy/lazy/etc.
again.

Jerry Sievers said:

A great big Gatorade bottle arrived soon (1/2 gallon I think) and over
the next 30 minutes I drank nearly all of it. Rest stop worker told
my teammate that noone's ever asked for it *not* chilled before.

Meanwhile as the hyperventilation began to subside, I started to shake
all over but still felt very hot. This was a serious bonk indeed.

Sounds like it could have been mild hyperthermia rather than a bonk,
especially given the ambient temperatures and the amount of liquids you
ingested at the rest stop. Or maybe it was hyperthermia plus bonk?
Ugh.

Fortunately I've only had one nasty bonk and one or two mild ones. The
nasty bonk was before I learned anything much about long rides. I went
for a two-hour ride, carrying two water bottles and nothing else. I
went pretty hard for the first hour (1st water bottle) and then on my
way back I started to feel hungry and weak. Into a headwind, no less.
It was about 40 miserable minutes before I reached the nearest
mini-mart. I had enough change for a candy bar, so I bought the
largest thing I could afford and downed it with a slosh of water. I
hopped back on my bike and while I felt human again, about all I could
do was spin lightly until I got home.

I've also had mild hyperthermia years ago when I was relatively
untrained and I pushed too hard up a steep hill on a very hot day. I
got to the top and felt dizzy and had to lie down. Fortunately I had
plenty of water with me and the road home was all downhill.

-JR

On 08 May 2006 13:19:38 -0400, Jerry Sievers <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

A great big Gatorade bottle arrived soon (1/2 gallon I think) and over
the next 30 minutes I drank nearly all of it. Rest stop worker told
my teammate that noone's ever asked for it *not* chilled before.

Over the past six or seven years, I have essentially stopped chilling
drinks at home; I consume most beverages either at room temp or hot,
even in summer, and I find that they work just as well at rehydrating
me and helping to cope with heat as they did when they were cold (if
not better), but without some side effects that admittedly not
everyone experiences. First, perhaps I'm unusual, but cold beverages
can start my sinuses running; at room temp or hot, it doesn't happen.
Second, I never get the dreaded Brain Freeze aches from drinking too
much of something cold at once. Third, I find that I actually consume
less at one time, and grab a sip or two more often, when the water (or
whatever) isn't chilled...and this helps to keep me from overconsuming
and bloating.

And yes, I'll even consume generic Gatorade-substitute this way...but
I have to be pretty thirsty before that sounds inviting.

Oh, BTW, I find that OJ helps to keep my leg cramps under control.

Quoted message said:

Someone at one of the rest stops mentioned that there were quite a few
down riders this year due to the heat. Sheesh! Be careful out there.
I hope never to need be reminded of this lesson again.

Growing up in Miami's foul climate, the effects of heat and humidity
are quite familiar. I guess that's why I learned to pace myself and
heed the warning signs a long time ago; I've never really hit the wall
that way.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

MY worst Bonk: i think it was dehydration AND bonking. I was out on a
ride with a couple of other people, and we stopped and met up with
another group who invited us to go with them. It wasn't a very hot day,
about 26C, not humid or very windy. Just perfect. But I forgot to take
gatorade- just water! I thought I was fine (I had food of course) but on
the way home i really started to feel parched and began to really lose
altitude, and my legs just totally seized up. NO matter how much water I
drank i just felt parched. I realized i'd made a stupid mistake
forgetting the gatorade. The last 15 k i could barely go more than
15km/h...finally i got home and re-hydrated. However, the next day I
felt like a squished lemon and I looked like the illustration on the
label of an iodine bottle. UGH! I never screwed up like that again!
Coincidentally, this happened during the 2003 Tour, and it was that
summer when they had that horrible heat wave and people died, and they
did that TT when guys were keeling over and Lance got all dehydrated. My
incident happened a couple of days after that. Remember how lance
looked the next day? I thought Gee, it's true, you do totally feel like
s***!

