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I'm pretty sure it stemmed from a lack of carbs
Lack of available energy. Such is the way, you might have tons on your body but it just cannot burn it fast enough for it to be available.
This is where pre-ride pasta (the evening before, or a 5am pasta breakfast) and things like flapjacks (with raisins) really help.
It's not a carb in > carb out equation... it's the speed at which your body can convert the carbs into useful energy.
Bonking is the depletion of all available energy immediately available in your digestive system, your body will have already shifted into burn all the fat mode (great for weight loss), but it's useless... burning body fat is such a slow process that the crunch hits, your body can't deliver the energy it's using and is actually using more energy desperately trying to burn your fat... result? A hard bonk.
You're spot on about lack of carbs, but there's no point loading up on slow carbs in advance you just want the stuff you can burn quickly.
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Velocio
That's really interesting, as is your comment further down. Not sure if i agree though.
I wasn't attempting to go 'paleo' or anything, but I bonked spectacularly yesterday through not paying enough attention to my eating on a century whilst out with a few others.
Basically, I just hadn't eaten nearly as much as I normally would have, and the result was me nearly having to push my bike up Central Hill to Cadence in Crystal Palace as I could hardly see properly or keep my bike in a straight line.
May have been other factors, but I'm pretty sure it stemmed from a lack of carbs