Wow, I bonked HARD today. :-(

[wackyjacky1]

I went for my usual Sunday bike ride today. It's the Mission Trail ride, a mostly flat 35-mile roundtrip ride that I've done most Sundays for the past few months. Started off feeling nice and strong (even had some cute dude call out, "Looking good!" as he whizzed by me on his bike ). Took a break at the halfway point (16 miles) -- ate a Luna bar and a couple of Shot Blocks, and drank some water -- then started back home. All of the sudden it seemed like I could barely turn the pedals!

After a few more miles, I felt like I was barely moving. Sure enough, a glance at my cycle computer showed I was only going about 8 mph! The only way I could keep turning the pedals was if I shifted into a super easy gear, the kind I would normally use to climb a hill. Ugh!

At the 25-mile mark, I just couldn't go any further, so I pulled over and called my sister to come pick me up. I felt like such a failure, LOL.

I suspect I wasn't properly hydrated -- we had a dinner party last night and I probably drank a wee bit too much. I sipped on water during the ride, but probably not as much as I should have. I had a little bit of breakfast (a piece of whole-grain toast and a poached egg), but nothing else 'til my break at the halfway point. Also, we're having an "air quality alert" day, so maybe there was too much ozone or whatever in the air? And on the local news just now they said mold and other pollens in the air were in the heavy range; mold really does a number on my respiratory system. To top it off, it was pretty warm (about 95) and quite humid.

Based on all that, I think I know what I did wrong, but any advice from you all would be super helpful 'cause I sure don't want to ever repeat what happened to me today!

PS I sucked down a Gu gel and a couple glasses of Gatorade when I got home and feel much better.