# Did i bonk?



## The Central Scrutinizer (8 Jun 2015)

Did an eighty mile bike event yesterday and i think i might have hit the dreaded wall(bonk).
I was going ok for about fifty miles and then my legs just started to feel like lead and the bike seemed twice as heavy.
I was then stopping every ten miles to eat(jelly babies)and drink,.by then the enjoyment of the ride had gone and my main accomplishment was finishing.
The last hill with about two miles to go was agony with me just creeping up it in bottom gear.
I did a century ride last year and although i had a bit of cramp i didn't feel like this.
I wonder if i did not fuel up enough,had some pasta the night before and had porridge for breakfast but on the ride only eat a few flapjacks and some jelly babies.
The other thing because there was a low turn out of riders we all became stretched and i spent most of the ride on my own and i tend to ride to my max instead of pacing myself as i would with other riders.


----------



## jay clock (8 Jun 2015)

yes....


----------



## ianrauk (8 Jun 2015)

No.
Maybe nearly and running on empty but not a bonk.
If you had bonked there was no way you could have continued to ride.


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

I don't get this thing about "bonking". It's always my muscles that start aching. I did a 60 mile bike ride a few days ago and all I had was sore as hell legs and butt. Sure, my bike felt like lead and I had to stop every 5-10 mins or so, but that's it. 

If you eat before and while riding, I don't think you should be bonking except if your heart is weak and not yet used to exercise.


----------



## MikeW-71 (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> I don't get this thing about "bonking". It's always my muscles that start aching. I did a 60 mile bike ride a few days ago and all I had was sore as hell legs and butt. Sure, my bike felt like lead and I had to stop every 5-10 mins or so, but that's it.
> 
> If you eat before and while riding, I don't think you should be bonking except if your heart is weak and not yet used to exercise.


There's fatigue, and there's a bonk, the two are very different.

If I suddenly decided to ride 40 miles further than I've ever done before, I know I need to eat on the way and I would feel fatigued at the end. The last hills would be a struggle for example.

A bonk is completely running out of fuel. You haven't eaten. You'll be sitting at the roadside seeing stars for at least 20 minutes. During that time, you really need to eat something to get some energy to continue at all.

If you eat during the ride, but not quite enough, you can also get a "hunger knock" where you can continue, but you feel pretty weak. I reckon the OP ended up riding too hard and blew up.


----------



## the snail (8 Jun 2015)

if you'd bonked you wouldn't be asking the question. Getting tired out to the point your legs don't want to work is one thing, bonking your legs will be f***ed, plus you'll be nauseous, dizzy and disoriented with a headache and basically feel like you're going to die.


----------



## The Central Scrutinizer (8 Jun 2015)

the snail said:


> if you'd bonked you wouldn't be asking the question. Getting tired out to the point your legs don't want to work is one thing, bonking your legs will be f***ed, plus you'll be nauseous, dizzy and disoriented with a headache and basically feel like you're going to die.


If that is the "bonk," no i didn't feel as bad as that,probably what mike said i rode too hard and blew up,also my lack of food intake didn't help either.


----------



## cyberknight (8 Jun 2015)

I think there's your problem . i f i read your OP right you did not start eating till the 50 mile mark where i was advised to eat every half hour from the start .


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

Well, according to CGN, if you never bonked that means you're not a proper cyclist. I don't see the connection between not eating for hours then barely being able to walk and being a cyclist.

The only time I had a bonk-like feeling is when I cycled to a football pitch and wanted to play a bit with my mate. It was a struglle to even keep standing, and I was about to fall asleep, but I could still pedal the bike.


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

As above, if you have to ask - _NO_ or maybe _NOT QUITE_! 

Bonking is so severe a problem that you cease to function properly and you can't just soldier on. You might forget your own name, lose the power of speech, your eyesight could be affected etc. See THIS LIST.


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

ColinJ said:


> As above, if you have to ask - _NO_ or maybe _NOT QUITE_!
> 
> Bonking is so severe a problem that you cease to function properly and you can't just soldier on. You might forget your own name, lose the power of speech, your eyesight could be affected etc. See THIS LIST.



Oh please...all this from using your legs to pedal...yeah right. Take a look at sprinters or marathon runners. It's more intense than cycling, and how many have you seen who suddenly developed memory loss?


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> Oh please...all this from using your legs to pedal...yeah right. Take a look at sprinters or marathon runners. It's more intense than cycling, and how many have you seen who suddenly developed memory loss?


