First century I completed started as only a 40 mile ride. Go close to home and thought I should just send it. Proceed to reach the farthest point, turn round, full headwind. Could barely hold 12mph and was bonking so hard I was cross eyed. I Found a little pizza stand with sodas. Bought 3 coca colas and a slice that maybe saved my life lol. Got home, ate half my cabinet, and then slept for 4 hours. Got up, ate dinner, slept to 10am the next day.
Great story (really about my older brother, you'll see). This is the early 1980's. My brother just bought a new bike and wanted to ride a long ride. It was Saturday, and I was playing soccer for my high school team and had a game that morning. Around noon, my brother wanted to do an "epic ride." My brother is a Type 1 diabetic. He's literally a genius (IQ off the charts with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering now) but has a problem with common sense. I tried to stop him to get organized but he was leaving "right now." I felt I had no choice but to ride with him because I didn't know if I'd ever see him again if he went solo. We start and my brother is hammering some high gear. I'm on my 40 pound Huffy ten speed and I'm just drafting behind him. It didn't dawn on us that we were going so fast BECAUSE WE HAD A STRONG TAILWIND! We made it around 30 miles and stopped to turn around. Note: we had no food, water or money since he had to go "right now." We turned around and we are barely making 12 miles and hour due to the HEADWIND. He's now drafting me and I'm totally cooked since I PLAYED A SOCCER MATCH THAT MORNING and riding a Huffy for this long is TOUGH. We made it about 10 miles and my brother was starting to act funny (diabetic, low blood sugar is some scary shit, especially on a bicycle). We stopped at a dive bar on the road home. We had to beg the bar owner to 1. let us in the bar since we were underage and 2. borrow a dime to call our Mom to come and get us and 3. give my brother a free coke so he wouldn't pass out. Mom was not happy when we called but I told her that we had no other option. She saved us as mothers always do.
I once did a 100mile skateboard ride that was not planned. I had done several 50mile trips, but on this particular trip I felt so good once I got to 50 I just pushed on. Mind you I built up to this, was going through a bad break up at the time and spent my nights skating around town, regularly covering marathon distances and bombing hills with a head lamp on. Skating a century was Literally one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, the last 10-15miles were pure agony with every push, out of food, out of water and dark outside. I couldn’t walk straight for a week, but it really unlocked some doors in my mind to what I was truly capable of. I’ve carried that mindset and the physical pain and mental tenacity of the day with me. Since then I’ve went on to do several more ultra distances a 75mile skate, and a 111mile ride on a beach cruiser. My last feat was a 150 mile ride on my gravel bike dedicated to my mother in law who was diagnosed with lung cancer. I’ll continue to push myself as I believe it builds strength and resiliency. I often think if I did that than surly I can do -fill in the blank-
Bonking story: Day 1 of 4 bike packing from the Columbia River at Beverly WA to the Puget Sound along the Palouse to Cascade trail. Constant 2-3% up for 12 miles in sand and gravel in 90 F and sun depleted all my water and food faster than I thought, it was meant to last the 40 miles of the whole day. Managed to make it out of there, just. Taught me to be careful about under-biking (had the wrong tires for sand and loose unpacked gravel) and to bring way more water and calories for long climbs in the wilderness.
BONKING! I've bonked plenty, but the experience I learned the most from was on the Thunder Mountain Trail near Bryce Canyon. Halfway through I bonked out of my noggin, super dizzy, felt so weak, there was no way I could press on. BUT! I had the foresight to pack a bit of food. A short breather, a ziplock full of craisins and almonds, a banana and some water, I was right as rain. Completely righted me from bonk limbo. The experience nailed home the fact that even a little bit of fuel will right the ship, and I'll never be caught dead without some fruit and nuts.
dude i have to stop the video to tell you. besides the , in my eyes absolutly correct advices, the quality of the video, the cuts , the flow. its awesome. i love it.
I remember it's yesterday, I went 5:20 am to make a 150km ride, with the last 50kms around 1,800meters elevation, in a fixed gear with 48x16 ratio clipped and brakeles... the rest you guys can imagine how hard I bonked
Bonk story: First MTB ride of the year, thought I was just gonna go do like 10 miles and head home. I think I skipped dinner the night before and had a very minimal breakfast, huge mistake. On the trails I ran into a friendly local who showed me some of the trail system. Feeling pretty tired and mostly out of water but having so much fun riding with them I kept going. They took me alllll the way to the bottom of the trails where they left to ride home, leaving me needing to ascend maybe 400' over 1.5 miles of a climbing trail to get back to my car at the staging area. I had already emptied my camelback, had no snacks, and was not feeling it. I physically could not ride any further and found myself walking the bike, or stumbling up the hill with the bike, looking around for any plant life that looked edible (there were none). I get 80% of the way up the hill when it gets close to the main road in, ditched the bike on the trail, and started the walk back to my car up the road knowing I wouldn't make it if I had to push the bike and I physically could not ride it. Got to the car and immediately drank whatever old drink was in my cupholder, had a snack or three, then found the bike and headed to the local cafe where I ate: Halibut avocado toast (could be an entree for a normal sized person), Octopus and fried potato dish, Cheeseburger and fries, along with like 2 cocktails and a beer. I was sad they didn't have desserts (covid). I have since always carried extra water and snacks regardless of how long I think i'm going to be out for.
My bonking story happened in your backyard. 2017 STP (Seattle to Portland for those of you not from the PNW, 206 miles) in one day. Crossed the Columbia and made my way up 30 trading turns with another solo rider. Had to climb the hill up to the St. Johns Bridge, then they routed us through a million stop lights that were all red. I could barely unclip at the lights, then it took all I had to get started again. The last 6-ish miles were pure hell.
Was riding with a friend the whole day and suddenly nothing worked anymore. Could barely turn the pedals and was totally slow even at thinking. Nearly paralyzed. My friend thankfully recognized and understood the situation and its urgency and even climbed a near garden fence to get me some apples from a tree there. The two apples were not ripe, tasted badly and had the size of golfballs, but within minutes I was feeling better and could go on. Since then I never ride without some emergency sugar. Thank you for bringing this up and telling people! It's an underestimated and often belittled danger of long rides. Even for well experienced and trained riders.
I'm at 10-12 miles a day on a normal day-- 20 to 30 miles a day on a heavier day. It really gets easier the more you do it. I am working a decently stressful job and volunteering with my free time, but if my job took up fewer hours or if volunteering dried up, I think I'd be interested in centurying then.
I recently did a ride on some backcountry AZ trails much to late (think May). I was on a rigid MTB, 2 bottles of Tailwind mixed a little thick, and 70oz of pure H20 on my back in a USWE - no filter, no planned water stops or even reasonable sources of water. I brought 1 gel and 1 granola bar, because tailwind has carried me through some rough stuff in the past, and nutrition box was strangely empty. I left straight from my house, got on the Maricopa Trail, and started to pedal. Once I got to "decision point", where I was going into known-unknown trails, those that I'd done partially on a group ride in the winter, I said a nice YOLO and set sail. As I got further away from civilization, the trail started to fade, and the cow tracks caused confusion. As the classic story goes, I ran out of water about 3/4 of the way back to civilization, on said faint trail with no water source. Previously wanting to complete the full trail, I was never so happy to come across the jeep road that would link me back to roads more familiar. Some hikers could apparently detect the strain on my face, because they offered me half a Nalgene and asked about my plan - which was a 10 mile rolling hill pedal back to the nearest town. The best bike shop in the world, Flat Tire Bike Shop in Cave Creek saved me with water and 2 crumbl cookies. I hung out for 20 minutes to let the nourishment hit, then pedaled the rest of the way back to my house. While Strava indicates this ride wasn't that crazy by the numbers, my guardian angles were looking out for me with those hikers and the food at the bike shop. I now make certain to always have some extra calories with me, and picked up a sawyer water filter to carry with me on these hairbrained idea rides. Yeeeeehawwww!
Love the rookie image. I used to smoke and had a yellow 70's schwinn with the bars flipped like some ram horns and mtb style brakes and old school friction shifting. The thing even had a vintage mechanical spedometer on it. Thats where I got good @ riding no hands. The bike was way too small for me, my knees almost hit the bars, often bumping my wrists.