Werehatrack said:

On 08 May 2006 13:19:38 -0400, Jerry Sievers <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

A great big Gatorade bottle arrived soon (1/2 gallon I think) and over
the next 30 minutes I drank nearly all of it. Rest stop worker told
my teammate that noone's ever asked for it *not* chilled before.

Over the past six or seven years, I have essentially stopped chilling
drinks at home; I consume most beverages either at room temp or hot,
even in summer, and I find that they work just as well at rehydrating
me and helping to cope with heat as they did when they were cold (if
not better), but without some side effects that admittedly not
everyone experiences. First, perhaps I'm unusual, but cold beverages
can start my sinuses running; at room temp or hot, it doesn't happen.
Second, I never get the dreaded Brain Freeze aches from drinking too
much of something cold at once. Third, I find that I actually consume
less at one time, and grab a sip or two more often, when the water (or
whatever) isn't chilled...and this helps to keep me from overconsuming
and bloating.

And yes, I'll even consume generic Gatorade-substitute this way...but
I have to be pretty thirsty before that sounds inviting.

Oh, BTW, I find that OJ helps to keep my leg cramps under control.

Quoted message said:

Someone at one of the rest stops mentioned that there were quite a few
down riders this year due to the heat. Sheesh! Be careful out there.
I hope never to need be reminded of this lesson again.

Growing up in Miami's foul climate, the effects of heat and humidity
are quite familiar. I guess that's why I learned to pace myself and
heed the warning signs a long time ago; I've never really hit the wall
that way.

"Jerry Sievers" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi there. I've been riding about 5 years now on a Catrike Speed trike
since losing the left leg. In pretty good shape, I'm able to cover 75
miles at an overall avg pace of 16MPH or so.

In better shape this year than ever, I was able to clock my personal
best S. Florida MS150 ride time on the way down there on day 1. I was
running out of gas on the first day and the stump leg that goes in the
prosthesis cramped as usual during the last 25 miles (which I have
accepted as par for the course).

Ate great carbo food Friday night and was careful to load up again
Saturday morning. As I said, Sat went pretty well...

but Eureka!

Those cramps that I've been living with toward the end of all long
rides I think were the early stages of either or both of dehydration
or low blood sugar and I just never new it.

A bit of partying Saturday evening and a light dinner of seafood
sandwich and the usual sides. Few beers and a little water (not
nearly enough). Your body can fail to give the proper signals of
hunger and thirst sometimes when excitement is high.

Anyway Sunday morning rolls around way too soon and there's no time to
grab any breakfast. We get the bikes out of the pen and hit it, doing
the first 20 miles at 19MPH which I struggled with more than usual.
Drank Gatorade and munched a few bars at the first big rest; so far so
good.

At about 40 miles out I start feeling the cramps again and slowing
down bit by bit. Generous teammates lowered the pace to keep me with
them. Pain got more severe, knee (the one that I still have) started
to hurt, and the foot was aching too.. I am hurting big time and the
pace is winding down to a crawl of just around 12MPH when we luckily
reached another rest.

By this time, I was panting like a shaggy dog in the desert sun and
seeing spots.

Pulled under a tent in the rest stop and teammates brought me a full
bag of ice which I laid on my chest. They also brought ice cold
gatorade which I tried to drink but couldn't get down. I asked if
there was any at room temperature. Everyone else waited on me and I
never got off the trike.

A great big Gatorade bottle arrived soon (1/2 gallon I think) and over
the next 30 minutes I drank nearly all of it. Rest stop worker told
my teammate that noone's ever asked for it *not* chilled before.

Meanwhile as the hyperventilation began to subside, I started to shake
all over but still felt very hot. This was a serious bonk indeed.

Kept the ice bag on me and moved it around a bit trying to get some
relief for the knee too.

Some riders offered me a few packages of that "Runner's Goo" and I
sucked down about 4 of them also. Before long, feeling full to the
gills but coming around nicely. I had a hunch I could get going again
soon.

Once the shakes stopped, I was too full to drink any more liquid or
eat more whatsoever and breathing and general comfort return to
normal, we headed out and took it up gradually from a 10MPH pace to
see if I was going to really do OK.

