Wow, I bonked HARD today. :-(

[fatbottomedgurl]

I don't think you did anything wrong at all. It was just a bad day- all those other factors. You certainly fueled enough for 35 miles.

[tctrek]

Do you drink while you are riding? Or was your stop at the 1/2 way point the first time you drank? If it was 95 degrees, you should be sipping sports drink with electrolytes every few minutes and drinking about 20 ozs every hour (I drink about 32 ozs every hour).

I also drink a bottle of sports drink about 45 minutes before I take off. I have found that if I start out early in the morning after only having maybe a cup of coffee or tea, I dehydrate very quickly in the first hour.

[redrhodie]

Are you sure it's not the flu?

[tzvia]

I bonk hard if I don't get enough good quality sleep and then eat a carb breakfast with no protein or fruits. By the time I get to the trailnead I already feel tired and it's downhill from there.

If I balance my carbs with some protein (nuts, meat, cheese...) and drink some dark berry fruitdrink or add some berries to my breakfast, I do much better and enjoy the ride much more. When I hit the hills, they don't hit me back as hard. I also try to eat something more than gel on longer rides. Yesterday I rode for about 3 hours with hills and headwinds; I really should have had some Hammergel about a half hr in but forgot, and got that low blood sugar feeling that means I'm gonna crash soon. I hit the minimart for some OJ. Had a few Lunamoons, a banana and some water too and rested a few minutes. What a difference. I continued to alternate the gel/energy drink every half hour and kept up the water intake (it was hot, mid 80s to mid 90s as I gained elevation) and managed to get back to the car feeling really good.

[Crankin]

All of those things combined conspired to make you feel badly, but the air quality alert should not be taken lightly, especially combined with the high pollen count. We had several days of this around here, and I rode, despite the fact that I know it will make me feel sick and can start an asthma incident. Even if you don't have asthma, it's just not good for you to be exerting yourself when the ozone is high.
Hopefully, a storm will come and blow that stuff out of there!

[kjay]

Now I know what it means to "bonk," too. I was at the 15-mile point on a very hot day and I couldn't believe that I could barely pedal when going DOWNHILL! I shifted into granny gear to go downhill and still had a hard time. It's amazing how the body tells us what's going on. Anyway, it helped to know what it feels like to bonk. :-)

[Tuckervill]

Sure you didn't have a brake rubbing?

It's not a failure--for sure. It just is. I'm going with the dehydration theory. The best part is you get to ride again!

Karen