I figured this out because a mtb trail head appeared 15 mins from my house after buying a $2,000 Mtb 8 years ago. I was upset that I wasn't able to ride all of the trails without dying. Then I found a 1980s 10 speed Schwinn in the trash. And the addiction grew, I found myself riding 15-30 miles everyday on a greenway trail 1 mile from my house. Now I lack the motivation to ride everyday. Mostly because I go super OCD and chase gains and burn myself out. But every time I get on my bicycle I remember why I love it so much. always love your videos man!
Bonked on a tour from SF to Seattle during an unexpected snow & rain storm. Was rescued by a very nice human near Bend who offered us a place to stay for a few nights to wait out the storm and cooked us a much needed meal. Thank you nice human!
First time I bonked I was riding by myself and only had a small bottle of water for a 30km ride, decided to go further down. When I noticed I was 70k away with no water I decides to turn back. On the way back there was this massive climb. I was basically seeing white and couldnt even think clearly. When I finally made it back, my jaw hurt like never before, and the next day my dentist told me I had clenched my jaw so hard I had misaligned my wisdom teeth and had to get the removed (mind you I was 25 and they had never bothered me before). Very fun.
My bonking story: I had just moved to PDX the month before my birthday, so I figured what better way to celebrate than to ride my first century. Up over the river to Washington, then along the river, and back across into Oregon went fine, but the second half was what got me. I’m from Kansas, what we call climbs are short little punchy hills, 63 miles into this ride, I experienced my first long continuous climb. Stopping every quarter mile or so I made it past the falls and Crown Point. Completely cracked and broken, I spun a 34/32 for another 200’ up before finally being able to coast a gentle slope down. I knew I was just about done, with the edges of my vision going blurry and dark, but I somehow managed to pull into a driveway with a little fruit stand where I was greeted very quickly by a woman selling the best plums I’ve ever had. She got me some fresh water and set up a chair in the shade. When I continued on home, at this point I wasn’t sure I was doing a century or just trying to not buy an Uber, I started cramping, only 16 miles from my door, so I pulled off the road at the first place I could. It just so happened to be a marina, where a very kind gentleman gave me a couple of bottles of his own water. Last hill I was cramping so hard I was stuck in a track stand for a second or two. Finally made it back home at mile 99.4, so I had to do some parking lot circles to roll it over at that point.
Man Dustin, you had me eager for every second of this video. From silly continuity errors, to inside baseball (or in this case, cycling.) to out of the box videography, entertaining in it's entirety . Thank you!
My second 94.7 ride here in Johannesburg South Africa. I met two younger guys. One was quite strong, the other not as consistent as he needs to be. Tewis and Joel were going strong until we hit 50kms.That's when Tewis bonked hard. Cramps, high temperatures and lack of morale were hitting him hard. I gave him some minerals and salts in a 500ml bottle around 55-60kms in. We made every water stop along the way. He was starting to recover. By 70kms in he was ahead of us. He finished strong as did we. Great times!
Just putting this out there - has anybody else ever experienced the ANTI-BONK? This is when you are adding lots of electrolytes to your water and maybe have had too much caffeine to compensate for a bad night's sleep, and the more of the sugar-salt water you drink the more you feel cruddy? It shares many of the same symptoms of bonking but in extreme versions this can lead to accelerated heart rate. It doesn't feel great either!
Hi mate. Consistency is the key word here. Used to work as bike messenger in the rowdy 90s in Berlin. Thats how you learn basics. Now on nearly 30 years later still kickin it. Btw while seeing your vid I'm on the indoor trainer 😂 Cheers from Australia 😊🤙
Don't let you budget stop you. As told in the video, perfection is nothing but an ilusion. I bought a 90s rebuilt aluminum road bike for 150€(bh top line alu x25), changed the original rock solid seat to a more comfortable one, put some trekking 28 tires, and now its an unstoppable machine. I can go fast on the road, and also can ride on gravel roads and even on some light trails. Just get a functioning bike, go outside, and let the bike take you to places you have never thought about
My first century was supposed to be a 130 miler, I made it 110 albeit very slowly because I was with bonking all afternoon in a headwind out on the coast near Monterey, CA. I had to stop before the campground finish because it was getting dark and the wifey had to leave camp to come rescue me. Still haunts me ten years on lol However, the worst bonk I every experienced was a trail running race in the alps in February. Snowing at -15° C and not properly clothed nor nourished...worst three hours of my life. 24km later, I couldn't eat, didn't want to talk and was basically just numb. We had a get together with friends that night and that was when my appetite came roaring back and I devoured ALL the food ! 😅 Great video as always, love you content. Thanks Dustin
In summer of 1992 we headed into our favourite wood and cleared a new single track path. It was great - swoopy, fast, couple of jumps. We rode it several times, until a few weeks later, on riding in, and taking a sharp bend into a grove of denser trees, we were confronted by bonking. It was my first experience of bonking, and it didn't impress me. Even less impressed were the two people engaged in their advanced mechanics. Not understanding how to fix our bonking issue, we rode a fast as possible through the middle of their picnic blanket, which I think upset their cheese and wine. Sadly we didn't revisit this bit of single track for quite a while, such was the impact of bonking....
20 mile mountain bike ride in Gatineau park. Add one 12 ounce water bottle, one orange and extreme humidity and heat equals extreme nausea and the shakes. Fortunately after one or two bites of the orange everything stabilized and was back in action. Oh I miss my 20s resilience. Loved the cell phone cut movie. So creative.
Bonked super hard on my first long ride of the season back when I was about 20 years old. Had plenty of water, but no snacks or food in general. I hadn't eaten anything since the day before and my whole body felt like it was going to collapse at several points. I managed to make it to a train station where I rode back most of the way home, but still had to bike another 3 or 4 miles before I was home. Barely made it home (luckily it was mostly even or down hill from the train station) and sprawled out on my living room floor with a giant bottle of ice water and about two bags of potato chips. I wasn't ready to get up for about 2 hours, but luckily had Kill Bill Vol. 1 on so that helped distract me. Since then, I always build myself back up gradually before taking on long rides and make sure I have plenty of calories to consume while out, especially after winter when I don't ride at all.
I love old road bikes They’re what i started on In HS in the early 00s When I got into cycling in a more serious fashion. Than just riding bmx or crappy dept store mtbs asa kid.
I was saying consistency. I'm a 6 day a weeker also. For over a decade. Love that you open about the herb, a doobie on rides is great. And digging the thick bamboo in your garden. Looks awesome.
My main bike is a 1989 nishiki altron that I had gotten for free. Was just the frame. I was able to spec it how I wanted it to be and got it repainted. It's pretty much the perfect bike for me. Comfortable, more aggressive handling. Have easily 15k miles on it. The other bike for more relaxed rides is a 1984 Miyata Team Issue that I have set as a fixed gear.
I was on an overnight ride from Mexican Hat to Indian Creek. I got stuck in snow drifts and mud up at 9k elevation. Carrying my bike through waste deep snow for 20 miles killed me. I’m not sure I bonked as I was eating plenty of food and snickers and even a few energy gels, but it still felt like mega exhaustion. By the time night hit, I was barely halfway past where I wanted to be (back down at a sensible elevation for March in Utah) and ended up sleeping in a latrine. Great story, favorite ride I’ve ever done.
I feel like people, especially in the US, get so caught up in consumerism. Personally I have been riding a bike my whole life... Not as sport, not as long-distance travel, but rather to go places. I have been biking up to around 25km on typical slow but comfortable dutch-bikes. 6 years ago I bought my first new bike in decades, I wanted something all-around as I only want to own one bike, so my decision landed on a hybrid bike for 300EUR and I added accessories for around 150EUR. It's honestly everything I need. It's quite fast (20-35km/h), and it handles dirt quite well. It's not as fast as a racing bike or as terrain friendly as a dirt bike. But hey it's a bike that does everything "well enough". I regularly ride 45km on it without issue, and have done long-distance biking and bike-packing on it. You don't need to spend a lot of money to enjoy biking. In the US it seems like "cycling" becomes kind of an identity to people. Here in Sweden it's just a mode of transportation like any other.
My first real bonk was in the Michigan UP riding a week long tour of the South shore. On the last day we went from Munsing to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The last half of that route is flat, slightly uphill. We had a headwind for all of it. Sufferfest. I remember having to get off my bike and literally curl up on the ground to cry for a spell before I could keep going. Ultimately, I made it. It's still my longest single ride at 112 miles. Unfortunately, it was not my last bonk though.