You are digging a hole for yourself ... Stop digging.


----------



## winjim (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> Oh please...all this from using your legs to pedal...yeah right. Take a look at sprinters or marathon runners. It's more intense than cycling, and how many have you seen who suddenly developed memory loss?


Eh? The bonk is hypoglycaemia and nothing to do with having tired legs.


----------



## velovoice (8 Jun 2015)

Bonking is a brain thing. Your brain can only run on two possible fuels (carbs or ketones, a byproduct of fat burning/ketosis) -- and it's one or the other.

FYI, your body meanwhile uses carbs or FAT not ketones as fuel. If your metabolism is running on carbs, then yes, hypoglycemia can and does happen. If you're keto-adapted, then your body is using fat as fuel and your brain is using the ketone produced from that as fuel. You need no carbs hence no hypoglycemia and -- studies show -- no risk of bonk since fat stores provide 20x more available fuel than carbohydrates can provide at any given time, provided of course your metabolism is adapted to be running on fat rather than carbs in the first place. 

Tiredness/lead legs etc is the _body _running out of fuel, as anything you have left is being diverted to the brain for survival. Push it further til your _brain _has no fuel and you get headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, hallucinations, you name it -- complete and utter shut down. Often hand in hand with dehydration as well, which at the extreme end could be a step from heat exhaustion.

And then there's the effects of electrolyte loss, specifically magnesium, which if taken to extremes can kill you.

No, you did not bonk.


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

Here is marathon runner Gabriella Anderson demonstrating how just using legs can induce a few problems. I suspect that speech might have been somewhat difficult at that time and I wouldn't expect her to remember where she had parked her car either!


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

THIS is bonking!


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

ColinJ said:


> Here is marathon runner Gabriella Anderson demonstrating how just using legs can induce a few problems. I suspect that speech might have been somewhat difficult at that time and I wouldn't expect her to remember where she had parked her car either!




As I said, running is much more intense than cycling.


----------



## velovoice (8 Jun 2015)

ColinJ said:


> THIS is bonking!


Wow. Trauma is right!

I reckon THIS also was bonking, although magnesium depletion seems to have been the most serious problem, putting him at risk of a heart attack.


----------



## Dogtrousers (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> As I said, running is much more intense than cycling.


Keep trying. You'll get a bite eventually


----------



## winjim (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> As I said, running is much more intense than cycling.


Yes, but the context in which you said it was to suggest that runners do not display the symptoms of hypoglycaemia.


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

Dogtrousers said:


> Keep trying. You'll get a bite eventually



Sorry, what is this, an "I know bonking better than you" contest? Sorry, I didn't know.


----------



## velovoice (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> Sorry, what is this, an "I know bonking better than you" contest? Sorry, I didn't know.


Not at all. Just that "bonking" is a word that's thrown around far too much. A lot of people use it without knowing what it means. 
CycleChat = Education.


----------



## TheSoulReaver03 (8 Jun 2015)

velovoice said:


> Not at all. Just that "bonking" is a word that's thrown around far too much. A lot of people use it without knowing what it means.
> CycleChat = Education.



And I also see that some people think they're cool because they "bonked". Some of them are also having problems analyzing what I said.


----------



## velovoice (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> And I also see that some people think they're cool because they "bonked". Some of them are also having problems analyzing what I said.


No, I don't think anyone is having difficult understanding what you said. It's clear you haven't (yet) bonked. Good for you. Who has a problem with that? No one.
As for your opinions on other people's experiences that have been different from yours, they're just that. You're free to hold those opinions and I support your right to hold them but that doesn't make them more valid than opinions held by people whose personal experiences have led them to different conclusions.


----------



## Racing roadkill (8 Jun 2015)

I know when I've hit a bonk, because my breath really starts to honk of nail varnish remover / pear drops. I smell that, I'm all done .


----------



## ayceejay (8 Jun 2015)

Racing roadkill said:


> I know when I've hit a bonk, because my breath really starts to honk of nail varnish remover / pear drops. I smell that, I'm all done .[/QUOTE
> 
> Acetone, the ketosis effect touched on above,


----------



## MikeW-71 (8 Jun 2015)

TheSoulReaver03 said:


> And I also see that some people think they're cool because they "bonked". Some of them are also having problems analyzing what I said.