Aside from feeling the full belly of Goo and Gatorade bouncing around
in there and an occasional nasty burp, I got rolling and we reached
the usual cruising speeds again.

The final 30 miles in 92 degree heat went well and the incident was
over.

To consider how much additional fluid I continued to drink then and
after the ride before finally peeing the first time was truly
shocking. Honest estimate is on the order of 2 gallons or so, but I
have no idea really.

Someone at one of the rest stops mentioned that there were quite a few
down riders this year due to the heat. Sheesh! Be careful out there.
I hope never to need be reminded of this lesson again.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----

Quoted message said:

Jerry Sievers 305 854-3001 (home) WWW ECommerce Consultant
305 321-1144 (mobile http://www.JerrySievers.com/

On last year's Death Ride (www.deathride.com), I finished the 4th of 5
passes around 11:30 AM, feeling strong and thinking "I've got this thing
whipped". How wrong I was.

I left the lunch stop feeling confident, but not thinking that I still had
45 miles and 4000 feet of climbing left to go (after already riding 80 miles
with 11,000 feet of climbing). The climb up Carson Pass was the longest of
the day (17 miles), and the headwinds were roaring downhill into our faces
at what seemed like 20+ mph. I'd run out of gels, and started to feel worse
and worse as the climb went on.

I don't know why I didn't just turn around, but something kept me crawling
to the summit. I was so out of it that I didn't even bother to grab one of
the free ice cream bars they were giving away at the top!

I normally love to bomb the downhills, and the long descent from Carson Pass
(with a tailwind!) should have been a joy. But, I felt so bad that I set
off being careful, and just trying to focus on getting down safely. About 2
miles from the summit, I started to get incredibly sleepy and actually
started to doze off once or twice on long straight-aways...that had never
happened to me before (or since) and scared the [censored] out of me. I actually
considered pulling over to the side of the road to take a nap in the ditch!

Within a couple of miles, I began to recover a bit, and got some food at the
aid station halfway down the mountain. I limped back to the finish, knowing
exactly why it's called the "Death Ride".

FWIW, I decided I wanted a rematch, so I'm signed up again this year. I
plan to focus more carefully on fuel and food this year, to (hopefully)
stave off the Bonk from Hell.

--
~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

Summer 1985. A long, hot and Scenic morning along the north side of the
Ardeche Gorge, followed by a visit from the P+nct+r+ Fairy in St. Martin
de l'Ardeche, which had to be fixed in a shade temperature of 35 deg. C.
And, of course, there /was/ no shade. Horrible stretch of busy and
narrow road across the Rhone valley before picking up the old N6 and
spinning out in top gear - on a fully-laden touring bike - for about ten
downwind miles.

I felt terrific until I got to Orange, where I had to turn east and once
more ride across the wind. On arrival at that night's campsite, I
keeled over in the office, and was awakened by the gardienne's Great
Dane enthusiastically washing my face. The plan to spend the following
day ascending Mont Ventoux was rapidly ditched in favour of "sitting in
the shade in the village square reading and drinking my own mass in soft
drinks".

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
May you have an accident shaped like an umbrella.

SlowRider said:

Jerry Sievers wrote:

Sounds like it could have been mild hyperthermia rather than a bonk,
especially given the ambient temperatures and the amount of liquids you
ingested at the rest stop. Or maybe it was hyperthermia plus bonk?
Ugh.

I suspect all of low sugar, dehydration and perhaps mild hyperthermia.
that I was able to bounce back so quickly suggest I might not have
been too badly overheated (yet).

Quoted message said:

Fortunately I've only had one nasty bonk and one or two mild ones.
The nasty bonk was before I learned anything much about long rides.
I went for a two-hour ride, carrying two water bottles and nothing
else. I went pretty hard for the first hour (1st water bottle) and
then on my way back I started to feel hungry and weak. Into a
headwind, no less. It was about 40 miserable minutes before I
reached the nearest mini-mart. I had enough change for a candy bar,
so I bought the largest thing I could afford and downed it with a
slosh of water. I hopped back on my bike and while I felt human
again, about all I could do was spin lightly until I got home.

Understood. We train usually back to back Sat/Sun but only for 35
miles or so which takes us about 2 hours. I am told that most people
can store enough glucose for strenuous exercise of this duration if
they're well loaded before starting.

My fatal mistake was beginning the ride Sunday already very depleted.

Quoted message said:

I've also had mild hyperthermia years ago when I was relatively
untrained and I pushed too hard up a steep hill on a very hot day.
I got to the top and felt dizzy and had to lie down. Fortunately I
had plenty of water with me and the road home was all downhill.

Yup. Been there, done that.

Quoted message said:

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Sievers 305 854-3001 (home) WWW ECommerce Consultant
305 321-1144 (mobile http://www.JerrySievers.com/

Marlene Blanshay said:

15km/h...finally i got home and re-hydrated. However, the next day I
felt like a squished lemon and I looked like the illustration on the
label of an iodine bottle. UGH! I never screwed up like that again!

LOL...

Yeah, I got reports from friends who we visited after the ride (and
after rehydrating enough to survive the distance) that I looked very
drawn in the face.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Sievers 305 854-3001 (home) WWW ECommerce Consultant
305 321-1144 (mobile http://www.JerrySievers.com/

GaryG said:

I normally love to bomb the downhills, and the long descent from
Carson Pass (with a tailwind!) should have been a joy. But, I felt
so bad that I set off being careful, and just trying to focus on
getting down safely. About 2 miles from the summit, I started to
get incredibly sleepy and actually started to doze off once or twice
on long straight-aways...that had never happened to me before (or
since) and scared the [censored] out of me. I actually considered pulling
over to the side of the road to take a nap in the ditch!

Can't say I've had the "sleepy time" experience however, have gone
into mild halucinations on the last 10 miles or so of a cool day but
very windy century. It looked like the rider in front of me was on a
galloping horse! I had to shake my head and blink the eyes a few
times to get back to reality.

Quoted message said:

Within a couple of miles, I began to recover a bit, and got some food at the
aid station halfway down the mountain. I limped back to the finish, knowing
exactly why it's called the "Death Ride".

Excellent story. Thanks for posting.

Quoted message said:

FWIW, I decided I wanted a rematch, so I'm signed up again this year. I
plan to focus more carefully on fuel and food this year, to (hopefully)
stave off the Bonk from Hell.

Good luck.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Sievers 305 854-3001 (home) WWW ECommerce Consultant
305 321-1144 (mobile http://www.JerrySievers.com/

Jerry Sievers wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Can't say I've had the "sleepy time" experience however, have gone
into mild halucinations on the last 10 miles or so of a cool day but
very windy century. It looked like the rider in front of me was on a
galloping horse! I had to shake my head and blink the eyes a few
times to get back to reality.

<snip>

Another Fabrizo Mazzoleni sighting!!

Paul D Oosterhout
I work for SAIC

Jerry Sievers said:

GaryG said:

I normally love to bomb the downhills, and the long descent from
Carson Pass (with a tailwind!) should have been a joy. But, I felt
so bad that I set off being careful, and just trying to focus on
getting down safely. About 2 miles from the summit, I started to
get incredibly sleepy and actually started to doze off once or twice
on long straight-aways...that had never happened to me before (or
since) and scared the [censored] out of me. I actually considered pulling
over to the side of the road to take a nap in the ditch!

That may also have been a bit of "Post exercise hypotension", which, I
think, don't know for sure, will just be made worse by lack of fuel. It has
happened to me after a hard exertion and I did see stars and braked into a
ditch rather than play with the cars. After that I just didn't feel right
so headed back home. Maybe that was a mini bonk and some dehydration but it
got my attention.

Quoted message said:

Can't say I've had the "sleepy time" experience however, have gone
into mild halucinations on the last 10 miles or so of a cool day but
very windy century. It looked like the rider in front of me was on a
galloping horse! I had to shake my head and blink the eyes a few
times to get back to reality.

Blood sugar???

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Within a couple of miles, I began to recover a bit, and got some food at
the
aid station halfway down the mountain. I limped back to the finish,
knowing exactly why it's called the "Death Ride".

Yeah, it's the last leg that sneaks up on you.

Quoted message said:

Excellent story. Thanks for posting.

Ditto.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

FWIW, I decided I wanted a rematch, so I'm signed up again this year. I
plan to focus more carefully on fuel and food this year, to (hopefully)
stave off the Bonk from Hell.

Good luck.

Let us know how that works out.
Bill baka

Ah yes. The Tour Of Two Forests in California many years back... A
double century, that I was actually in good shape for, but some poor
choices wasted me good!

The first half was pretty flat with a good portion of downhill thrown in
for fool's sake. A slight tailwind and my foolish hanging on to a fast
group saw me in Ojai. a hundred miles into the ride after only four
hours (to this day, my fastest century ever)!

Of course, the rest of the ride was all mountainous, mostly up with
LOOOOOOOONG climbs and high temperatures. Add to that the fact that the
energy drink (Exceed) I was using was NOT agreeing with me one bit.

By mile 130 I was starting to bonk, and by the time I limped in to the
finish I had vomited twice on the road, was using my 26-28 on anything
that wasn't downhill and had taken 13 hours to finish that last,
gruesome 100 miles.

But I did make it. Chalk it up to determination, stubborness or
stupidiy. You choose.

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
http "colon-slash-slash" geocities "dot" com "slash" czcorner

To E-mail me:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

I have a confession to make: I don't think I've ever bonked. I've been
do-tired, even moderately dehydrated, but never what people seem to describe
as bonking.

The closest would have to be a few times swimming, oddly enough, where I
don't feel I have the energy to make the stroke with my arms. Never when on
the bike.

(Chris Z The Wheelman) said:

Ah yes. The Tour Of Two Forests in California many years back... A
double century, that I was actually in good shape for, but some poor
choices wasted me good!

The first half was pretty flat with a good portion of downhill thrown in
for fool's sake. A slight tailwind and my foolish hanging on to a fast
group saw me in Ojai. a hundred miles into the ride after only four
hours (to this day, my fastest century ever)!

That is fast! I would not be able to keep that pace...

But yes, it takes discipline to restrain from racing during the early
parts of long road rides. Love going fast and happy to get in a big
draft but you have to know when to drop or it will cost you later.

Thanks for posting.

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Sievers 305 854-3001 (home) WWW ECommerce Consultant
305 321-1144 (mobile http://www.JerrySievers.com/

recycled-one said:

I have a confession to make: I don't think I've ever bonked. I've been
do-tired, even moderately dehydrated, but never what people seem to describe
as bonking.

The closest would have to be a few times swimming, oddly enough, where I
don't feel I have the energy to make the stroke with my arms. Never when on
the bike.

Thanks for sharing.

The only thing I can think of is leg cramps (calves and quads) on a organized ride once after bout 60 miles into it. My legs began to cramp unusually bad. May have been lack of potassium < should have ate a few bananas at a pit stop but I think on this date I had partaken in a Red Bull out of curiosity of never having one. Bad mistake!

Only a one time event as it never happened again.

Hmm, never bonked as I have read descriptions of bonking. I have done centuries with 10,000 ft - 12,000 ft of climbing. Max ride distance is 126 miles with 7,000 ft of climbing.

I've gotten tired but never like the definition of bonking.

My worst tired experience though was on a hot Summer training ride with a bud. We were doing a course that pretty much was like doing 1 mile hill repeats over 50 miles. I started feeling tired and very hungry. He had part of a Clif Bar left from and earlier break. He offered it to me so I just took what was left in the wrapper and started chewing.

My mistake! He is a heavy sweater and the bar had not been sealed to well after opening so it absorbed his sweat. It was too late, after chewing for a few seconds, I realized the bar was a little more juicy than usual! 😉o_O😉

But that is about the worst experience as far as being tired. 😄

Wow, 14 year zombie thread.

banana muffin said:

Wow, 14 year zombie thread.

Not like they go bad like a banana muffin would! 😄