genejockey 

Yes, the one time I bonked - which took place on a ride that was well within my abilities - I remember the tunnel vision, and how it took every bit of willpower I had to ride the last two miles home barely turning the pedals over. It felt like my brain was incapable of anything but the simplest thoughts. Later on, I wondered if that's what it's like to be really stupid. When I got home, every fiber of my being was shouting "SLEEP!!!", except for one tiny spark that whispered "eat." I had a Snickers and within 10 minutes felt normal.

The route I ride largely precludes getting any food for the last 16 miles, and on that ride, when I was at that point I remember feeling just a little hungry, but deciding against stopping for food, and I hadn't brought anything with me.

GhostRider62

Always bring emergency food, rain jacket. spare tire, tubes, etc.

Hypothermia and bonking are not fun although altitude sickness is worse.

Calsun

Snack on raisins as you ride to keep your blood sugar level up. Energy also takes carbs so I make my own cocoa brownies with peanut butter and rice flour and few other ingredients as these are easy to take on a ride. Protein bars may not provide the carbs needed and the ones with sugar will result in a rapid spike and then a crash in blood sugar levels. Fruit and even dried fruit (like apricots) have fiber and so the digestion and release of sugars into the blood stream is more gradual. I know that for me a breakfast of pancakes kept me going all day on 120 mile per day rides of 7 days or more. I neither gained or lost weight on these trips.

There can also be a potassium or magnesium deficiency and that is where bananas and Mg supplements can help. Being borderline may push your body over the edge when exercising.

MoAlpha

Baby, if your potassium is low, better carry a defibrillator along with those snacks.

Bearhawker

Name/ID an "essential carbohydrate".

They are 100% optional. Just like Type 2 Diabetes.

wolfchild

Glucose

Carbohydrates don't cause diabetes.

CAT7RDR

All I know is either bonking, extreme fatigue or heat exhaustion, or combinations of the three, are recipes for disaster.
Most of my accidents, besides equipment failing, were as a result of one or more of the three.

woodcraft

I happened to be reading the first edition (1960) of Mountaineering the Freedom of the Hills & saw this in the food & nutrition chapter:

"The body can adjust to very infrequent meals when the fat and protein content of the diet is high. Arctic explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson

consider one meal a day ample, and only two meals a week no excessive hardship."

Bearhawker

Your body creates all the glucose it needs via neoglucogenesis, presuming your liver and kidneys function properly. A better question for the less obtuse might have been "Name an essential carbohydrate that you *must* consume or your body will fail in some way, in the same vein as essential, amino acids, minerals etc." There is absolutely no carbohydrate that is required to consume to either stay alive or function properly.

Cigarettes don't cause cancer. Smoking them, especially in excess, does in most people who do so. I'm not sure of any study that has ever shown that smoking one cigarette caused cancer. Same holds for knowing which specific cigarette smoked is the one that causes the chain reaction to start. Some people smoke their whole adult lives and don't get/die of any related cancers as genetics and other factors are strange and awesome.

Similarly, to say that carbs don't cause T2D is true. But the over consumption of them, especially often and throughout the day does cause the insulin resistance that leads to T2D. Carbs are not the only thing that can be consumed that will cause the same results long term but there is nothing else that causes the same level of insulin spikes (intensity and duration) and is the only thing regularly consumed "food" that is 100% optional to do so. The odds are pretty high that someone who doesn't eat carbs will not, and possibly cannot, develop T2D as the insulin sensitivity damage cannot happen unless some other genetic issue is at play.

Bearhawker

Eating like that was probably the way for man/most of our ancient ancestors... you chased critters around until you killed some. Then you ate, precessed the other bits for a couple of days, got hungry again and chased more critters.

The diet of the Arctic peoples was essentially devoid of vegetation and they were quite healthy according to early reports of contact with them.

By the time someone decided to study those peoples to see why they had such low heart disease, they were no longer as healthy as they once were... they had also adjusted their diet and included many "convenience" items into their diet that had been introduced via the contact.

"Fat" took the blame for nicotine in early studies... since it was "well known" and "science based" that cigarettes were not the problem. That happens when the big lobby groups pay for the "science"

lol

terrymorse 

I wouldn't be so certain that a "no carbs" diet does not impair insulin sensitivity.

At least one study in rats found that a ketogenic diet induced decreased insulin sensitivity and impaired glucose tolerance.

WhyFi

What if I want to train my body to burn pizza?

CAT7RDR

Science says wash the pizza down with a honey ale to add some carbs with those cheezy fats and proteins.

WhyFi

This is why I love this place - concise scientifical knowledge and practical advice!

MoAlpha

Something tells me your pizza metabolism is already in tip top tune, boychik. All I can suggest is dousing with good whiskey during digestion for faster and more complete oxidation.

WhyFi

I admit, it's in pretty good tune, but I'm always looking for marginal gains like this - thanks!

PeteHski

It's usually a waste of time arguing with keto extremists. Personally I wouldn't be able to churn out the watts without the carbs, but that doesn't mean eating a load of refined sugar. I think carbs get a bad rep because of the excessive amount of processed crap people eat while sat on the couch.

MoAlpha

While ketogenesis and fat catabolism are essential to endurance cycling, they are not fast. Anyone who wants to be remotely competitive needs carbs too. In addition, I simply can’t keep weight on without the carbs.

Paul Barnard

Fatigue has definitely contributed to human error on my part.

woodcraft

I have never bonked, but can't really imagine doing so after having ridden 10 miles-

wouldn't this be like "hitting the wall" at mile two of a marathon?

PeteHski

Yes, I’m surprised how few people have commented on this. No healthy person should bonk at this sort of distance. I would be visiting my doctor for sure to discuss what was happening.

Cyclcist11023131

The first 6-8 weeks of riding is the worst. Either never having rode a bike or not riding for a long time. Your body gets overtaxed. Your Arse hurts. You run out of air on a small rise. You wake up with Calf Cramps. Eventually your body learns to deal with it. It takes time. It takes proper nutrition. Mostly it just takes getting back on your Bike at least 2-3 times a week and riding within your limits. Biking never gets easier, you just go farther and faster.

downtube42

"No healthy person" indeed. A person who does not exercise their body will be well adapted to a sedentary existence. That person, upon deciding to exercise, could indeed bonk at ten miles.

In my opinion, based on experience being the owner and operator of exactly one body.

Badger6

Fiber.

PeteHski

I can fully understand someone unfit being totally out of breath with sore fatigued muscles after their first ever 10 mile ride. But bonking is not the same thing. Unfit people would normally stop due to fatigue or simply becoming breathless long before hitting the wall. Bonking is associated with running out of fuel during a multi-hour endurance event. Not 10 miles of slow cycling a couple of hours after lunch! That banana the OP ate before the ride should have been enough to avoid any risk of bonking. Seriously this is abnormal and requires a medical check.