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Thought I would have a go at the SDW today . Have completed it twice in a day so know whats involved to get to Eastbourne intact.
Bit late in the year , and mid-week with work tomorrow meant a very early start, 0435 in fact. It was dark , really dark , like a full on night ride. Thats OK, I have a twin XML set up on the bars ,and its not exactly technical
Add 8'c and thick fog plus rain in the air , and a heavy dew I was cold from the start , with no feeling in my toes for hours.
Didn't cane it in the dark and mooched across to QECP at a steady pace , not smashing it just pootling along. Any speed meant increased windchill any way so had to hold back.
Weird going down from Cheesefoot Head , there were people working on dismantling 'Boomtown' at 0530, and random tents strewn around
QECP 20 miles in , 2hours very quick stop for bar and a wee. Knew I wasnt drinking enough as I had barely touched my Camalbak.
40 miles crossing the A285 at Upwaltham 4hours exactly. Warm now and I can feel my feet . Tried to eat a bar every 30 mins , and stop every hour for some nuts and fruit.
60 miles in at Botolphs in 6hrs.10mins , then on the grassy climb up to Truleigh YH it went horribly wrong. Dry mouth , dizzy, disorientated and instantly tired and wanting to stop for a little sleep . I was intending stop and properly refuel at the YHA , but 1/2 mile short I run out of gas.
Span to the YHA and necked a Gel , Banana , 1/2 a malt loaf , peanuts and about 1 lt of water. Within 10 mins i felt so much better , but made the decision to bail at Devils Dyke and roadie it to Brighton train station, rather than carry on and risk another bigger bonk or fatigue induced crash.
Shame really as sub 12hrs was on the cards , but lesson learnt ....the hard way
First time bonking? You must've been really lucky thus far!
I've found that whenever I get any negative thoughts on a ride, I know it's time to eat. Most recently I ran out of fuel on a big climb in the Cairngorms, got some food in then about 20 mins later it felt like a fog lifted and I was fine. I think recognising the signs is the key to keeping going.
it's amazing how much you'll eat after bonking 🙂
My record is four petrol station flapjacks each the size of a small brick. I reckon about 1400 calories.
It's not a proper bonk if you've got food left and the capability to continue.
Worst I ever had, I was contemplating the nutritional content of empty gel packets and grass, and had to have a sleep in a bus shelter before eventually summoning up strength to limp home.
I once had to stop 400 yards from home and call the lady to help me get home!
Never had it.
Maybe I eat too much.
first time I bonked was on the second lap of an xc race at Coed Y Brenin in 1991. had to have the ambulance to come get me! have to say Ive never bonked since!
I cried and paid the taxi man 20 quid to take me to the train station then got a taxi 20 quid home.
Worst ride ever.
That was 5 years ago and now I recognise the onset.
20 odd years ago, we had a group ride locally in the Lake District. We all bonked except 1. Long day out , too much booze at lunchtime and lesson learned.
I now only get busted on big days out >150km with daft lunches. Weird feeling but great to know you've stretched yourself just a wee bit too far !
I didn't realize it was the same as a sugar crash .:-)
I used to train hard in the gym (squats)and then cycle to work and so used to do it a lot tbh...
I like the weird vision tunnel effect you get .... Very disconcerting.....
It's one of those things that once you know what it is not a problem ... I usually whip over the shop an grab a Mars bar or two or three :- don't normally eat them and nice cup of tea sorted.....
My dad and a work colleague thad here first recently and it really shock them up 🙂
The bloke in the LBS does a good story about cracking 6 miles from the end of a solo run round the Towneley. Last six miles took him as long as the first 42...
OP, i appologise in advance but that had me laughing
"instantly tired and wanting to stop for a little sleep"
I know Exactly what you mean, its not Good and its taken me a fair while to recover from mine, the worst one i had was when riding at Dalby, same thing Early start crap food the day before, end of a long week and i nipped round Dalby in record time, so pleased was i that decided to nip off another lap, BIG Mistake, i very nearly managed it and got to the fence in the last 3rd, where it funnels you through a gap not attached to any other fence ?
Anyway, there i was propped up against a tree, dazed and confused 😳
I was found by two Girls, well women........ one of which i apparantly took quite a shine to ?
After eating their food and bleeding their Camel Backs dry i eventually made it to the car and then to the Bakery in Thornton-Le-Dale where i consumed many pies.
its been about 3 years now since, ive been out today and have covered quite a few miles this week. i felt it comming on tonight i got that empty gaping space in my stomach and immediately held off and turned straight back home.
What are you guys having pre ride food wise when you end up bonking?
Standard for me if going on a long ride is - two bowls of porridge, two rounds of toast with peanut butter and marmalade, two bananas, and double espressos.
Lets be honest, Porridge is gopping stuff ! I just failed to consume enough whilst excercising resulting in an empty tank. i usually take toast & Peanut Butter to munch whilst en route in the car with Tea.
What are you guys having pre ride food wise when you end up bonking?
IMO it's more than this - it's what you have the night before + breakfast + during the ride.
but lesson learnt
not always a subscriber to the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" maxim but the other lesson is that bonking is survivable and that for me was a painful lesson but gave me more confidence to push boundaries on effort and distance
guess you'll easily get the 12hrs next time - good luck
I don't go home until I'm bonking, which doesn't take long. I am quite fat and lazy...
Nice description OP!
