Hi Sweep, I've got type I diabetes so am forced to know a bit more about sugar metabolism than most folks. Injecting insulin can create all the effects of bonking at any time with no need for exercise [emoji3]Sweep wrote:As above, once bonked, get some sugar in me quickly.
It's only happened to me a couple of times and not for a long while, basically because, forewarned, on a long ride I regularly snack - homemade cycle snack (mix of fast and slow release stuff) and, yes, those Lidl wine gums.
First signs of impending bonk as I recall were maybe more than expected sweating, certain slowness in reacting to things (hence it can be dangerous) and, as I looked at the speedo, the clear realisation that I was going far slower than I should be on a fairly flat road. I suppose the fact that I had to look at an electronic device to really be "told" that something was up shows how befuddled my mind was becoming. At that point you need to get off the bike for all sorts of reasons.
Another sign according to a doc who used to come on a lot of my rides is folk getting angry, unreasonable, argumentative. He reckoned that the reason there was often a lot of trouble in A&E of a saturday night was not primarily because of alcohol but because of low blood sugar. This topic came up discussing, after the event, a particularly tough ride of mine he'd been on (subsequently billed as "the hell of ......." so that folk couldn't say they weren't warned) where I as the ride leader had a fair amount of aggresion thrown at me in the latter stages - before the entire field abandoned it
maybe you should get round to that ride with me al - if the bonk approaches I promise to dangle a wine gum in front of you.
all the best
Agree with your friend's suggestions about aggression and sugar and Saturday nights -
low blood glucose makes people stupid and aggressive, and alcohol reduces the ability of the liver to release glucose from storage so if you're cold and/or hungry it's easy for bg levels to drop.
A couple of relevant points for the original question :
1. Snickers bars aren't that great at raising or replacing blood sugars. The fats in the bar slow absorption. Much better to use pure glucose or a sugary drink if you need sugar in a hurry.
2. Unless you've already used up all your reserves, the act of going uphill will stress your muscles, causing them to release cortisol; in response your liver will immediately break down glycogen and release extra glucose into the bloodstream. No need to wait for a Snickers bar. You need to eat to replace the reserves, but that can happen later on,and is why people are generally starving after a hard ride ends if they haven't kept themselves topped up.
Because of point 2, I never eat before a hill and check how high my bg levels are at the top, sometimes taking more insulin to avoid dehydrating and cramping.
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