I’ll be fine! 50 miles later I can’t maintain 10 mph and wonder if I can get about 10 miles back. I’ve never felt like this. Barely got back to my truck, I had driven to the start point. After a long sit I try to drive back home but end up pulling off and puking in a mall parking lot with my extremities going numb. Took awhile to get over this one. We will call it a learning experience.
1987 fresh out of Navy Boot Camp and assigned to Norfolk VA, one weekend took the bus to downtown bought a brand new Green Cannondale sort of like (Bianchi color) and rode all the to way VA beach, once I stepped of the bike, I passed out, woke up in a car straight back to the base, I had no water no food during the ride, it look closer on the map than what it was, completely bonked out, luckily I had my ID and people figure it out!
I’ve never heard of this show. Which makes it that much more of a compliment. Thanks for the good words. And tipping me off to good eats. Sounds like something I would enjoy watching.
Your artistic talent is much appreciated Mr. D.K. Recon I can relate to the skate punk vibe. Love the attitude. Love to hear a complete tirade or 3 as well. Maybe a “defund me Monday” 😂
Rode a forest trail loop in Beddgelert Wales a little hungover. Got to near the end and raced ahead to beat my mates. Went past the end of the loop without realising and up the big climb at the start AGAIN. Bonked at the top, got cramp in both legs every time I tried to pedal. No water, no food, starting to get dark. I could just about walk so picked up the bike and walked off trail through the trees towards where I guessed the start of the trail was. Luckily I was right and I arrived at the bike hire place just before they called mountain rescue. Ate a Marathon bar (now snickers) and found a nice pub to rehydrate 👍🏻
First time I bonked was on a 150km group ride to a festival at around 130kms. We ate several times, but I had 30kg of camping gear on the bike, so I miscalculated. Luckily we found an convenience store. I remember the entrance, then it gets hazy until I found the monster energy and drained the first can before we even reached the cashiers. I could literally feel the windows start up sound as my brain came back online. A second can and a lot more sensible food ensured I was almost up to normal in like 20min. Lesson learned, these days I always have enough back up snacks to last a day more than necessary.
My commute is 1.6km all uphill so I get a quick workout every morning, and fly down every evening. Because my work is about as high as it gets in my city I can ride downhill in any direction to start a ride in the evening. I've been doing 30km average a day for about six months and it is paying off big time. Gained over 2kph average speed in the last year, and can get up most 10% grades or less in zone 2 no problem, anything above that up to like 30 I can stay in z3. This is a person who still smokes weed regularly. I struggle up stairs but can do 100km leaving the house at midday with ease.
We were 16, out for 100km ride with 3 other guys from my club. One guy did not eat breakfast & bonked hard. We didn't have enough food & 60 km from the city. One took off his front wheel and held up to replace his thumb to hitch hike. The other 2 and myself laid in the ditch. A big station wagon stopped and we had to take off all wheels to fit. 2 sat in the front seat with this sketchy driver playing odd Bible scriptures. We all sat with our bike pumps in hand as our weapon if needed. The stopped to deliver something at a weird frame. We just looked at each gripping our bike pumps until the returned as listened to his gospel about the devil. He dropped us off at the first gas station near the city of Edmonton, Alberta. I begged the gas station to give my friend a bag chips as we had no money, we were 16 years old. I called my friends mom who has a truck & she came, paid the gas station for the chips. A memory of first time seeing someone bonk and I have never forgotten.
You advertised me bonking so well that I might be in need of one 😇But I always take safety precautions and do not ride too far from chimney. Safe travels!
I now eat a banana & 2x 25gm bags of ready salted Hula Hoops before a ride and I always carry Dextrosol Energy tablets on my rides. Drink some water, chew a tab and drink some more. I try to eat one before I think I need one. On longer warmer rides I’ll use them more frequently. I’d bonked loads on my MTB when I was younger and felt knackered (and not known what bonking was). Now when I get home I’ll drink about another litre of water (32 oz) and have a Marathon bar (Snickers seems a dumb name here in the UK). Also, on a nice summers day in North Wales in the 90s I was belaying for others climbing up Tryfan and one of my mates spotted I was getting early onset hypothermia as I couldn’t add and subtract simple numbers and made me a hot cup of tea with 7 sugars in it, 10 minutes later I became a functioning human again.
My first century as well. 17 years old 1988. So biggest gear was 23 52=42. Was planning on the 60 and went wrong turn following riders. Mile 80 i was seeing visions.
also, the body can do so much more than we think - I was coming back from injury, "couldn't" ride more than 50, 60K - was between events in EU on my way from Switzerland to France - stopped in Italy on Lago Maggiore for 2 nights, and new I could ride about 65K along the lake (should be flat right?) across the border into Switzerland (it's a thing, as where i come from, country borders are just too far), and then take the ferry back to where I started - so, 65k - totally doable. I stopped enroute after about 50K and had a beer and a pizza (I think this actually saved me) and kept going - super excited to cross the border and then stopped for a Coke (only time I drink full fat Coke is on rides). After that leisurely ice cold drink (it was a flipping hot and humid day) I walked to the Ferry Master and asked what time was the next ferry was, and he laughed and said, due to Covid, they weren't crossing borders. Ooops, bad planning. to add injury to insult, no trains nor busses either. Shite! So, I started riding back. Made it to the town where I had the pizza - and started to look for the train station, at which time my batter on my mobile phone died. Eventually found the station only to realise the next train to where i needed to be was another 2 hour wait. So - I pretty much had no choice, other than a very expensive taxi ride - and I rode back. I finished almost in the dark, 140Km later and an ave speed close to 28Kph. I couldn't believe it. I downed 3 beers, had a long shower and slept really well that night.
"never not have enough food" is real. Saturday I was giving away food, Tuesday I had a mini bonk before I ate everything in my pockets. Right as I finished my last gel, a buddy asked me if I had something for him to eat. Since I didn't, I asked the rest of the group and someone gave him some blocs. Gotta eat! Eat to ride.
I find it impossible to ride after meal, i'll get fatigue and tired. Ate only one meal a day most of the week in the evening and I ride almost everyday 20miles commuting.
First serious bonk was in the southern Arizona backcountry on a 60 mile cross country ride through the mountains. Felt like I was dying around mile 25ish. Kept pushing and just dug the hole deeper until I hit rock bottom. I eventually pulled the plug, bailed back to Patagonia on a fire road, and ate a solid meal with some ice cream and soda. Far and away my scariest ride and, sad to say, I was a pretty experienced rider when I made this mistake...lessons learned
True Dat Dustin,60 miles for a smoke on a MTB, maybe a bit far for an urban child who would get lost when you passed the last traffic lights outside town 😅😢
Bonking: overestimated the distance and hilliness of a new loop I'd plotted out back in the days when you used a paper map. Somewhere between halfway and tho thirds through I hit the hilly section and bonked hard. I took a 20 minute break that allowed a little energy to return and limped back home. I had a glass of orange juice as soon as I walked in the door - I'll never forget how goddamn good that juice was.
BONKING! I tried bike orienteering once, without any brackfast. After 4 hours I was completely bonking and ate pretty much everything I can find in wild nature (rowan berries was soooo good, it's strange, but in the rest of time I sonsider it not eatable), sometimes I just lay because phisically could not move. I was 20 these days. Good times.
A common theme to these bonking stories. Anyway mine was doing a 60 mile solo ride around the Cape May peninsula. Started out as a "lets see if I can do 30-40" type of ride, brought only a single clif bar and like 40oz of water. I was doing well right up until about mile 50, with me completely bonked sitting on a park bench in Stone Harbor. I still had a whole bridge crossing to get back to Wildwood and had no food and barely any water left. I barely got there but eventually set a goal of reaching a specific pizza shop called "Sam's" knowing they'd have the ice tea and pizza to revive me. Took me like 3 days to recover fully from that one lol
First century I did was on my cheap 60 dolla fixie, overnight to beat the desert heat, with a backpack for water and snacks. Just as the sun was coming up my tire started losing pressure and a headwind picked up. The cheap wapmart pump I had wasn't inflating my tire enough. I pulled over to take a nap since I'd used all my caffeine and spent the last 30 miles out of the saddle standing up battling the wind with the extra rolling resistance from the low tire pressure. Kinda ruined the ride and kinda made the ride.
