Went on an 80k road ride today and was exhausted at the end but after an hour or two I felt really bad, had to go to bed for a bit. Very very achy all over too.

Ride took 3.5hrs. I had toast and coffee beforehand (1hr before) and 2 bananas and some sliced ham and 750ml water during. Had a couple of hot cross buns after and a Goodness Shakes drink. After another hour I had some choc too as I was famished then some sandwiches later.

Anyone got any ideas?

Probably just a bit under the weather. 80km isn’t very far and although your choice of ride food is a bit odd you don’t need that much for that distance. Was it warm and you overheated?

You forgot the beer.

Was it a northern 50k or a southern one? 🙂

Probably bit of a bug. If not and it is age related, try a bit of L glutamine, takes the edge off being utterly knackered

750ml of water doesn’t sound much – I do 1.5-2.5l of water on a 2hr/15mile mtb ride, but then I sweat a lot

80km in west Yorks!

I’m new to road riding and that’s a lot for me. I don’t think I drank enough really.

either under the weather, dehydrated, under nourished or something else 🙂

Indeed, fluid intake seems a little bit on the low side.

You forgot the beer.

And the pizza.

I’ve recently upped my road distances. I was fine for the first couple of hours, then the wheels would fall off. Nutrition seems to be the key for me. I was have porridge for breakfast and then munching on granola slices on the way with 500ml of water per hour.

I’m now using zipvit gel and carb powered in the water and going much better.

Some hero will be along shortly to tell you how they ride a 4hr century on a Jacobs cracker but everyone is different. Play around with your fueling and see what happens.

Well I don’t eat Jacobs Crackers but you are not far off!!! 😆 however, take that with a pinch of salt eh.

Sounds like you had the dreaded bonk. Simple enough, you didn’t eat nor drink enough pre and on the ride. Bit odd this, getting the right proportions and eating something whilst hacking, but it has to be done. You’ll need to find something you can eat whilst putting some effort in. By that I mean something that you can chew and tastes nice enough whilst hacking not cruising along. That way it’ll be palatable, you’ll enjoy it and it won’t become a chore chomping whilst on occasions being slightly short of breath. Lots of advice on nutrition available, but I’d steer clear of Bananas purely because I bloody hate them. ZipFit (mentioned above) are some of the only bars I can eat so I carry 3 on rides of over 80k and munch one an hour. Water well I take 1.5ltr bottle with a hint of powder in it to take the edge off the water, not too sticky though. Eh.
I’ve been riding roadie for years and used to race, so I know what works for me, you just need to find what works for you.
You will go few a few frustrating rides trying to figure out nutrition, but don’t scrimp on it but stop chomping before you barf on the bike eh..
What about Malt Loaf? Ok, it’s sticky as fek and clings to foil but it’s nice and is full of good stuff.. The only hard part is remembering to buy it and then pack it into your right rear pocket… 😆

What about Malt Loaf? Ok, it’s sticky as fek and clings to foil

Wrap it in parchment backed foil and your clinging woes will be over 😉

Sounds like others are suggesting that you didn’t eat/drink enough…toast, 2 bananas and some ham plus 750ml water don’t sound much for before and during a 3.5hour ride. Hot cross buns would have been good but before/during the ride!

750ml of water is not even close for 80km. That’s dehydration you felt Rob!

Get your electrolytes right too. If I get in the state you did, feeling rubbish after exercise, I find a glass of water with half a teaspoon of salt works wonders. I am sure there are more sophisticated solutions, but I am a bit old school.

More water and use hydration tabs a la Nuun, High5 Zero, SIS Go Hydro etc

Homemade flapjack (eg. like these bad boys) work for me too.

I did a simular distance yesterday and I will probably never loose weight because I eat quite a lot.

Before 2 x toast with peanut butter, a 6″ subway sub that was about 1 – 2 hours before.

Took a 750ml of weak vimto and a 500ml of water topped up with SIS tablet, stopped after 20 miles to get a couple of flapjacks ( roadside butty van didn’t even get off the bike 😆 ) scoffed one straight away and had one about and hour later.

Stopped at about 30 miles to get more water and a can of pop. That did me fine till about 5 miles from the end when I started slowing down a bit so just had a gel then.

I stopped a few times on the ride for a ” comfort break ” but it defiantly sounds like the OP was dehydrated. I find I need to drink loads else I get a mega headache after.

