Is it possible to hit the wall after eating too much during the mid-route pause?

Nutrition
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Hi there! I’m new in the forum.

This last Saturday I ran a 105km mountain bike ride with 2000m climb. I had done a similar route 1 week ago without trouble, thinking I could have done more. This time however it was an organized route so we had food at the 50km mark. I think I ate too much (two pieces of meat pie, two glasses of isotonic, some peanuts, some candy, etc… )

After the pause when the first climb came I found myself completely out of energy and I was struggling hard for the next 50kms of the ride, although I could finish. Legs didn’t hurt or anything, just a general “no energy” sensation.

Does it make sense that eating too much can lead to this problem?

Thanks a lot

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Yes, 100%. When you eat on the bike, your body is immediately trying to use that food to fuel the work. When you get off the bike for an extended time and eat a bunch, you’ll start to digest normally, insulin levels will kick up, and it will feel sort of like a bonk when you start riding again.

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Yeah, I can often feel “flat” after lunch on a long ride.

Some of the blood flow gets diverted to digestion, rather than to the lungs and muscles.

“2 pieces of meat pie”. Yeah, protein during a ride can take even longer to digest. Try to keep lunchtime protein intake down DURING a ride.

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It’s not just the protein that is harder to digest, fat takes a lot more energy to digest.

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Give it time to go down, and keep intensity lower for next 30-45 mins after you get going again. No reason you couldn’t eat what you did, just don’t overdo it immediately after.

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I have very specific memory of eating a ham sandwich halfway through a ride and pretty much feeling dead when I got back on the bike. Its fine if you expect it - just keep it chill while you’re digesting.