Bonking story: In Scotland, it used to be called “The Knock.” in the late 50s/early 60s my dad was a serious bike tourer. He and his pals were pedaling along a highland road, when one of them just slowed right down, stopped and toppled over sideways. Fortunately he landed in a snowbank. He’d got “The Knock.” Completely out of energy. They picked him up, fed him some chocolate, and after a wee while they rode on. Fortunately I’ve never been seriously bonked, but I always carry plenty of snacks and some emergency candy just in case. Oh, and plenty of water too. There are few things worse than running out of water in the middle of a long dry trail. But that’s another story. Cheers
1st time I tried a solo ride my original plan was to ride 38 miles, it was a perfect night ride so I kept going but only had one bottle of water, 1 fruit cup and by mile 64 I was toast. On the next ride, I took enough food and electrolytes and had no problem doing 102 miles. Long rides are just eating contests .
Just start and don't get too caught up in the "perfect" bike, to get started. I started on a 600 dollar 3x8, just a few years ago and I still ride that bike, even though I have a dozen others to choose from now. I mean, 3 dudes just did Unbound on beach cruisers from Wal Mart. Fancy bikes aren't necessary.
I was riding through AZ north of Scottsdale. Had been out for about 60 miles at that point and was 10 miles and 500 foot climb from home and bonked. No food only water in my camelback. I couldnt think straight and knew i was in danger. I pushed on knowing i had a chocolate easter bunny in the fridge at home. Every pedal stroke i remember saying out loud chocolate. When i got home i ran through the door for the fridge. The first thing i grabbed was milk and chugged away. I was eating the bunny like a crazed animal and chugging till both were gone. I flopped onto the floor and just waited for all that sugar to hit me. It truly was a very scary experience.
First time bonking was at mile 90ish if my first ever century. Managed to crawl at like 10mph until the next convenience store, where I housed a bag if gummy bears and a Coke. Chilled on the ground for 15 minutes or so and the second wind came like magic
Oh man ! I’ve learned the food and water lesson the hard way. Going on a 80km ride in Madrid with over 38 Celsius with just a bottle of water leads you to dehydration… stayed over the weekend at the hospital as my kidneys were failing me 😂. Never again
My worst bonk was back when I was only riding fixed gear and I took a longer than usual ride.My rides were usually short enough to only require a bottle of water so I was foolishly thinking, "why not crank up those numbers"🤦🏿♂. Everything was going well until the ride back, I was about 6 miles from home when seemingly out of nowhere I had no energy and I was forced to pull to the side of the bike trail and slump over my top tube. I stayed like that for probably 5 mins (but felt like 30 lol) then realizing I probably needed nutrients I force myself into limp mode and make it to the golden arcs for some much needed sustenance. It's pretty wild to think back on, I felt like that was it and then after a burger I was revived! Makes you realize how delicate we really are. Rubbersidedown and I hope y'all never !
I bonked on my first OMTM Timber Logjam ride. A new friend gave me a Snickers. I remember he told me that he was OK with sharing his food bc being a dad made him want to look after others. I stopped at the post office in Timber and hitched a ride back to the car with some dude who told me even though he wasn't drunk at the time, he regularly drove to work at the diner drunk and had a few DUIs. He assured me that he was just high, though. It was an interesting day! I committed to consistency after that. It worked!
GCN says Recovery is the key, so I've been setting in front of the computer recovering for the last three years & a plus is I've put on 30 lbs of fat to sustain my & fight of the 'Bonk'. I'm pretty sure 2 more yrs of recover & I'll be ready for the TDF ; -) #RecoveryMonster
AWESOME - NEXT LEVEL video and of course great tips! August 5th, I'll celebrate 60 years on the bike. Got my first bike at 5 yrs old. When I was in the Navy, I had my bike onboard ship. 2022, set a world record for fastest time to 10,000 miles (East coast (NY/NJ) weather conditions!) And if I may quote the Cannibal; "Ride as much or as little, or as long or short as you feel. But ride." #Molteni
After finishing Iceman last year, I crossed the finish line all happy, I stopped. Then I started to shake, had no idea where I was, why so many people where there and I thought I just blinked but I guess I blacked out because like 15min passed and a friend was in my face asking if I was OK.
Bonking sucks. My last bonk was on a 200km ride on a fairly hot day. I ate and drank ok for the first 75% of the ride but as I got closer and closer to home I just kinda stopped thinking of fueling and thinking of what I'm going to eat for dinner AFTER I got home. Big mistake. About 15km from home I was done, collapsed off the side of a cycling/walking path and just laid in the grass for 15 minutes. I was in town and not far from stores etc I could have got food at but I was so far gone I couldn't even move. Eventually I squeezed the last drop of water from my bottle and made it home. Ordered 3 pizzas, they disappeared very fast.
Only time I bonked was when working as a photo assistant. Outdoor shoot in early summer, hot and humid. On the road with the boss by 6am and ate exactly one oat bar, missing the eggs I would have preferred. The shoot was fine, not strenuous, but then came the 11:30am gear pack-up which meant multiple trips into the covered pickup bed, which I assumed was surely 1000 degrees. A neopolitan pizza cooks at like 900, doesn't it? Got it mostly done, and when it hit me I stopped sweating and could no longer see or stand well. Told the boss, "Checking out, I'm done, sorry ..." and crawled into the back seat to address my shame and any remaining potential for processing air intake. Only thing that brought me back were some grapes on the ride home while being _thisclose_ to total blackout. The irony is that I'd heard of bonking many years before, back when I used to ride regularly, pre-Internet.
Bonked at 16, hit a wall, broke bones. Crawled to a door, taken to hospital, first thing the docs did was feed me and give me water. The bones could wait. Second bonk, 50 years later, ambulance gave me food and water. Don't bonk. Ambulances and doctors have more important things to do than feed you.
My worst bonk was on the Chicago lakefront path as a newbie to triathlon. I went about 25 miles one direction, ran out of food, forgot my phone and wallet on the counter, and didn’t realize I had a headwind the whole way back. I actually had to walk my bike the last ten miles because it was faster than the speed I could pedal. As painful as it was it was such a great life lesson to never make that mistake again.
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First century I completed started as only a 40 mile ride. Go close to home and thought I should just send it. Proceed to reach the farthest point, turn round, full headwind. Could barely hold 12mph and was bonking so hard I was cross eyed. I Found a little pizza stand with sodas. Bought 3 coca colas and a slice that maybe saved my life lol. Got home, ate half my cabinet, and then slept for 4 hours. Got up, ate dinner, slept to 10am the next day.
HOLY MOLY!
Fuck yeah!
Quality bonk story. Love it!
I’m 65 years old , I did 35 century plus rides last year on a 1985 Schwinn tempo…Figs,dates and pistachios get me down the road..
Coca Cola saved me as well the first time I bonked.
The production value of these videos is INSANE!!! Keep it up!
You just validated my 80 hr work week..LOL
Best in the biz 💯
Another brilliant video of EBD, true!
Great story (really about my older brother, you'll see).
This is the early 1980's. My brother just bought a new bike and wanted to ride a long ride. It was Saturday, and I was playing soccer for my high school team and had a game that morning. Around noon, my brother wanted to do an "epic ride." My brother is a Type 1 diabetic. He's literally a genius (IQ off the charts with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering now) but has a problem with common sense. I tried to stop him to get organized but he was leaving "right now." I felt I had no choice but to ride with him because I didn't know if I'd ever see him again if he went solo. We start and my brother is hammering some high gear. I'm on my 40 pound Huffy ten speed and I'm just drafting behind him. It didn't dawn on us that we were going so fast BECAUSE WE HAD A STRONG TAILWIND! We made it around 30 miles and stopped to turn around.
Note: we had no food, water or money since he had to go "right now."
We turned around and we are barely making 12 miles and hour due to the HEADWIND. He's now drafting me and I'm totally cooked since I PLAYED A SOCCER MATCH THAT MORNING and riding a Huffy for this long is TOUGH. We made it about 10 miles and my brother was starting to act funny (diabetic, low blood sugar is some scary shit, especially on a bicycle). We stopped at a dive bar on the road home. We had to beg the bar owner to 1. let us in the bar since we were underage and 2. borrow a dime to call our Mom to come and get us and 3. give my brother a free coke so he wouldn't pass out.
Mom was not happy when we called but I told her that we had no other option. She saved us as mothers always do.
A True Tail of Legend!
Pro tip: Put the left shoe on the left foot...
GREAT EYE!!!!!
lol beat me to it
I was wondering who saw that?
Came here to say that.
ADHD what?!?
It’s funny how many of us saw that 😂
I once did a 100mile skateboard ride that was not planned. I had done several 50mile trips, but on this particular trip I felt so good once I got to 50 I just pushed on. Mind you I built up to this, was going through a bad break up at the time and spent my nights skating around town, regularly covering marathon distances and bombing hills with a head lamp on. Skating a century was Literally one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, the last 10-15miles were pure agony with every push, out of food, out of water and dark outside. I couldn’t walk straight for a week, but it really unlocked some doors in my mind to what I was truly capable of. I’ve carried that mindset and the physical pain and mental tenacity of the day with me. Since then I’ve went on to do several more ultra distances a 75mile skate, and a 111mile ride on a beach cruiser. My last feat was a 150 mile ride on my gravel bike dedicated to my mother in law who was diagnosed with lung cancer. I’ll continue to push myself as I believe it builds strength and resiliency. I often think if I did that than surly I can do -fill in the blank-
dang thats an awesome story and an impressive feat. What type of wheels were you using for the 100 mile ride?
@@jacobtokarz2889 wheels were Orangatang Kegels, and the board was a loaded poke
@@brianagee4620 ANYONE who skates 100 miles has my utmost respect.
You did what!?!? 😮
Bonking story: Day 1 of 4 bike packing from the Columbia River at Beverly WA to the Puget Sound along the Palouse to Cascade trail. Constant 2-3% up for 12 miles in sand and gravel in 90 F and sun depleted all my water and food faster than I thought, it was meant to last the 40 miles of the whole day. Managed to make it out of there, just. Taught me to be careful about under-biking (had the wrong tires for sand and loose unpacked gravel) and to bring way more water and calories for long climbs in the wilderness.
BONKING! I've bonked plenty, but the experience I learned the most from was on the Thunder Mountain Trail near Bryce Canyon. Halfway through I bonked out of my noggin, super dizzy, felt so weak, there was no way I could press on. BUT! I had the foresight to pack a bit of food. A short breather, a ziplock full of craisins and almonds, a banana and some water, I was right as rain. Completely righted me from bonk limbo. The experience nailed home the fact that even a little bit of fuel will right the ship, and I'll never be caught dead without some fruit and nuts.
dude i have to stop the video to tell you. besides the , in my eyes absolutly correct advices, the quality of the video, the cuts , the flow. its awesome. i love it.
Wow, thanks!
I remember it's yesterday, I went 5:20 am to make a 150km ride, with the last 50kms around 1,800meters elevation, in a fixed gear with 48x16 ratio clipped and brakeles... the rest you guys can imagine how hard I bonked
Bonk story:
First MTB ride of the year, thought I was just gonna go do like 10 miles and head home. I think I skipped dinner the night before and had a very minimal breakfast, huge mistake. On the trails I ran into a friendly local who showed me some of the trail system. Feeling pretty tired and mostly out of water but having so much fun riding with them I kept going. They took me alllll the way to the bottom of the trails where they left to ride home, leaving me needing to ascend maybe 400' over 1.5 miles of a climbing trail to get back to my car at the staging area. I had already emptied my camelback, had no snacks, and was not feeling it. I physically could not ride any further and found myself walking the bike, or stumbling up the hill with the bike, looking around for any plant life that looked edible (there were none). I get 80% of the way up the hill when it gets close to the main road in, ditched the bike on the trail, and started the walk back to my car up the road knowing I wouldn't make it if I had to push the bike and I physically could not ride it. Got to the car and immediately drank whatever old drink was in my cupholder, had a snack or three, then found the bike and headed to the local cafe where I ate: Halibut avocado toast (could be an entree for a normal sized person), Octopus and fried potato dish, Cheeseburger and fries, along with like 2 cocktails and a beer. I was sad they didn't have desserts (covid). I have since always carried extra water and snacks regardless of how long I think i'm going to be out for.
My bonking story happened in your backyard. 2017 STP (Seattle to Portland for those of you not from the PNW, 206 miles) in one day. Crossed the Columbia and made my way up 30 trading turns with another solo rider. Had to climb the hill up to the St. Johns Bridge, then they routed us through a million stop lights that were all red. I could barely unclip at the lights, then it took all I had to get started again. The last 6-ish miles were pure hell.
Oh man I feel like I’m gonna have flash backs of your struggle when I ride over the St John’s Bridge now.
Was riding with a friend the whole day and suddenly nothing worked anymore. Could barely turn the pedals and was totally slow even at thinking. Nearly paralyzed. My friend thankfully recognized and understood the situation and its urgency and even climbed a near garden fence to get me some apples from a tree there. The two apples were not ripe, tasted badly and had the size of golfballs, but within minutes I was feeling better and could go on. Since then I never ride without some emergency sugar.
Thank you for bringing this up and telling people! It's an underestimated and often belittled danger of long rides. Even for well experienced and trained riders.
I'm at 10-12 miles a day on a normal day-- 20 to 30 miles a day on a heavier day. It really gets easier the more you do it. I am working a decently stressful job and volunteering with my free time, but if my job took up fewer hours or if volunteering dried up, I think I'd be interested in centurying then.
Great work with the video production. Can tell a lot if work went into this video.
I recently did a ride on some backcountry AZ trails much to late (think May). I was on a rigid MTB, 2 bottles of Tailwind mixed a little thick, and 70oz of pure H20 on my back in a USWE - no filter, no planned water stops or even reasonable sources of water. I brought 1 gel and 1 granola bar, because tailwind has carried me through some rough stuff in the past, and nutrition box was strangely empty.
I left straight from my house, got on the Maricopa Trail, and started to pedal. Once I got to "decision point", where I was going into known-unknown trails, those that I'd done partially on a group ride in the winter, I said a nice YOLO and set sail. As I got further away from civilization, the trail started to fade, and the cow tracks caused confusion. As the classic story goes, I ran out of water about 3/4 of the way back to civilization, on said faint trail with no water source. Previously wanting to complete the full trail, I was never so happy to come across the jeep road that would link me back to roads more familiar. Some hikers could apparently detect the strain on my face, because they offered me half a Nalgene and asked about my plan - which was a 10 mile rolling hill pedal back to the nearest town. The best bike shop in the world, Flat Tire Bike Shop in Cave Creek saved me with water and 2 crumbl cookies. I hung out for 20 minutes to let the nourishment hit, then pedaled the rest of the way back to my house.
While Strava indicates this ride wasn't that crazy by the numbers, my guardian angles were looking out for me with those hikers and the food at the bike shop. I now make certain to always have some extra calories with me, and picked up a sawyer water filter to carry with me on these hairbrained idea rides. Yeeeeehawwww!
Im glad you made it out to tell the tale!!
Love the rookie image. I used to smoke and had a yellow 70's schwinn with the bars flipped like some ram horns and mtb style brakes and old school friction shifting. The thing even had a vintage mechanical spedometer on it.
Thats where I got good @ riding no hands. The bike was way too small for me, my knees almost hit the bars, often bumping my wrists.
I figured this out because a mtb trail head appeared 15 mins from my house after buying a $2,000 Mtb 8 years ago. I was upset that I wasn't able to ride all of the trails without dying. Then I found a 1980s 10 speed Schwinn in the trash. And the addiction grew, I found myself riding 15-30 miles everyday on a greenway trail 1 mile from my house. Now I lack the motivation to ride everyday. Mostly because I go super OCD and chase gains and burn myself out. But every time I get on my bicycle I remember why I love it so much. always love your videos man!
Bonked on a tour from SF to Seattle during an unexpected snow & rain storm. Was rescued by a very nice human near Bend who offered us a place to stay for a few nights to wait out the storm and cooked us a much needed meal. Thank you nice human!
