A Commuter Rides a Century: How to Avoid Cramping and Bonking

Follow Active.com Editor Brian Kendall as he trains for his first century ride. Check out his last entry here.

“Nutrition is the difference between completing a 40-mile ride and a 50-mile ride.”

My cycling guru spoke these words before my first attempt at a metric century. And, like all noobs, I brushed it off with minimal consideration. Surely my cup of coffee and chocolate croissant, a whopping 300 calories of sugar and caffeine, could fuel me through 62 miles. Right?

Lesson learned.

How to Avoid Bonking

I often claim to be eternally on the struggle bus when in the saddle. Well, if I’m usually on the struggle bus at mile 10, God only knows what bus I was on when I hit mile 55.

My legs stopped working, my sweat glands went into overdrive, and my mind took an ill-timed siesta. My newfound cycling buddies told me this feeling of misery and despair was called “bonking” or “hitting the wall.”

There's a civil war going on within your body, and the good guys are waving the white flag.

It’s a funny sounding word that undoubtedly has its origins in 1920’s England, when full-body bathing suits and pork pie hats were all the rage. And the word certainly suits the empty feeling it’s tasked with describing.

The science behind bonking is full of big words and technical descriptions that soar over my elementary understanding of anatomy and chemistry. But, in layman’s terms, there’s a civil war going on within your body, and the good guys—who just ran out of ammunition—are waving the white flag.

Unfortunately, the key to curing a bonk is never getting there to begin with. Here are some mistakes I made—and lessons I learned—after my first bonking experience:

1. Carbs are your friend. Starchy carbohydrates like bread, pasta and potatoes are jam-packed with sugar molecules that give you energy. Eating carb-heavy meals in the days leading up to the ride will ensure you’re arriving at the starting line well in the green.

2. Once you’re hungry, it’s too late. Eat, eat, eat. This is the simplest way to avoid the dreaded bonk. Calories are the gasoline that fuels your pedal stroke, and you’re likely to burn 600 calories per hour in the saddle (varies by rider, of course). This means you need to replace these calories ASAP. It’s a good strategy to consume at least 300 calories per hour.

3. Drink your calories. It’s tough to stomach gels, potato chips or chocolate chip cookies when you’re sweating like a sinner. While you can’t drink ALL of your calories, powdered add-ins and sports drinks are a good way to supplement your caloric intake. Don’t turn down a Coke, either, as this oft-avoided soft drink contains plenty of calories, sugars and caffeine. Two birds, one stone.

4. Take it easy. If it’s not a race and your only goal is to cross the finish line in one piece, there’s no need to push your legs past their breaking point (also called your “threshold”). Find a solid cadence, even if it’s at a snail’s pace, and stick with it. This tactic will burn far fewer calories, which makes your nutrition easier to manage. Find your pace and suck up the fact that others might pass you. Your ego will take a far bigger hit if you can’t even finish.

How to Avoid Cramping

I recall a feeling of pure ecstasy when I saw the finish a mere 200 yards away. While my teeth had seen plenty of sunlight from my near-constant grimace, this was the first time I voluntarily smiled in four and a half hours.

The pain was a 15 on a scale from one to 10.

And, like all who wish to mask their struggles as they approach an audience, I decided to sprint for the finish line as if I were Mark Cavendish.

The cramp came with two feet to spare. The pain was about a 15 on a scale from one to 10. I couldn’t have pedaled another stroke if my very life depended on it.

A combination of muscle fatigue and a severe lack of electrolytes had officially shoved its fork in me. I was done.

Electrolytes, while undoubtedly complex, are—to my simple mind—a fancy way of saying sodium chloride and potassium, which is also a fancy way of saying salt and, well, potassium.

However, electrolytes also include magnesium and calcium, and a lack of these minerals combined with muscle fatigue causes the abrupt pain and paralysis that is a cramp.

I wish such excruciating discomfort on no one. Here’s how to avoid it:

1. Stretch and stay hydrated. This is obvious, but it bears repeating. Make sure your muscles are limber before you saddle up and your two water bottles are full of your favorite beverage (sans alcohol). If, like me, you sweat profusely before the ride even starts, you’re losing massive amounts of water and sodium, both of which you’ll need to replenish.

2. Eat sweet potatoes. Jam-packed with healthy goodness—and delicious to boot—one sweet potato contains a whopping 694 mg of potassium, making it the food with the highest amount of this essential mineral. Kick that banana to the curb and have a sweet potato for breakfast instead. Why not?

3. Pick pickle juice. Of nearly any liquid you can buy (legally, at least), pickle juice contains the greatest amount of potassium, magnesium and calcium. It also contains the all-important sodium chloride (salt), making it super rich in electrolytes. And, though it’s a matter of personal taste, I much prefer the flavor of pickle juice to a salted caramel GU.

4. Pull your toes. For many, these suggestions are all for naught. The cramp has already set in, and you’re down for the count. The dire tightness in my right calf and hamstring lasted a good 30 seconds before I stretched my leg out and pulled on my right big toe. The relief was almost immediate. While you’ll need to combine this with hydration and refueling your electrolytes to truly eliminate the cramp, give this a whirl the next time you’re in an extreme amount of pain.

Much of this will seem obvious to the seasoned century rider, but for someone who’s never counted a single calorie in his life and continues to ride in cage pedals, I need to write these on my hand with a blue ink pen before I ride.

No matter what you choose to do with this information (tattoos excluded), never enter a long ride without a solid nutrition plan to combat these dreadful occurrences.

Stay limber, stay strong, stay hydrated and for God’s sake keep pedaling.

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