Coach's Corner — Lessons From Other Cyclists: How to Avoid Running Out of Energy on a Ride
Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from longtime cycling coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist.
Thinking Cyclist:
Coach, what do I have to do to avoid running out of energy on longer rides?
Coach Darryl:
There’s no scientific roadmap to guarantee your blood sugar doesn’t bottom out on a ride, but there’s one thing I do know. When it does happen, it’s often due to your actions not just during a long ride but in the days leading up to it.
Running out of energy isn’t just unpleasant, either. It can be downright dangerous. Many cyclists know the feeling of “bonking,” when your blood sugar drops so low that it can lead to brain fog and poor decision-making on rides.
To help you avoid that unpleasant fate, it’s helpful to learn from the mistakes of other riders. Even if they didn’t bonk, we can look at what caused them to perform well below their normal level. The following list is not exhaustive, but it can show you some missteps to avoid.
Rider #1: He was 25 miles into his 65-mile ride when he had to stop, feeling dizzy and sick to his stomach. I did a little interrogating to discover what he had eaten the night before: steak (protein) with far too little of the five big white foods of bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and sugar (carbohydrates). The problem? Carbs, not protein, are the fuel source for long rides. If he had eaten more of those big five foods — starting as early as Thursday for his Saturday ride — he wouldn’t have bottomed out. Making matters worse, that extra protein also slowed the digestion of any carbs he did put into his system.
Rider #2: She was about 20 miles into her ride but had much less energy than usual. Eventually, she had to stop and rest, sitting on the curb. After some investigative work, I found out that she had skipped dinner the previous night. That gap in digesting and processing carbohydrates caused a major dip in her energy level. When you’re getting ready for a long, hard ride, the days leading up to it are no time to diet or cut back.
Rider # 3: She was running late on the morning of her ride. In her hurry to get to the starting point, she didn’t have time to eat. With little to no carbs right before the big outing, she came unprepared and likely to run out of fuel — and that’s exactly what happened. Ultimately, it’s better to stay home than to get on the bike without enough fuel in your tank.
Rider #4: This one was actually me! I wanted to see how fast I could complete a 50-mile event, so I decided to not stop at any SAG stop areas and drank only water to keep moving. With about 3 miles to go, I bonked and became dangerously confused. Even though I had worked in the area for years, I wasn’t alert enough to pedal the last few miles to reach the finish line. My blood sugar was so low it starved my brain, and I simply wasn’t mentally capable of following the route slips or map.
All four of these riders have something in common: They failed to stock up on carbs before or during their rides. Learn from their fate, and make sure you’re prepared. Don’t start a ride or plow ahead when you haven’t consumed enough fuel for pedaling long distances.
