The Bonk vs. The Buffet

Before I turn to some serious cycling stuff, I want to address several private messages I have received questioning my ability to keep up with my wife. Here is proof that I am able to keep her in view when I ride:

Okay, that was mile 1 of today’s 54 mile ride. Here was the situation at mile 3:

You may have to enlarge this photo to see Mary in the distance. And while the situation did not improve today, I am happy to report that excitement for Opening Day was in the air today in Death Valley (these are actual cycling jerseys):

But what I really want to discuss today is the big dilemma that we face each day on this trip, a test of our character — the lunch buffet. Let me explain. You need energy when you cycle. If you do not eat enough, before and during a ride, in cycling parlance you “bonk”. You slowly lose energy and end up feeling like you are riding in quicksand. If you start getting hungry while you ride, chances are it is too late to stop the bonk.

It is really hard to “dial in your nutrition” as advanced cyclists say. If I am not careful and start to bonk, I get grumpy and have a hard time consuming food. It is the bonk death spiral. Pop quiz — which of these two cyclists is bonking?

Or

Mornings on this trip are usually the longer part of our ride. If we avoid the bonk, we then arrive at the lunch spot where the van has set up the dreaded buffet table and the comfy chairs:

We’re usually very hungry after our morning ride. The problem is that cyclists know that eating too much at lunch creates the opposite of the bonk — the dreaded food coma. That is where you are fighting a nap during the afternoon ride and it again feels like you are riding in quicksand.

So each day we are faced with the same dilemma. Is our character strong enough to resist gorging on the buffet? If Aesop was a cyclist, I am sure he would have written a fable about this. Kevin is a strong person — he is a minimalist buffet eater and when I tempt him with seconds, his response is usually a stoic “Nope, I’m good”. I am a very weak person. I try to rationalize by saying to myself “I can handle thirds since I am tough enough to plow through the food coma”. But I never am. Which is why I am invariably the slowest afternoon rider.

On the other hand, being last gives me more time to enjoy the spectacular scenery. And I stop to take a lot of pictures, such as these from our ride today to Ubehebe Crater:

Finally, in a continuing effort to advise on the “don’ts” of cycling (we’ve covered selfies before), our safety-minded friend Serge took this picture yesterday to illustrate that a cyclist should not ride in the middle of the road: