My bonk comes when just can't dig anymore. I stare and watch the group ride away. Maybe I can still motor, but only to save myself in the Pennsylvania countryside...

I am with Ragot, when bonk hits, there is no more dig anymore, and acceleration isn't possible. I can still grind away at a steady pace (somewhat diminished from my prior pace), but the group rolls away while I just can't seem do anything about it.

If you can still ride, I don't know if it's actually bonking.  I consider @eragot and @Dan Reiners "pre-bonk".  Bonking is going to zero, hitting the wall, slowing down to the point that a "c" ride might pass you.  

Oh JP, I am talking about that bonked feeling, there is no more accelerations left in the legs and you're dragging your carcass down the road and NYCC C riders no only pass you but seem to woosh by. I've never really felt a pre-bonk, maybe I've felt like I am going to imminently bonk, but usually that is the time where I bargain with my legs to put another dig in, in order to stay attached to the group. Bonking is when the legs walk away from the negotiation.

Bonking is like a headwind that only you can feel. it slows you down but everybody else seems to roll along happily while you battle this evil zephyr that has it in for you.

Unsatiable hunger is my other tell tale point.

My understanding of the physiology of bonk is that the muscles have become depleted of glycogen and the body must make a transition to burning fat. There is generally a lag, leaving a period of low blood sugar. Muscles then lack an energy source. I have also heard that the brain is very dependent on blood sugar and the most immediate effect of a goo is to make you brain feel happy (ier). So it makes sense that there should be both perceptual and mechanical symptoms.

It occurs to me that we might want to distinguish between going aerobic and getting the bonk.
I was quoted as saying that my arms feel weak and I get tunnel vision. Add to that stars and it characterizes going aerobic while trying to hold someone's wheel (e.g. up a climb). It generally means I get dropped, but it usually doesn't equate with the bonk, which comes on more slowly and feels more permanent. Come to think of it, I don't really want to remember what the bonk feels like, so unlike Keith, I just keep eating and drinking whenever my head starts feeling a little woozy or my legs a bit wobbly.

And as JP pointed out, heat stroke is another thing altogether. In that case I might feel a little nauseous and completely uninterested in eating and the only thing to do is sit down in the shade and cool off and drink some water (not sports drink, WATER). Pour it over your head and neck if you have enough of it as the evaporation helps cool you off.

I know when I'm done bc I stare at my top tube and the guy's wheel in front of me and that pain cave doesn't go away. 15-20 minutes of that and it's throw in the towel time.

If I'm going up hill, it usually starts with repeated surging, back cramps, and the urge to throw my bike off the mountain.

Bonk: Stars.  Big time.  And that point when my mind is still ready for more and it says to my legs "Ok let's GOOOO!"...and there's radio silence from the waist down.

I think Chab probably rides 15 or 20 hours a week too, doesn't he? I think the base miles concept is more effective for guys like that.

@JP

so that poo comment is so important it needed to be said twice.

This is really about identifying before you're about to implode/turn to a quivering mass of plasma on the side of the road/get visited by the man with the hammer, so you can do something about it, like stuff your maw with junk from the 7-Eleven or stealing bottles from teammates to pour over your head before it melts and your brain fries.

I totally agree that bonking is preventable (unless you have a stomach bug that prevents you from eating anything, but then you shouldn't be riding). There have been plenty of examples in the pro peloton in which a top GC rider loses time on the last climb and blames it on poor nutrition. I think this happened to Armstrong once on col de la Madelaine. This is categorized as a bone-head mistake.

There are also longer term consequences for having bonked or for having heat stroke. It may be a few days or a week before your body returns to normal.

Only haiku can summarize my thoughts on these states of being. 

"Unbearable Lightness of Bonking"

The early ones burned a bit if you downed them all at once--allegedly had something to do with the potassium in there.

Caffeine helps mobilize the fat burning metabolic pathways. That is why this is a good idea.

Ryan J said:

I think Chab probably rides 15 or 20 hours a week too, doesn't he? I think the base miles concept is more effective for guys like that.

I followed up with Chabs and he does indeed train that much, roughly.

Hey, have y'all seen the picture of Konrad winning at Branchbrook on FB? In addition to be just a nice shot of Kissena doing what we do, it strikes me as a good opportunity to talk about sprinting.

Many of you will quickly bow out of sprints, claiming to, "not be a sprinter." And while it did take some large bollocks to make his winning move stick, I would like to point out at the sea of riders far behind Konrad. Guys that are 20, 30, 40 riders back. Chances are, there's a rider or two back there who would have had the legs to beat Konrad, but they didn't have the position.

Successful sprinting in our local race series, especially, is as much (maybe more) about positioning than it is about maximum watts, sustained 30 second power and/or leg speed.

Konrad did one KEY thing 100% right on that day. He wasn't starting his sprint from 3k out, from 40 guys back in the field. He was where he needed to be when he needed to be, to give his legs a fair shot at closing the deal.

To point to another example, JP is also doing a tip-top job positioning himself in the end of the races. And doing solid finishes in his own right in the 1/2/3 races.

How much riding do you recommend in the last week before a big / key race? I seem to remember from old school text books it should be fairly light/short and below ~80% all the time. What can you recommend?

Thanks

Floris,

JP - very interesting; thanks a lot. I'll try out the "openers tactic".
Cheers
Floris

Seen on Bleecker St

Strava just introduced its "Fitness & Freshness" chart, which is essentially the performance manager chart in Training Peaks. That was the one thing that would have had me signing up with TP. Only cheaper options (and both free) are Golden Cheetah or build your own spreadsheet / chart.

The golden cheetah performance manager is awesome.

Hey everyone...now that many of you have more than a few weeks of solid racing in your legs, I think it's a good time to pause, mentally, for a moment and assess how things have been going. Ask yourself:

• Are you on track to meet your early season goals?
• Are you sinking into a rut of routine racing?
• Are there NEW things you want to try in the coming weeks to challenge yourself and grow as a racer?
• Is your training plan helping you reach your goals?
• If not, how can you and/or your coach adjust it to make it work?
• What are your midseason goals?
• What are one or two important "lessons" you have learned while racing/training this year and how can you incorporate them into You (version 2.2)?