The Sign Sez It All

There I was, riding along minding my own business, when it struck. Legs felt like concrete, my tongue felt fuzzy, no power too the pedals, and I didn't really know where I was. I was on the Last Train To Bonksville. But there was no one to meet me at the station. Now, I just said I was minding my own business, but I clearly wasn't. Being diabetic, the bonk, or hunger knock, is to be avoided at all costs. But, I wasn't paying attention.
To make a short story long, let's start at the beginning. Thursday morning, I planned a 40 mile ride down highway 61 from Barnum on South. My new pedals were begging for some real miles to real prove they were worth the money. And, speaking of money, the guys at the Ski Hut called and said the new nose pieces came in for my Tifosi sun glasses. The are 4 years old and the stem rubber had fallen apart, which Tifosi replaced free of charge. Then, one of the nose pads had fallen of. Again, a gratis repair. Top notch service from both parties. While I was there, I inquired about bib shorts. It just so happens that their Specialized line is on sale for 20% off. This brought the Pro bibs down about 30 bucks. That was my price point, so I got them. Now, I have been crushing the Pearl Izumi Attack shorts for the last few years and had good luck with them. The Specialized Pro line has a quite different chamois than the Attack line has, thicker and more defined is all I can say. These too, wanted a test ride to see if they were worth the scratch I doled out. Aside note: I think that the Specialized "S" logo is one of the coolest brand connotations in the world. But that's just me.
Back to the ride. 78f and sunny, wind from the west. Not a bad day to ride at all. Traffic was light, which was nice, because the side wind was trying to push me into the road and kind of backwards. I was glad I started into this wind, as on the turn around, I would be able to fly back.
As Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my wind hating friend" At mile 25, the wind changed, coming out of the north west. It would be a 15 mile grind back to the start of the ride. That's when it hit me, I was weakening and hadn't eaten anything yet. Duh! I pulled over and had a Honey Stinger gel, along with some Hammer Heed. I looked over at the Bonk sign and thought how ironic it was to be sitting there trying to recover. I've ridden by that sign many time and had never even thought about it. Strange.
After about 10 minutes, I got back on the bike and road back, having another gel on the way. My mind registered and filed this ride under lesson learned. You see, these days hunger and thirst doesn't register at the time they happen. I can go most of a day without food and not be hungry. The endocrinologist I see says it may be due to neuropathic nerve damage interrupting the normal flow of information to the brain. That does make sense, since many diabetics have mild heart attacks and don't even know it. So from now on, I'll set my watch alarm to 45 minutes during rides to remind me to eat and drink.
As far as the shorts and pedals, high marks for both. The fit and padding are perfect on the Pros, and no hot spots on the bottoms of my feet after 40 miles with the new pedals. But, I do lay awake at night with the vision of that Bonk sign in my head!