Hitting the wall in the middle of a good bike ride can affect both mood and training quality. It’s often due to a combination of energy and fluid intake. With a well-thought-out energy and hydration plan, you can reduce the risk of bonking on the bike and better support your performance all the way home.
In this guide you’ll get concrete, practical advice on how to plan your energy and fluid intake on training rides, long Sunday rides, and gran fondos, so you can typically maintain a steadier pace without major swings in energy levels.
What does it mean to bonk, and why does it hit so hard?
When you bonk, the body’s readily available energy stores (glycogen in muscles and liver) are close to being depleted, while blood sugar can drop. This can cause a noticeable decline in your ability to sustain the same workload, even if you’re well trained and feel ready.
Typical signs of bonking can be:
- Sudden loss of energy and the feeling of heavy legs
- Dizziness, nausea, or a mild headache
- Irritability or difficulty concentrating
- A heart rate that doesn’t match the perceived effort
- Having to reduce your pace significantly to make it home
Often it can be related to one or more of these causes:
- You ate too little or too late before the ride
- You didn’t get enough carbohydrate per hour along the way
- You drank too little, or you only drank water, so both fluids and salts can become deficient
The positive part of the story is that with a few targeted adjustments to your energy planning, you can often reduce the risk of bonking.
Your carbohydrate plan on the bike
Experience from both recreational cyclists and elites points to some guidelines for how much carbohydrate you can typically aim for while cycling, depending on duration and intensity:
- For rides of 1 to 2 hours at moderate intensity: about 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour
- For rides of 2 to 3 hours or more at moderate to high intensity: about 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour
For many athletes, the body can often utilize up to about 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, especially if you combine different carbohydrate sources such as glucose and fructose, typically in an approximately two-to-one ratio. This is one of the approaches many endurance sports nutrition products are based on.
To get the most out of those grams, it typically comes down to:
- Starting energy intake early, already within the first 20 to 30 minutes of the ride
- Distributing intake evenly, for example every 15 to 30 minutes
- Adjusting the amount to both the ride length and the intensity
An example of about 60 to 70 grams of carbohydrate in one hour of riding could be:
- A bottle with Carbo Race Electrolyte for your bottle, which can contribute around 40 grams of carbohydrate
- A small energy gel for a quick energy boost with about 20 to 25 grams of carbohydrate
On longer rides you can supplement with energy you can eat in small bites, for example chews or energy gummies for your bike ride, so you get a more steady supply of carbohydrate along the way.
Liquid and solid energy in your fueling plan
How you get your carbohydrates depends on intensity, temperature, and how your stomach responds on the bike. A practical way to think about your fueling is to have a liquid base and then supplement with different types of solid energy as needed and preferred.
Liquid energy as the base on your bike ride
For many cyclists, a carbohydrate and electrolyte drink is a simple way to plan energy intake. With Carbo Race Electrolyte for your bottle you get both carbohydrates and electrolytes in the same drink, which can help cover carbohydrate needs during training and support fluid intake on longer sessions.
Some of the benefits of using an energy drink as a base are:
- Easy dosing, so it’s easier to keep track of how much energy is in a full bottle
- Easy to consume, even at high intensity, since you need to drink anyway
- Can be practical when you sweat a lot and also want fluids and salts
Gels as quick energy on the hard sections
An energy gel for a quick energy boost can be ideal when intensity increases and you want an easy way to get carbohydrates without having to chew.
- Use them before climbs, intervals, or decisive attacks
- Take them a bit before the hard part, so the carbohydrates have time to become available
- Consume them with a little water, if that feels more comfortable
Chews and chew bars for steady energy
If you need something you can eat in small bites, chews and energy gummies for your bike ride or an Chew Bar with electrolyte are an alternative to classic gels. They are developed to be easy to eat during activity, but tolerance can vary from person to person.
Benefits of chews and chew bars can be:
- Easy to carry in your pocket and eat in small bites along the way
- Makes it possible to distribute energy evenly over a longer period
- For some, they may feel more comfortable on the stomach on long rides
A practical strategy for longer sessions could therefore be:
- Use Carbo Race as base energy in one or two bottles
- Supplement with one to two gels per hour when you need a more concentrated carbohydrate source
- Fill in the gaps with chews or a Chew Bar to maintain a stable energy supply
Fluids and electrolytes on the bike ride
Avoiding bonking isn’t only about carbohydrates. Fluids and electrolytes also play a role, especially on hot days or when you ride at high intensity and sweat a lot.