1 bottle an hour usually works for me. Just water for rides under 2 hours and electrolytes over 2 hours.
For rides over 2 1/2 hours, I eat a small amount every 30 mins (half a slice of malt loaf or something).
Depends on the route though tbh…

Hmmmm yes I think it may have been delayed bonk (sounds so wrong!).

It’s a bit difficult to judge food at the moment as I’ve been losing lots of weight (24lbs since Xmas!) so I genuinely can’t eat as much as I used to as my stomach has shrunk! I want exercise to have an effect so I am trying to balance my good correctly to give me enough fuel but not negate the effects of the exercise. Seems I got it wrong this time.

Made up for it in last 24hrs by eating my own body weight in chocolate. OM NOM NOM!!

Mix hemp protein and L-glutamine and water take 1-2 hours before and same after within 2 hours of finishing add a zero high tab (electrolyte) to the after drink….. Got me through 5 days continual riding in Wales last weekend (220k) and I’m 58. Did 45 miles on sat all ok

Aim to drink 500ml water about an hour before and eat protein not carbs directly before ride. Carbs ideally 4 hours before so night before. If you had a bad nights sleep that can also cause problems. You may just have a bit of food poisoning it can have same affect. Food intake during suggest you were hungry maybe didnt eat well night before

What you don’t say is how fast or hard you pushed yourself covering that distance. 80km isn’t much really but if you were thrashing yourself then eating and drinking becomes very important as you only have so many easy to reach/replace calories, when those are gone you bonk. If you ride with a HR monitor regularly you will start to learn the rough numbers you can ride to for distance / conditions.

For normal rides sub 3 hours a gel, a fruit bar or the like and a couple of bottles should be more than enough.

Don’t over eat to compensate…….you’ll end up the size of a house. Look at the fatties you see at trail centres, pretty good on the bike but for every 1000 calorie ride they then go and shovel 5000 calories in their pie hole.

If put it down to not drinking enough to be honest

Don’t over eat to compensate…….you’ll end up the size of a house. Look at the fatties you see at trail centres, pretty good on the bike but for every 1000 calorie ride they then go and shovel 5000 calories in their pie hole.

I used to do that. Have a bacon sandwich on the way, sandwiches and pies for lunch then a takeaway on the way home. Wondered why I always felt sluggish and put weight on – simple fact was I was burning 1-2000 calories but eating 10000…. 😯

What pawsy bear says. Bonk/dehydration aside, you do sometimes get those rides where you’re knocked sideways – I usually put them down to not being rested enough, or just a underlying bug. Might just be that.

Fwiw, for up to 100km/3hrs I would do 2x500ml of water, and a banana, with a gel stashed just in case. This is on top of being sufficiently hydrated and carbed before going out. Tabs, supplements, sports drinks etc have their uses I suppose but are totally overkill for 80km!

Crisps straight after a ride.Always a good idea.

It was hot weather up Yorkshire today,I was up Gisburn and ran out of water in my camelback when I realised how much I was drinking to compensate for the heat,biking in the sun can soon take it out of you,might be a bit of heat stroke aswell,just something to think about.

Dehydration plain and simple! One bottle an hour is the recommended ideal!

Maybe I’m odd, just done a 55mile/5000ft ascent road ride today, warm weather & plenty of wind resistance. Burnt 2783 calories & had 2 gels along the way, but only drank just over half a large (700ml?) bottle of water+energy powder.
I did drink a 500ml bottle of energy powder mix before setting off though.
That’s on top of some 60+ miles on the MTB this weekend as well, both times i came back with a 2l camelbak bladder half full.

I had a similar experience to the OP after a 97km ride, I had hot cross buns with nutella before the ride and drank 500ml of water upto my cafe stop when I had quiche coffee and cake then drank another 500ml of water for the rest of the ride. I was out for 4 hours as it was my firts longish ride of the year and I was cooked. I know I didnt drink enough as it should be 500ml for every hour.

How about 2 cream crackers 😳 😆

I felt exactly the same after similar rides…..I’ve been using osmo for 6 weeks now and it’s seems to be working…it’s a true low sugar hydration agent.ive not got close to bonking ever using it…did a 100 miler the other week and felt fine after wards…Google it,interesting things….