First time I bonked I was riding by myself and only had a small bottle of water for a 30km ride, decided to go further down. When I noticed I was 70k away with no water I decides to turn back. On the way back there was this massive climb. I was basically seeing white and couldnt even think clearly. When I finally made it back, my jaw hurt like never before, and the next day my dentist told me I had clenched my jaw so hard I had misaligned my wisdom teeth and had to get the removed (mind you I was 25 and they had never bothered me before).
Very fun.
My bonking story: I had just moved to PDX the month before my birthday, so I figured what better way to celebrate than to ride my first century. Up over the river to Washington, then along the river, and back across into Oregon went fine, but the second half was what got me. I’m from Kansas, what we call climbs are short little punchy hills, 63 miles into this ride, I experienced my first long continuous climb. Stopping every quarter mile or so I made it past the falls and Crown Point. Completely cracked and broken, I spun a 34/32 for another 200’ up before finally being able to coast a gentle slope down. I knew I was just about done, with the edges of my vision going blurry and dark, but I somehow managed to pull into a driveway with a little fruit stand where I was greeted very quickly by a woman selling the best plums I’ve ever had. She got me some fresh water and set up a chair in the shade. When I continued on home, at this point I wasn’t sure I was doing a century or just trying to not buy an Uber, I started cramping, only 16 miles from my door, so I pulled off the road at the first place I could. It just so happened to be a marina, where a very kind gentleman gave me a couple of bottles of his own water. Last hill I was cramping so hard I was stuck in a track stand for a second or two. Finally made it back home at mile 99.4, so I had to do some parking lot circles to roll it over at that point.
Man Dustin, you had me eager for every second of this video. From silly continuity errors, to inside baseball (or in this case, cycling.) to out of the box videography, entertaining in it's entirety . Thank you!
This truly makes my day.
Thank you for noticing all those details!
04:38 confident slipping in the wrongsided shoe is why I love this man so much
My second 94.7 ride here in Johannesburg South Africa. I met two younger guys. One was quite strong, the other not as consistent as he needs to be. Tewis and Joel were going strong until we hit 50kms.That's when Tewis bonked hard. Cramps, high temperatures and lack of morale were hitting him hard.
I gave him some minerals and salts in a 500ml bottle around 55-60kms in. We made every water stop along the way. He was starting to recover. By 70kms in he was ahead of us. He finished strong as did we. Great times!
You are legend! Your community is lucky to have you(and so are we!)
Just putting this out there - has anybody else ever experienced the ANTI-BONK? This is when you are adding lots of electrolytes to your water and maybe have had too much caffeine to compensate for a bad night's sleep, and the more of the sugar-salt water you drink the more you feel cruddy? It shares many of the same symptoms of bonking but in extreme versions this can lead to accelerated heart rate. It doesn't feel great either!
Hi mate. Consistency is the key word here. Used to work as bike messenger in the rowdy 90s in Berlin. Thats how you learn basics. Now on nearly 30 years later still kickin it. Btw while seeing your vid I'm on the indoor trainer 😂 Cheers from Australia 😊🤙
Don't let you budget stop you. As told in the video, perfection is nothing but an ilusion. I bought a 90s rebuilt aluminum road bike for 150€(bh top line alu x25), changed the original rock solid seat to a more comfortable one, put some trekking 28 tires, and now its an unstoppable machine. I can go fast on the road, and also can ride on gravel roads and even on some light trails. Just get a functioning bike, go outside, and let the bike take you to places you have never thought about
My first century was supposed to be a 130 miler, I made it 110 albeit very slowly because I was with bonking all afternoon in a headwind out on the coast near Monterey, CA. I had to stop before the campground finish because it was getting dark and the wifey had to leave camp to come rescue me. Still haunts me ten years on lol
However, the worst bonk I every experienced was a trail running race in the alps in February. Snowing at -15° C and not properly clothed nor nourished...worst three hours of my life. 24km later, I couldn't eat, didn't want to talk and was basically just numb. We had a get together with friends that night and that was when my appetite came roaring back and I devoured ALL the food ! 😅
Great video as always, love you content. Thanks Dustin
All your videos have been leveled up each time lately. You’ve been my favorite channel for a long time now! (Also loved the Mr.Rogers shoe change!)
In summer of 1992 we headed into our favourite wood and cleared a new single track path. It was great - swoopy, fast, couple of jumps. We rode it several times, until a few weeks later, on riding in, and taking a sharp bend into a grove of denser trees, we were confronted by bonking. It was my first experience of bonking, and it didn't impress me. Even less impressed were the two people engaged in their advanced mechanics. Not understanding how to fix our bonking issue, we rode a fast as possible through the middle of their picnic blanket, which I think upset their cheese and wine. Sadly we didn't revisit this bit of single track for quite a while, such was the impact of bonking....
20 mile mountain bike ride in Gatineau park. Add one 12 ounce water bottle, one orange and extreme humidity and heat equals extreme nausea and the shakes. Fortunately after one or two bites of the orange everything stabilized and was back in action. Oh I miss my 20s resilience. Loved the cell phone cut movie. So creative.
Bonked super hard on my first long ride of the season back when I was about 20 years old. Had plenty of water, but no snacks or food in general. I hadn't eaten anything since the day before and my whole body felt like it was going to collapse at several points. I managed to make it to a train station where I rode back most of the way home, but still had to bike another 3 or 4 miles before I was home. Barely made it home (luckily it was mostly even or down hill from the train station) and sprawled out on my living room floor with a giant bottle of ice water and about two bags of potato chips. I wasn't ready to get up for about 2 hours, but luckily had Kill Bill Vol. 1 on so that helped distract me. Since then, I always build myself back up gradually before taking on long rides and make sure I have plenty of calories to consume while out, especially after winter when I don't ride at all.
I love old road bikes
They’re what i started on
In HS in the early 00s
When I got into cycling in a more serious fashion. Than just riding bmx or crappy dept store mtbs asa kid.
I was saying consistency. I'm a 6 day a weeker also. For over a decade. Love that you open about the herb, a doobie on rides is great. And digging the thick bamboo in your garden. Looks awesome.
My main bike is a 1989 nishiki altron that I had gotten for free. Was just the frame. I was able to spec it how I wanted it to be and got it repainted. It's pretty much the perfect bike for me. Comfortable, more aggressive handling. Have easily 15k miles on it. The other bike for more relaxed rides is a 1984 Miyata Team Issue that I have set as a fixed gear.
I was on an overnight ride from Mexican Hat to Indian Creek. I got stuck in snow drifts and mud up at 9k elevation. Carrying my bike through waste deep snow for 20 miles killed me. I’m not sure I bonked as I was eating plenty of food and snickers and even a few energy gels, but it still felt like mega exhaustion. By the time night hit, I was barely halfway past where I wanted to be (back down at a sensible elevation for March in Utah) and ended up sleeping in a latrine. Great story, favorite ride I’ve ever done.
I feel like people, especially in the US, get so caught up in consumerism. Personally I have been riding a bike my whole life... Not as sport, not as long-distance travel, but rather to go places. I have been biking up to around 25km on typical slow but comfortable dutch-bikes. 6 years ago I bought my first new bike in decades, I wanted something all-around as I only want to own one bike, so my decision landed on a hybrid bike for 300EUR and I added accessories for around 150EUR. It's honestly everything I need. It's quite fast (20-35km/h), and it handles dirt quite well. It's not as fast as a racing bike or as terrain friendly as a dirt bike. But hey it's a bike that does everything "well enough". I regularly ride 45km on it without issue, and have done long-distance biking and bike-packing on it. You don't need to spend a lot of money to enjoy biking. In the US it seems like "cycling" becomes kind of an identity to people. Here in Sweden it's just a mode of transportation like any other.
My first real bonk was in the Michigan UP riding a week long tour of the South shore. On the last day we went from Munsing to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The last half of that route is flat, slightly uphill. We had a headwind for all of it. Sufferfest. I remember having to get off my bike and literally curl up on the ground to cry for a spell before I could keep going. Ultimately, I made it. It's still my longest single ride at 112 miles. Unfortunately, it was not my last bonk though.
I’ll be fine! 50 miles later I can’t maintain 10 mph and wonder if I can get about 10 miles back. I’ve never felt like this. Barely got back to my truck, I had driven to the start point. After a long sit I try to drive back home but end up pulling off and puking in a mall parking lot with my extremities going numb. Took awhile to get over this one. We will call it a learning experience.