No, no, no. If you've bonked, then you've really screwed up. It's not something I ever want to experience TBH.


----------



## Jody (8 Jun 2015)

ColinJ said:


> Bonking is so severe a problem that you cease to function properly and you can't just soldier on. You might forget your own name, lose the power of speech, your eyesight could be affected etc. See THIS LIST.



Thanks for that link. I couldn’t work out what people were on about when “bonking”. It’s far from the definition I had.


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

Jody said:


> Thanks for that link. I couldn’t work out what people were on about when “bonking”. It’s far from the definition I had.


I had many of those problems, including ...

Shakiness, anxiety, nervousness
Palpitations, tachycardia
Pallor, coldness, clamminess
Hunger
Nausea, abdominal discomfort
Headache
Abnormal thinking, impaired judgement
Moodiness, depression, crying
Negativism, irritability
Personality change, emotional lability
Fatigue, weakness, apathy, lethargy, daydreaming, sleep
Confusion, amnesia, lightheadedness or dizziness, delirium
Staring, "glassy" look, blurred vision, double vision
Flashes of light in the field of vision
Difficulty speaking, slurred speech
Memory loss, amnesia
Bonking is not subtle, hence the point about 'if you had to ask, then no, you didn't'!


----------



## velovoice (8 Jun 2015)

ayceejay said:


> Acetone, the ketosis effect touched on above,


Not quite. Acetone breathe is a symptom of depletion of carbohydrate fuel in someone whose metabolic process is based on glycolysis. The late-stage of this fuel depletion does produce excess ketones in the blood, so it's not surprising that until recently it was common to refer to this condition as ketosis. However, the causes, characteristics and mechanisms are very different.

When it "goes wrong", glycolysis is linked with episodes/conditions/disorders/diseases such as hypoglycemia and Type II diabetic (to name just a few).

Ketosis however is a metabolic state reliant on mobilisation and utilisation of fat, not carbs. I have not heard of acetone breath connected with ketosis, but it's certainly common for "body odour" (i.e. the actual scent of one's skin) to change if you've switched from a glycolysis-based metabolism to a keto-adapted one. This change of BO is subtle in some people , in others quite dramatic. Some people find the new BO less pleasant than the previous BO, others find it more so. To each his own.


----------



## Dogtrousers (8 Jun 2015)

A lot of endurance events go on in the mind. It's quite possible to convince yourself that you are exhausted - especially if you think things like "I've got four hours more of this to go ... that hill is impossible" and become despondent, rather than breaking the event down into achievable milestones. Similarly, I guess the reverse must be true where you convince yourself you can do what you cannot - which is where pushing yourself into genuine hypoglycaemia probably comes from.

Interestingly some of those symptoms (esp the mental ones) are the similar to the symptoms of hypothermia.

It's never happened to me, either as a cyclist or a runner. But then I do like to keep within myself, and be a bit cautious.


----------



## ayceejay (8 Jun 2015)

Something else that should be pointed out 'hitting the wall' and 'bonking' are two different phenomena in my opinion.
When you 'hit the wall' it is like dogtrousers says above, the brain doubting the body can go on and is usually inaccurate and dehydration is often the cause.
The 'bonk' is when the brain doesn't have the fuel it needs to continue functioning as it should.


----------



## Drago (8 Jun 2015)

If your body doesn't make a 'bonk' noise at it smacks the floor, then technically you ain't bonked.


----------



## ColinJ (8 Jun 2015)

velovoice said:


> I reckon THIS also was bonking, although magnesium depletion seems to have been the most serious problem, putting him at risk of a heart attack.


Yikes!

I recognise the stupid determination to go on, and kid oneself that all will be ok. I was the same when I was ill. I just could not believe that I was as bad as I actually was!


----------



## nickyboy (9 Jun 2015)

I'm much better at handling long and strenuous rides these days but looking back I've had the hunger knock a few times but a full-on bonk only once.

Hunger knock; able to maintain usual cognitive functions but almost complete loss of power

Bonk; as above, but loss of cognitive functions too

The bonk was on a 60 mile super-grimpeur audax after only 4 months of cycling. 8000ft of climbing. I got back to the finish and had to call my wife to pick me up. When she arrived I couldn't figure out how to get the bike in the car, she had to do it for me. Just a case of taking the wheels off and sliding it in the boot but it was beyond me. 10 mile drive home I didn't speak, just stared out of the window.


----------

