Not to Bonk

When I used to ride my bicycle seriously, I used to do some charity rides. I participated in 3 MS 150s (all different years) where you ride 75 miles on Saturday and 75 on Sunday. You stay overnight at college in a dorm and return to where you started on Sunday. They always have stops every 10-20 miles or so with plenty of snacks to keep you going. I never came close to bonking on any of those rides. Bonking is when you ride hard enough or long enough to the point where you just cannot go another pedal stroke. You collapse and it takes quite a while for your body to recover enough to continue. The only time I came close to bonking was one time when I took a ride on the Fourth of July. It was an organized ride with rest stops and snacks. Only I missed one stop. I was out by myself and I did not see the sign to go into the rest stop to get fuel. It was over 90 degrees that day and I was running out of water. Fortunately I had a power bar in my bike pack in back of my seat that I kept for emergencies. I stopped, ate that, and felt much better. I was able to make it to the next rest stop ok and was able to finish. I rode about 85 miles that day. It was supposed to be 75, but I took a wrong turn near the end and had to backtrack. Some organized rides are better than others. I could feel that I was close to bonking though.

Anyhow... I think it's important to keep your metabolism on an even keel, not to even almost bonk. Since it's cold I find I don't want to drink as much water. But I think this is bad. I think you still need water and snacks even when it's cold. I also find I want to sleep more in the winter when it's cold. It sure was difficult to get up this morning, even though I had had 8 hours of sleep. Good for me, I went to the Y to ride the bike even when it was 8 degrees, cold and dark. Tomorrow is my day off and weigh in day. Oh joy! We'll see if my efforts helped.

Sue