Avoiding bonking when racing
Overview:
Bonking is simply running out of glycogen, the quick release fuel for our muscles. We can still ride, but it will be in fat. The intense and overwhelming feeling of ‘hitting a wall’ is hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), we will have all likely experienced it at some point, and it is not fun. Making both mental and physical exertion difficult, the brain requires glycogen too!
If you want to learn more on glycogen this is interesting:
Murray, Rosenbloom (2018) Fundamentals of glycogen metabolism for coaches and athletes
If you are a low carb high fat person (LCHF) then this article will likely be irrelevant for you, given you have likely ketogenic already and will not experience such profound bonking. Not that I suggest we should all be LCHF, personally I like carbs a lot – and that discussion is for another time.
Training:
I have always felt it is worth experiencing bonking in training, purposefully. While there is lots of hype around fasted (low glycogen) training, my desire to reach this state is less from a physical perspective and more mental. As an ultra endurance racer, it is highly likely, even with the best management in a race, you will bonk. That shop will be closed, you will run out of food. Therefore, not only do you need to know what the early stages of low glycogen (LG) feel like, so you can try to avert crisis, but you also need to know what it is like to ride in such a state, so that when it happens you can mange it. Personally I care a few emergency gels in my framebag, and when I feel LG coming on, I will begin to use them, perhaps in combination with caffeine pills.
One such situation was Durmitor national park, Montenegro in 2016 Transcontinental Race. I had arrived at the Control Point in Pluzine (CP3) around midnight, it had been said there would be food available 24hours, there was not (a good lesson). It was only a small town and all other shops were closed, I had not eaten for a few hours, I had no food and only had water. My intention had been to resupply here, having crossed the remoter part of Bosnia previously resupply had been slim. Anyway, at this point I had 2 real choices, I could wait until the first shop opening in Pluzine in the morning, or I could continue, up and over Durmitor, and likely get food at the hostel in the next town. For me, waiting several hours and sleeping on an empty stomach was no choice, so I pedaled off, out of town on an empty stomach. What followed was the worst LG experience to date as I rode, pushed, walked, the 50 km and 2,000m over Durmitor to Zabljak. I eventually arrived five hours later, having consumed all of my 3 emergencies gels, to only minimal effect. This effort while LG took a huge tool on my body, even eating did not bring me back to 100% and I carried the after effects for the rest of the race.
Canyon Exceed loaded up for Silk Road Mountain Race 2019
Racing:
I have made a few changes these days to avoid bonking. Firstly I still carry my emergency food, more likely a low fat high carbohydrate flapjack than gels these days, as it packs a higher Calorie/gram content. Also, in the past I would be prepared to carry less food in my framebag, these days, and even more so off road, I will carry several hours of food, and perhaps up to an entire days worth (5,000 calories), the physical and mental cost of running out of food is far greater than any time penalty from carrying excess food. I have finished races with food I started with, I see this as a good sign. Food is fuel, and without it you will not get far, or at much speed. Not only will your physical function be impaired but so too your mental, your decision making will suffer and you could make mistakes.
In terms of eating (fueling for a fancy term), it depends on the race. On a tarmac event, you will see far more opportunities for resupply. Thus perhaps you can be more fussy and eat a higher quality food. Generally I like to ‘grab and go’ so I will stuff my pocket and bag with food and eat while riding, easier done on tarmac than off road. That said, generally once a day if the opportunity presents for a fast meal, I will sit down to consume 2000+ calories in one hit, I find this short rest (ideally < 20 minutes) combined with a large number of calories is well worth the time spent.
Off-road, all bets are off on both when the next resupply will be, and what find will find. If you’re in Kyrgyzstan it might just be food poising! I jest, though many did get food poising. In seriousness, I started Silk Road Mountain Race with 30,000 Calories of Expedition Food and a stove. I never once got sick and could eat a warm meal whenever I wanted, and I was racing at the front, when weight matters. For those just trying to finishing – in reality that is all of us – implementing such a plan would be prudent. There is nothing like a hot freeze dried curry at 01:00 when it’s -12 C, for moral.
Others will run strategies more risky than I, to save a few grams. Ask yourself, is it really worth it? I think not. Food is fuel.
Expedition Food supply for Silk Road Mountain Race