1987 fresh out of Navy Boot Camp and assigned to Norfolk VA, one weekend took the bus to downtown bought a brand new Green Cannondale sort of like (Bianchi color) and rode all the to way VA beach, once I stepped of the bike, I passed out, woke up in a car straight back to the base, I had no water no food during the ride, it look closer on the map than what it was, completely bonked out, luckily I had my ID and people figure it out!
That was an incredibly well crafted video! Lots of fun to watch!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was a top video, great production, great content! 10/10!
The best bonk stories are always punctuated by “didn’t see it coming!”
Im sensing some serious Good Eats influence. Alton Brown would be proud. Much love!
I’ve never heard of this show. Which makes it that much more of a compliment. Thanks for the good words. And tipping me off to good eats. Sounds like something I would enjoy watching.
Your artistic talent is much appreciated Mr. D.K.
Recon I can relate to the skate punk vibe. Love the attitude. Love to hear a complete tirade or 3 as well.
Maybe a “defund me Monday” 😂
Rode a forest trail loop in Beddgelert Wales a little hungover. Got to near the end and raced ahead to beat my mates. Went past the end of the loop without realising and up the big climb at the start AGAIN. Bonked at the top, got cramp in both legs every time I tried to pedal. No water, no food, starting to get dark. I could just about walk so picked up the bike and walked off trail through the trees towards where I guessed the start of the trail was. Luckily I was right and I arrived at the bike hire place just before they called mountain rescue. Ate a Marathon bar (now snickers) and found a nice pub to rehydrate 👍🏻
First time I bonked was on a 150km group ride to a festival at around 130kms. We ate several times, but I had 30kg of camping gear on the bike, so I miscalculated. Luckily we found an convenience store. I remember the entrance, then it gets hazy until I found the monster energy and drained the first can before we even reached the cashiers. I could literally feel the windows start up sound as my brain came back online. A second can and a lot more sensible food ensured I was almost up to normal in like 20min. Lesson learned, these days I always have enough back up snacks to last a day more than necessary.
My commute is 1.6km all uphill so I get a quick workout every morning, and fly down every evening. Because my work is about as high as it gets in my city I can ride downhill in any direction to start a ride in the evening. I've been doing 30km average a day for about six months and it is paying off big time. Gained over 2kph average speed in the last year, and can get up most 10% grades or less in zone 2 no problem, anything above that up to like 30 I can stay in z3. This is a person who still smokes weed regularly. I struggle up stairs but can do 100km leaving the house at midday with ease.
We were 16, out for 100km ride with 3 other guys from my club. One guy did not eat breakfast & bonked hard. We didn't have enough food & 60 km from the city. One took off his front wheel and held up to replace his thumb to hitch hike. The other 2 and myself laid in the ditch. A big station wagon stopped and we had to take off all wheels to fit. 2 sat in the front seat with this sketchy driver playing odd Bible scriptures. We all sat with our bike pumps in hand as our weapon if needed. The stopped to deliver something at a weird frame. We just looked at each gripping our bike pumps until the returned as listened to his gospel about the devil. He dropped us off at the first gas station near the city of Edmonton, Alberta. I begged the gas station to give my friend a bag chips as we had no money, we were 16 years old. I called my friends mom who has a truck & she came, paid the gas station for the chips. A memory of first time seeing someone bonk and I have never forgotten.
You advertised me bonking so well that I might be in need of one 😇But I always take safety precautions and do not ride too far from chimney. Safe travels!
I now eat a banana & 2x 25gm bags of ready salted Hula Hoops before a ride and I always carry Dextrosol Energy tablets on my rides. Drink some water, chew a tab and drink some more. I try to eat one before I think I need one. On longer warmer rides I’ll use them more frequently. I’d bonked loads on my MTB when I was younger and felt knackered (and not known what bonking was). Now when I get home I’ll drink about another litre of water (32 oz) and have a Marathon bar (Snickers seems a dumb name here in the UK).
Also, on a nice summers day in North Wales in the 90s I was belaying for others climbing up Tryfan and one of my mates spotted I was getting early onset hypothermia as I couldn’t add and subtract simple numbers and made me a hot cup of tea with 7 sugars in it, 10 minutes later I became a functioning human again.
The glasses are killer man! Keep the videos coming!
My first century as well. 17 years old 1988. So biggest gear was 23 52=42.
Was planning on the 60 and went wrong turn following riders. Mile 80 i was seeing visions.
also, the body can do so much more than we think - I was coming back from injury, "couldn't" ride more than 50, 60K - was between events in EU on my way from Switzerland to France - stopped in Italy on Lago Maggiore for 2 nights, and new I could ride about 65K along the lake (should be flat right?) across the border into Switzerland (it's a thing, as where i come from, country borders are just too far), and then take the ferry back to where I started - so, 65k - totally doable. I stopped enroute after about 50K and had a beer and a pizza (I think this actually saved me) and kept going - super excited to cross the border and then stopped for a Coke (only time I drink full fat Coke is on rides). After that leisurely ice cold drink (it was a flipping hot and humid day) I walked to the Ferry Master and asked what time was the next ferry was, and he laughed and said, due to Covid, they weren't crossing borders. Ooops, bad planning. to add injury to insult, no trains nor busses either. Shite! So, I started riding back. Made it to the town where I had the pizza - and started to look for the train station, at which time my batter on my mobile phone died. Eventually found the station only to realise the next train to where i needed to be was another 2 hour wait. So - I pretty much had no choice, other than a very expensive taxi ride - and I rode back. I finished almost in the dark, 140Km later and an ave speed close to 28Kph. I couldn't believe it. I downed 3 beers, had a long shower and slept really well that night.
"never not have enough food" is real. Saturday I was giving away food, Tuesday I had a mini bonk before I ate everything in my pockets. Right as I finished my last gel, a buddy asked me if I had something for him to eat. Since I didn't, I asked the rest of the group and someone gave him some blocs. Gotta eat! Eat to ride.
I find it impossible to ride after meal, i'll get fatigue and tired. Ate only one meal a day most of the week in the evening and I ride almost everyday 20miles commuting.
First serious bonk was in the southern Arizona backcountry on a 60 mile cross country ride through the mountains. Felt like I was dying around mile 25ish. Kept pushing and just dug the hole deeper until I hit rock bottom. I eventually pulled the plug, bailed back to Patagonia on a fire road, and ate a solid meal with some ice cream and soda. Far and away my scariest ride and, sad to say, I was a pretty experienced rider when I made this mistake...lessons learned
Almost like you were bonking while editing this. I love it!
Hmm, I also rode an 80s bike from Greece to Istanbul back in 1990.
BTW, a couple of guys rode this year's Unbound on beach cruisers from Walmart.
Your videos are very creative and informative. TY
I booked. picking up some puff ,!!
Stoner mistake,too embarrassing to say any more 😂
The EBD comment section doubles as a "Trust Tree"
True Dat Dustin,60 miles for a smoke on a MTB, maybe a bit far for an urban child who would get lost when you passed the last traffic lights outside town 😅😢
Using the word bonking to non cyclists is always fun. 😂
LMAO You are so right!
4:37 mark is left shoe on right foot. It cannot be unseen. Didn’t hear a thing after that.
Bonking: overestimated the distance and hilliness of a new loop I'd plotted out back in the days when you used a paper map. Somewhere between halfway and tho thirds through I hit the hilly section and bonked hard. I took a 20 minute break that allowed a little energy to return and limped back home. I had a glass of orange juice as soon as I walked in the door - I'll never forget how goddamn good that juice was.
Northern Ontario cycle 20 km to get to trail cycle 20km on trail fast ...bonk hard . Lay down feed clouds of black flies . Learning experience
BONKING!
I tried bike orienteering once, without any brackfast. After 4 hours I was completely bonking and ate pretty much everything I can find in wild nature (rowan berries was soooo good, it's strange, but in the rest of time I sonsider it not eatable), sometimes I just lay because phisically could not move.
I was 20 these days. Good times.
A common theme to these bonking stories. Anyway mine was doing a 60 mile solo ride around the Cape May peninsula. Started out as a "lets see if I can do 30-40" type of ride, brought only a single clif bar and like 40oz of water. I was doing well right up until about mile 50, with me completely bonked sitting on a park bench in Stone Harbor. I still had a whole bridge crossing to get back to Wildwood and had no food and barely any water left. I barely got there but eventually set a goal of reaching a specific pizza shop called "Sam's" knowing they'd have the ice tea and pizza to revive me. Took me like 3 days to recover fully from that one lol
Best vlog related to cycling
Hi, love that „work with what you got“ at 4:33 und you pick the wrong shoe 😂
First century I did was on my cheap 60 dolla fixie, overnight to beat the desert heat, with a backpack for water and snacks. Just as the sun was coming up my tire started losing pressure and a headwind picked up. The cheap wapmart pump I had wasn't inflating my tire enough. I pulled over to take a nap since I'd used all my caffeine and spent the last 30 miles out of the saddle standing up battling the wind with the extra rolling resistance from the low tire pressure. Kinda ruined the ride and kinda made the ride.
Honestly mate you did a quite a lot of work making your video.may allah bleess your hard work love it ❤❤❤
Much respect ✊
No bonking for me. I just over eat day before a long ride and morning of and don’t ride too hard; simple! 🚴🏻♂️
Bonking story: In Scotland, it used to be called “The Knock.”
in the late 50s/early 60s my dad was a serious bike tourer. He and his pals were pedaling along a highland road, when one of them just slowed right down, stopped and toppled over sideways. Fortunately he landed in a snowbank. He’d got “The Knock.” Completely out of energy.
They picked him up, fed him some chocolate, and after a wee while they rode on.
Fortunately I’ve never been seriously bonked, but I always carry plenty of snacks and some emergency candy just in case.
Oh, and plenty of water too. There are few things worse than running out of water in the middle of a long dry trail. But that’s another story.
Cheers
Very cool video 👍
Thank you!
Oh damn 😯 Great creativity and quality. Nice job
🤜❤️🤛
I'm only here because that thumbnail was FIRE!!!
PLAYER!! thank you!
Dude amazing video!!! Great tips and things to think about when riding.
1st time I tried a solo ride my original plan was to ride 38 miles, it was a perfect night ride so I kept going but only had one bottle of water, 1 fruit cup and by mile 64 I was toast. On the next ride, I took enough food and electrolytes and had no problem doing 102 miles. Long rides are just eating contests .
Just start and don't get too caught up in the "perfect" bike, to get started. I started on a 600 dollar 3x8, just a few years ago and I still ride that bike, even though I have a dozen others to choose from now.
I mean, 3 dudes just did Unbound on beach cruisers from Wal Mart. Fancy bikes aren't necessary.
0:29 Nice clothing changes ! missing a rush or just a "for the nerd things" ? hahaha as always, much appreciated !
Great video!
I was riding through AZ north of Scottsdale. Had been out for about 60 miles at that point and was 10 miles and 500 foot climb from home and bonked. No food only water in my camelback. I couldnt think straight and knew i was in danger. I pushed on knowing i had a chocolate easter bunny in the fridge at home. Every pedal stroke i remember saying out loud chocolate. When i got home i ran through the door for the fridge. The first thing i grabbed was milk and chugged away. I was eating the bunny like a crazed animal and chugging till both were gone.
I flopped onto the floor and just waited for all that sugar to hit me. It truly was a very scary experience.
Hyponatremia, been there
Me encantan tus videos, buen trabajo 👍
Days since last bonking: 0. Literaly wasnt prepared for a longer ride, meet few guys and jumped in with them, way back home was a disaster :D
First time bonking was at mile 90ish if my first ever century. Managed to crawl at like 10mph until the next convenience store, where I housed a bag if gummy bears and a Coke. Chilled on the ground for 15 minutes or so and the second wind came like magic
Good to know that bonking is so common. I usually underestimate how much food I need.
Oh man ! I’ve learned the food and water lesson the hard way. Going on a 80km ride in Madrid with over 38 Celsius with just a bottle of water leads you to dehydration… stayed over the weekend at the hospital as my kidneys were failing me 😂. Never again
My worst bonk was back when I was only riding fixed gear and I took a longer than usual ride.My rides were usually short enough to only require a bottle of water so I was foolishly thinking, "why not crank up those numbers"🤦🏿♂. Everything was going well until the ride back, I was about 6 miles from home when seemingly out of nowhere I had no energy and I was forced to pull to the side of the bike trail and slump over my top tube. I stayed like that for probably 5 mins (but felt like 30 lol) then realizing I probably needed nutrients I force myself into limp mode and make it to the golden arcs for some much needed sustenance. It's pretty wild to think back on, I felt like that was it and then after a burger I was revived! Makes you realize how delicate we really are. Rubbersidedown and I hope y'all never !
I bonked on my first OMTM Timber Logjam ride. A new friend gave me a Snickers. I remember he told me that he was OK with sharing his food bc being a dad made him want to look after others. I stopped at the post office in Timber and hitched a ride back to the car with some dude who told me even though he wasn't drunk at the time, he regularly drove to work at the diner drunk and had a few DUIs. He assured me that he was just high, though. It was an interesting day! I committed to consistency after that. It worked!
What are those glasses they are incredible!? Great video too, subbed
My bike commute, 6 to 7 minutes there, 10 on the way back daily. Does that count as consistency??
Great stuff. This could be said for a bunch of stuff!
Oh gaud, bonking.. love the work.
Side note for haircuts, I have the same damn haircut btw and I found texturing it with a feather brand texturizing razor fixes this exact problem.
GCN says Recovery is the key, so I've been setting in front of the computer recovering for the last three years & a plus is I've put on 30 lbs of fat to sustain my & fight of the 'Bonk'. I'm pretty sure 2 more yrs of recover & I'll be ready for the TDF ; -) #RecoveryMonster
Like the background music for consistency,Jump on it!
AWESOME - NEXT LEVEL video and of course great tips!
August 5th, I'll celebrate 60 years on the bike.
Got my first bike at 5 yrs old.
When I was in the Navy, I had my bike onboard ship.
2022, set a world record for fastest time to 10,000 miles (East coast (NY/NJ) weather conditions!)
And if I may quote the Cannibal; "Ride as much or as little, or as long or short as you feel. But ride."
#Molteni
After finishing Iceman last year, I crossed the finish line all happy, I stopped. Then I started to shake, had no idea where I was, why so many people where there and I thought I just blinked but I guess I blacked out because like 15min passed and a friend was in my face asking if I was OK.
Bonking sucks. My last bonk was on a 200km ride on a fairly hot day. I ate and drank ok for the first 75% of the ride but as I got closer and closer to home I just kinda stopped thinking of fueling and thinking of what I'm going to eat for dinner AFTER I got home. Big mistake. About 15km from home I was done, collapsed off the side of a cycling/walking path and just laid in the grass for 15 minutes. I was in town and not far from stores etc I could have got food at but I was so far gone I couldn't even move. Eventually I squeezed the last drop of water from my bottle and made it home. Ordered 3 pizzas, they disappeared very fast.
Only time I bonked was when working as a photo assistant. Outdoor shoot in early summer, hot and humid. On the road with the boss by 6am and ate exactly one oat bar, missing the eggs I would have preferred. The shoot was fine, not strenuous, but then came the 11:30am gear pack-up which meant multiple trips into the covered pickup bed, which I assumed was surely 1000 degrees. A neopolitan pizza cooks at like 900, doesn't it?
Got it mostly done, and when it hit me I stopped sweating and could no longer see or stand well. Told the boss, "Checking out, I'm done, sorry ..." and crawled into the back seat to address my shame and any remaining potential for processing air intake. Only thing that brought me back were some grapes on the ride home while being _thisclose_ to total blackout.
The irony is that I'd heard of bonking many years before, back when I used to ride regularly, pre-Internet.
Bonked at 16, hit a wall, broke bones. Crawled to a door, taken to hospital, first thing the docs did was feed me and give me water. The bones could wait. Second bonk, 50 years later, ambulance gave me food and water. Don't bonk. Ambulances and doctors have more important things to do than feed you.
My worst bonk was on the Chicago lakefront path as a newbie to triathlon. I went about 25 miles one direction, ran out of food, forgot my phone and wallet on the counter, and didn’t realize I had a headwind the whole way back. I actually had to walk my bike the last ten miles because it was faster than the speed I could pedal. As painful as it was it was such a great life lesson to never make that mistake again.