What Does "Bonking" Mean in Cycling? Understanding Causes and Prevention

What Does Bonking Mean in Cycling?

In cycling lingo, "bonking" refers to suddenly feeling extreme fatigue and loss of energy while riding a bike. It may also be described as "hitting the wall."

This cycling bonk phenomenon tends to happen after 2+ hours of continuous riding without properly fueling along the way. Your body runs out of its limited glycogen fuel stores needed for peak muscle performance.

Common Signs You May Be Bonking on a Ride

Watch for these indicators that your cycling pace is unsustainable without quick fueling intervention:

• Intense, sudden wave of whole-body weariness
• Muscle weakness, like legs feeling heavy as lead
• Mental fog or confusion
• Lightheaded sensation
• Nausea
• Difficulty controlling bicycle handling

If not addressed promptly by eating or drinking fast carbs, a cycling bonk quickly spirals causing you to slow down dramatically or be unable to pedal further at all.

Causes of Hitting the Wall Bonking on a Bike

Running out of your limited blood sugar and stored muscle glycogen due to:

• Not consuming enough carbohydrates during prolonged exercise.
• Failing to properly hydrate with electrolyte drinks.
• Riding at too high intensity without pacing for duration.
• Dramatically increasing ride distance or intensity after training layoffs.

How to Recover Once You've Already Bonked

If you recognize bonking warning signs happening to you or another cyclist mid-ride, take prompt action to bounce back:

1. Stop riding temporarily if needed for safety.
2. Quickly consume an easily digestible 30-60g of carbs like sports gels, gummies, fig bars.
3. Drink electrolyte hydration fluids.
4. Rest 5+ minutes before cautiously resuming easier pace.

You'll be amazed how quickly energy returns after fast carbs give your body and muscles the glycogen needed to recover!

How to Fuel Properly to Avoid Bonking

Use smart cycling nutrition fueling strategies so bonking doesnt sabotage your rides:

Carb Load in Days Before Event

Eat more pasta, breads, potatoes, rice and other high carb foods 2-3 days prior to give your body the glycogen stores needed to avoid bonks.

Have a Carb-Rich Meal 2-3 Hours Pre-Ride

Consuming easily digestible carbs no more than a few hours before hitting the road ensures available blood sugar when you start pedaling.

Hydrate Continuously

Sip electrolyte sports drinks like Gatorade every 15 minutes during rides over 60 minutes long to replace glycogen loss.

Consume 30-90g Carbs Per Hour

For rides beyond 90 minutes, eat 30-60g high carb bike foods or gels every 45-60 minutes to maintain energy.

Pack Double the Food You Think Youll Need

Its easy to bonk if you underestimate how much fuel you'll burn through over long distances and eat too little while riding.

Best Cycling Snacks to Avoid Hitting the Wall Bonking

Here are top highly portable bike foods providing easy quick energy:

Energy Gels and Sports Gummies

Carb gels like Gu and Clif Shots offer concentrated 25-35g instant rocket fuel from maltodextrin sugars. Softer chewy Bloks and Sport Beans rate easy to swallow too.

Granola, Cereal or Fruit Bars

Carb-packed bars like Nutrigrains, Oatmeals or Fig Bars digest seamlessly while riding to thwart off bonking.

Fresh Bananas

Bananas contain 25g of carbs per medium fruit, including energy-boosting potassium and vitamin B6 too.

Dried Fruits and Trail Mixes

Raisins, apricots, mango and dates contain condensed natural carbs to power your pedaling pace.

Energy Chews and Gummies

Bursts Orange or Black Forest gummis have 30g dextrose sugars molded into bike-friendly shapes.

Peanut Butter and Nut Spreads

Squeezable pouches of all-natural peanut or almond butters pack protein too for multi-source energy.

Cookies, Crackers and Pretzels

Sweet or salty baked snack carbs easily digested to thwart off hitting dreaded wall bonking disaster mid-ride if fueled early enough!

How Much Carbohydrate Fueling Is Needed Per Hour?

As intensity and riding duration increases, your hourly carb fueling needs rise dramatically:

• Less than 60 minutes: 0-30g carbs typically needed
• 1-2 hours: 30-60g carbs per hour
• 2-3 hours: 60-90g carbs per hour
• 3+ hours: 90-120g+ carbs may be optimal for some riders to avoid bonks

Test different higher carb ingestion rates during your training rides to discover the optimal zone avoiding late race bonking while minimizing GI distress.

Calculating Your Personal Carbohydrate Needs

To estimate your unique carb fueling gram needs per hour for ultra distances, a common formula used is:

• Body weight in pounds x 0.20 = carb grams/hour
• Body weight in kg x 0.30 = carb grams/hour

So a 160 pound rider would aim for ~32g carbs per hour. While a 73kg rider targets ~22g carbs consumed each 60 minutes during rides over 2 hours.

This gives you an Individual baseline, which you can tweak up or down based on training bonking experiences and GI tolerance when eating on the bike at pace.

What to Drink for Cycling Hydration and Electrolytes

Drinking carbohydrate-electrolyte blends every 15 minutes sustains hydration while combating bonking by replenishing key minerals sweat drains:

Sports Drinks

Gatorade, Powerade and GU Brew contain 14g carbs plus sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium levels ideal for cyclists.

Skratch Labs

Exercise physiologist created mixes using real fruit juice for better absorption than artificial dye sports drinks.

Oral IV Hydration

Electrolyte solutions like DripDrop ORS adds vitamin C for immune defense and no sugars over fake flavorings.

Coconut Water

Natural isotonic electrolyte source tapped straight from coconut fruits - nature's sports drink!

Nuun Tablets

Fizzing electrolyte tabs give you choice toflavor your own water bottlewith sodium, potassium blends.

Should Cyclists Ever Train Low Glycogen to Benefit?

Some cyclists actually practice "train low" endurance rides early in the morning without eating carbs first so body adapts to efficiently conserve and burn fat stores once limited glycogen is used up after the first hour.

They then carbo load normally before competition days to allow full glycogen recovery. But deliberately triggering bonking fatigue repeatedly is intensely uncomfortable for most riders despite potential metabolic benefits.

Balance your unique preferences, body wisdom and seasonal training objectives to determine if strategically bonking during select workouts makes sense or risks overstress.

The Takeaway on Hitting the Wall Bonking

Bonking results from rapid glycogen depletion in muscles and blood when riding long durations without sufficient carbohydrate fueling.

Learn the warning signs of an impending energy crash. Consistently refuel using gels, bars and sports drinks during endurance rides. Carrying emergency snacks to quickly reverse a bonk can rescue your ride!

Most importantly, dont ignore early bonking omens hoping you'll push through. Address promptly and youll recover rapidly to finish rides feeling strong!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.