Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

[shogsten]

Hi, LONG question for any Mountain Bikers out there. I'm a road bike rider but recently I've started Mountain Biking and I keep bonking after about an hour of riding. I've tried eating a small meal before riding and it doesn't seem to help. I'm well hydrated on a typical ride I will usually drink a liter of water before starting and work my way through an 80oz camel back during a two hour ride. I've been doing 30-35 carbs a day and losing a pound or two a week. When riding a road bike I don't have this problem (for example) I did 40 miles on the Road Bike Saturday at a very fast pace and didn't bonk. My normal snack on the road are nuts and jerky (on cool days string cheese). This just isn't working for Mt. Biking and I need to make some modification. I think part of the problem is due to the nature of Mt. Biking as it is almost like interval training, very strenuous for a few minutes followed by easy, strenuous, easy and so on. I'm thinking that I may need to add some carbs in just before my ride and possibly during. Anyone else out there experience the same problem ? What did you do ? If it helps right after one of these sessions I am extremely hungry. I get hungry after a Road Ride as well but not like after Mt. Biking. My body is trying to tell me something but I am having a hard time figuring out what it is telling me

[ttdriver]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

Consider trying Carb Boom .. www.carbboom.com. I am going to order some soon!! Also, I drink the Speedo Sportswater drinks whenever I'm running my 13.1 milers .. they are great sources of vitamins and electrolytes and they are sweetened with Splenda. They really do help. I believe your body is in serious need of the complex carbs and some extra minerals to replace what you have either sweat out or diluted by drinking alot of water.

Betty

[Iapetus999]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

Interval-type training will definitely trigger hunger because you basically burn only carbs during the "interval" part. You should either eat more carbs or reduce the intensity of the intervals.
You should also consider a longer warm-up before any hard intervals.

[shogsten]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

Hmm it's kind of hard to adjust the intensity as the two trails I like best are single track with one way in and one way out (eg. no way to shorten the ride). It looks like I am running up against a need for some extra carbs (imagine that ).

When should I be eating these carbs for the best effect on my riding ? I'm guessing just before (30 mins ?) and maybe during, either with an energy drink (bleh) or perhaps a low/no sugar energy bar. Thoughts ? Any thoughts on how many grams of carbs I should add ?

Scott

[Iapetus999]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

Definitely not before. That will make you bonk for sure. The night before is better. During or after is OK too.
I've had to adjust my overall carb intake. My problem is that I keep losing weight even tho I don't mean to. I've been eating a whole lot of fruit & veggies but I still lose.
You just need to experiment to find the right # that lets you work out and keep losing. Or maybe avoid high-intensity until you're near you weight loss goal.

[shogsten]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

Or maybe avoid high-intensity until you're near you weight loss goal.

I'm not sure that is possible, . I'm a very good bicycle rider and unfortunately I don't seem to have a speed other than as hard as I can go . It has to be the intensity of the bike riding when doing mountain biking. As you said it is a form of interval training but despite my weight I'm not having any issues with excessive heart rate or lactase tolerance. Unfortunately with Fall/Winter coming mountain biking makes a little more sense as an outdoor excercise activity. I absolutely can not stand indoor excercise equipment and I've tried a little bit of everything. I don't get the mental relaxation from indoor excercise.

Thanks

Scott

[Iapetus999]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

As long as you keep losing weight you can up the carbs by 5/day each week.
If you stall you may have to back down on the carbs tho.

You body does adjust to burning fat but it takes a while to make that adjustment (can take months to fully adjust)

[shogsten]

Re: Bonking on Mountain Bike Rides (Long)

I'm back - I upped my carbs slightly but now I have stalled. I'm not exactly sure whether this is due to the carbs or whether I might have kicked myself into starvation mode. Something that is different is that I am hitting the ends of my rides starving. For example last night I had some ribs (dry rub no sugar !), coleslaw, and a small size salad. Went for a ride (road bike 20 miles avg 18.3 mph) an hour later and came home ready to eat. Tried my first Mountain Bike race last week but the results are too terrifying for normal eyes. I did bonk in that race but it was a long one and it was pretty hot so I think I had a combination of lack of carbs and with a little dehydration added in. Now if I can just pull my Mt. Bike speed up to about half my road bike speed I will be happy, I don't think I have enough fast twitch muscle for mountain bike racing.

Scott