The only reason he didn’t lose the Tour de France that day is because he had an iron will and an inhuman capacity to suffer. Lance Armstrong, who probably knows as much about cycling as anyone on the planet, got wrapped up in the race on a stage in the 2000 Tour de France, forgot to eat, and bonked on the climb up the Col de Joux Plane in the French Alps. Anyone can bonk if they don’t eat properly on the bike. You bonk when you have exhausted your glycogen stores, haven’t ingested enough carbs to produce more blood glucose, and are still riding the bike. “Bonking” is what cyclists call hypoglycemia which is the medical term for abnormally low levels of blood glucose.

Reading about the bonk so you know what it is and how to avoid it is good. At least you don’t want to know on the basis of firsthand experience. What’s this bonk everyone keeps talking about? Believe me, you don’t want to know. You keep hearing you’ll bonk if you don’t get the carbs you need. But you keep hearing about this “bonk” thing.

You know about what to eat and when to eat it to get the carbs you need while you’re on the bike. you know that muscles burn glucose for fuel, your body stores enough glucose in the form of glycogen to fuel about 90 minutes of moderate exercise, and you need to ingest carbohydrates to provide more glucose for longer or more strenuous rides. For information about Nutrition for Cyclists and how it relates to what I’ve posted to Tuned In To Cycling, please check out this post.

The information in this post has been moderately revised and combined with information about cramping, dehydration, and electrolyte loss in Nutrition for Cyclists: Eating and Drinking Before, During and After the Ridewhich can be purchased on.

Stiff bonk