A commonly used recommendation is:
- Between about 500 and 1000 milliliters of fluid per hour depending on temperature, intensity, and your sweat rate
- Small sips every 10 to 15 minutes instead of large amounts a few times
When you sweat, you also lose electrolytes such as sodium and magnesium. If you don’t replace salts and fluids sufficiently, some people may experience fatigue, headache, discomfort, and in some cases cramps. In that case it may be relevant for some to use Hydro Tabs electrolytes in one of your bottles.
Hydro Tabs can be especially relevant if you:
- Ride in hot weather or high humidity
- Sweat a lot and can see clear salt lines on your clothing
- Are out for more than 60 to 90 minutes at a time
A simple setup for longer rides could look like this:
- Bottle one with Carbo Race Electrolyte as a source of both energy and electrolytes
- Bottle two with water or water with Hydro Tabs added primarily for fluids and extra electrolytes
On shorter but hard training sessions, you can often manage with one energy bottle, as long as you get sufficient total fluids and carbohydrates relative to your workload and duration.
Energy before the ride so you don’t start with half a battery
Your energy on the bike depends largely on what you do in the hours before you clip in. If you want to reduce the risk of bonking, it can be an advantage to plan meals and snacks well in advance.
As a rule of thumb, you can aim to:
- Eat a carbohydrate-rich main meal about 2 to 3 hours before departure
- Choose foods like oatmeal, rice, pasta, or bread with light toppings
- Avoid very fatty and heavy foods right beforehand, as they can delay gastric emptying
If there’s a long gap between the meal and the start, you can supplement with a smaller snack 30 to 60 minutes before, for example a banana, a white roll, an Energy Snack, or a small serving of energy drink.
If you’re going to ride very long or demanding races, it may be relevant to work with a more systematic approach to carbohydrate intake in the days leading up to it, for example by reading more about carb loading before long cycling races and adjusting your diet accordingly.
A simple checklist for pockets and bottles could be:
- Enough energy for about 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour you expect to be in the saddle
- At least one bottle with Carbo Race or a similar energy drink
- One to two gels and/or chews per hour for supplementation
- Optionally an extra bottle with Hydro Tabs electrolytes on hot days
Mistakes that increase the risk of bonking and how to avoid them
Many bonking experiences are linked to the same simple mistakes in energy planning. When you know them, it’s easier to plan and adjust along the way.
- You wait until you feel hungry
- Solution: Plan fixed times for energy intake, for example every 20 minutes, instead of only eating by feel.
- You deliberately save on energy to cut calories
- Solution: Take in energy and fluids as needed on the bike, and adjust the overall energy balance during the rest of the day instead. On the ride, the focus can be supporting training quality.
- You take most of your energy all at once
- Solution: Split your hourly ration into smaller doses. Drink continuously, and eat small bites or whole gels spread out over time, so your stomach can keep up better.
- You only drink water on the long rides
- Solution: Supplement with carbohydrates and possibly electrolytes, for example via Carbo Race or a combination of energy drink and Hydro Tabs, depending on your needs.
- You test new products on race day itself
- Solution: Use training rides to test products, amounts, and timing, so you know what you typically tolerate well.
- You underestimate the heat and sweat losses
- You start the ride without having eaten enough in the hours beforehand
- Solution: Think 2 to 3 hours back and consider whether you’ve had an appropriate meal and possibly a small snack closer to the start.
When you have these basic things under control, long rides will typically feel more controlled, and you’ll have a better opportunity to follow your plan and adjust to how you feel and the conditions.
Important considerations and safety around energy and fluids
Energy and hydration planning can be a useful tool to get more out of your cycling training, but there are also some considerations that are good to keep in mind.
- If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or take medication, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor before making major changes to your intake of energy or electrolytes.
- Your stomach often needs to adapt to high carbohydrate intake under load, so increase gradually and use your training rides to test amounts and products.
- If you have kidney problems or other conditions that affect fluid and salt balance, you should be extra cautious with the use of electrolytes and seek professional advice.
With a deliberate approach to carbohydrates, fluids, and electrolytes, you can create your own fueling plan that matches your goals as a cyclist and can help you maintain a more stable energy level toward the finish line.