This!disorientated and instantly tired and wanting to stop for a little sleep
As a young teenager, me and a mate used to ride the SDW from near Winchester to his grans in Brighton, then back the next day. We knew nothing about fuelling properly so just scoffed chocolate bars and then ate loads at his gran's. Out day was always fine. The return always saw me bonk, somewhere near the finish as we never had enough chocolate. I would go from riding up hills fine to almost unable to push my bike (falcon sierra!) up the hill. Just had to get off the trail, find a garage somewhere and inhale as much chocolate/sweets, anything as possible. Then wait for the recovery, then limp to the finish!
Great story but you might want to cut out the nuts. They are packed with fat which just slows digestion and has no positive influence on fuels metabolised during a ride. What you need is carbs and protein, especially for such a long ride with the ideal ratio being about 4:1.
The easiest way of insuring this is to use an energy drink like High 5 4:1 or I mix my own with maltodextrin and whey protein so it is not so sweet. Alternatively if you prefer mainly solid food then you can make up something like Dr Allen Lim's rice cakes.
I feel like I'm missing out 🙁 I seem to be able to keep on indefinitely and get to the end and find I've only drank a litre out of my camelbak and eaten 2 cereal bars out of my full pocketful. Must ride harder/farther 😀
Only time I have had the full on Wall was on this "Strava Challange"
http://app.strava.com/activities/107611023
Trained it to the HSP with a load of Roadie mates then met a fellow MTB rider, bit of Adventure riding later and we were at Pen Y Fedw Climb.
Felt a little hungry so had a Mars Bar. 30 mins later went for some more food out of the bag and realised I had nothing left.
Was soul destroying, on a hill I never knew where the nearest shop was, lucky a mate had a spare flapjack.
Made our way to Llangollen and were pulling up to a Garage, 50ft away and the lights went out. NOOOOOO!!!! lucky he sold us some food/drink.
Packet of Jelly Babies
Mars Bar
2 packs of Crisps
2 Lucazade Original
Flap Jack
Kept the Mars, Jelly Babies and 1 drink for nearer home. The will to actually ride up any hill had gone, the old Shoe was grim.
In future I always carry more food and a spare 500ml bottle of water for trips over 30 miles.
Argh yes welcome to the feeling that a diabetic gets on the way to a Hypo, followed by eating every seet tasting thing in the kitchen or if on a ride 6 Shotbloks in one hit and five minutes later going like roadrunner.
I have found to fuel 3 hour rides that two Shotbloks every hours riding seems to work a treat for me followed by some real food occasionally maybe a Cliff bar or SIS bar mid ride if it's hillier than normal or cold or adrenaline fuelled trails. Uplift days I can normally only do two or three runs without having to start feeding! I actually find Shotbloks seem get into my bloodstream faster than SIS gels.
Just a suggestion for folk that ain't tried them I find them to be like rocket fuel!
"The bonk", or in other words, hypoglycaemia. Yep it's horrible!
Maybe Im just being northern schoolboy, but the title made me smile 🙂
Porridge is gopping stuff
Heretic! Burn him!
Last year I experimented with my diet and one went several days with very low carb intake. During this period I had a day at work where I was feeling hungry and a bit tired but went through the afternoon thinking that it's not long until the five mile ride home and I would be okay.
I wasn't okay. It was amazing how it not only affected my physical ability to function but my mental ability to deal with it.
I remember riding along the sea front at Portobello thinking that if I didn't maintain momentum as I went into the unlit stretch that follows I would fall over and not be able to get up - discovered the next morning as a frozen corpse or at best, robbed of my bike and wallet. (The reality was another cyclist would probably come along two minutes later). I made it to a service station desperate for any food, threw my bike down and staggered in. I then couldn't make much sense of the meal deal pricing or the overwhelming choice and convinced myself I would survive without spending £4.99 less than a mile from home and staggered out again.
I ate a lot of food when I got in, starting with a half a jar of peanut butter.
Lesson learned - I eat to fuel what I want to do, not to lose a little bit more weight. I've done a lot of big rides this year and not had any real problems with running out of energy so far. Pre-emptive feeding is a good strategy and excuse.
Interestingly I am hypoglycemic and suffer from the effects of low blood sugar, the tunnel vision, dizziness, dry mouth etc.
On reflection The very cold start temps ( I reckon 5'C in the fog) and the wanting to push on meant I simply didnt stop to hoover up enough food. On previous occasiions I have pushed the bigger climbs and woofed down food at the same time . This means you are not wasting time stationary and only loosing maybe 1mph on hill climb speed , at the top jump on and ride off.
I was carrying enough food , and so far ahead of my target times I could easily have stopped more often .
Ah, the bonk, unless you've been there! I used to get full on bonk often, to the point of not being able to string a sentence together
Then on a hunch (this was a long time ago, before the interweb and being clued up) I started morning rides pre breakfast, completely sorted me out, can't remember the last time I bonked (even multiple day rides on minimal grub). Think it's to do with training your body to burn fuel more efficiently, well that and not eating total garbage
If I venture out on a 30+ miler with no fuel in the tank I wouldn't make it, I wouldn't make it past the first day let alone the multi day rides,
It matters not whether I eat healthy or crap, I could eat healthy all week but if I ventured into the Peaks having trained myself to starve I'd be in trouble, where would the 3 thousand calories come from ?
You never forget your first bonk, eh?
Mine was maybe 15 or 20 years ago, nothing epic - just riding round the local woods back in Herts all afternoon with no food.
Still remember having to push my bike back up even the slightest of climbs to get back to civilisation and eat all the food in my mum's house.
Did it again a few weeks ago after accidentally doing a three and a half hour road ride on two gels. Had to beg some Vimto off a slightly frightened dad and son out for a ride round Rivvy.
🙂