I wake up every day and I want to get on that bike. The more I ride the more I like it. Just as with anything, the more you do it, the more you learn. I’ve learned the following things:
1. Hybrid bikes are nearly indestructible. I don’t ever have to do anything to that beast and it isn’t anything special, just a middle of the road Giant.
2. Road bikes are temperamental beasties. If I’m not screwing with rims, tires or chains, I’m trying to eliminate a squeak or groan in the crank or gearing.
3. When you are feeling strong and the bike is working well, riding a road bike is like flying.
However, when you bonk, it’s all over and there is no fun to be had. I have read about the dreaded bonk before but figured I was still too young and tough to have that happen. Bonking is for sissies for crying out loud! Ha! I needn’t worry about that……
Live and learn fat boy. I bonked on Friday night. I was riding down the parkway, bucking a decent headwind on my way back to town. I could feel the burn of the acid building in my thighs but I was still feeling ok….until I got to where the par 3 golf course used to be and suddenly I could barely stay on the bike and was in pure agony. I gritted my teeth and kept pushing. I’m tough right?
No, I’m an idiot. I had an energy gel in my bike seat bag. I should have pulled over, downed that thing and waited a couple of minutes but there was a guy about 300 yards back that I had dropped on the last climb. I gritted my teeth and kept pushing – everyone knows that if you have 2 guys on bikes, you have a race, right? In addition, I don’t like to lose so I kept on. It wasn’t far to the Liberia crossing so I could make it. After I crossed Liberia, I more or less coasted back to the house.
It’s taken me the better part of 2 days to get over that bit of lunacy. I am eating very carefully as I’m trying to lose some weight so it’s been a real struggle to not eat everything in sight. Today (Sunday) isn’t so bad but yesterday I would have eaten a bale of hay if I thought it would’ve helped….
Be careful and don’t bonk.
May 18, 2010 at 10:54 pm
wellllllll, speaking as a genuine graduate of the Army Physical Readiness Training school, tsk tsk.
That kinda distance riding to avoid the bonk takes one of those nice carb bars (not even the fancy kind…just any good granola) before rolling out to keep glycogen metab rolling along. The whole theroy of doing it on an empty stomach is bonk(er).
Especially true if riding to loose the weight. The Army came out with the “whoo-ah!” bar for the simple reason to munch down before slinging on that 120pound ruck and driving on. Since humping that darn ruck was a great way to burn calories, it gave a nice balance.
Thus endeth the lesson from the Old Sarge – Whoo-Ahhh! 🙂
May 19, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I bonked once in my life, at Marine OCS. It wasn’t fun.
May 19, 2010 at 8:24 pm
When I was doing an olympic distance tri (1500 meter swim, 40k bike, 10k run) outside Fort Worth back when I was 42 (18 yrs ago!!!) I felt like I was bonking real bad. I was really out of it. It surprised me because I was used to the heat and the distance, my gylycogen level was appropriately prepped and I drank tons of water. Turns out I was having a gall bladder attack in the middle of the race. On balance, I would have preferred to have bonked.
Only once did I bonk during a long training run. I felt it coming on before it got real bad. Flagged down some friends who drove me home. As I recall it took me about two days to feel right again.