# Bonking after resting on climbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Training\ **Created:** [October 6, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192 "2026-10-06T15:05:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mchanroper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mchanroper/32/177709_2.png) [@mchanroper](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mchanroper)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/1 "2026-10-06T15:05:12Z")
I am a competitive cyclist and a PhD student in an Exercise Science program. Here’s the scenario I brought to my mentor as a research question, hoping to get some insight here. If you have ridden up Cascade, Utah, from Midway up the Alpine Loop summit, there are two false summits with a mile descent in between. To start from Midway to the first false summit was about 5 miles; I could hold 180-210W to go up. After less than 2 minutes of coasting downhill, I carried my momentum for the next 3 miles up, and my legs felt fatigued immediately. The fatigue became more noticeable after the second downhill mile. I was struggling to produce more than 150W. When I described this phenomenon to others, most people did not recognize it until they experienced the same. My mentor heard World CX commentators talking about the same phenomenon without explanation and thought it might be a good research topic. Does anyone have any ideas from a physiological standpoint about it? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![randomcoach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@randomcoach](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/randomcoach)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/2 "2026-10-06T15:19:32Z")
I don’t know what causes it but have experienced it many times (usually indoors where I’ll sit down to adjust something). A short time with complete rest after some medium-high intensity sometimes results in the body being very slow to respond when I resume, with RPE feeling very high in both legs and lungs, though it usually only lasts a short while (a minute, maybe?). ---
**Author:** ![Norry1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/norry1/32/2984_2.png) [@Norry1](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Norry1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/3 "2026-10-06T16:16:11Z")
Sounds similar to “cafe legs” ---
**Author:** ![Trix8806](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/trix8806/32/155132_2.png) [@Trix8806](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Trix8806)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/4 "2026-10-06T17:57:36Z")
Following for any sort of physiological explanations. It does seem like the phenomenon you’re mentioning does affect some people more than others. I consider myself VERY sensitive to breaks, whether it’s a 10 minute stop or a 10 minute descent. I used to love a 100 mile 5.5 hr solo ride where I had 2-3 minutes of stop times the entire ride with near constant pedaling on mostly flats. With that in mind, since relocating from flat to mountains last year, and my outdoor riding changing considerably, I will say that I have gotten slightly better at these stops having less of an impact. I think this really just stems from the long descents and my body getting more used to it. Also, due to the weather and terrain, I have stops a bit more frequently than I used to for nutrition changes, removing layers, etc. Not a ton, but a 3.5 hr ride with a buddy may have 10 minutes of stops vs in the past maybe 1-2 minutes. Also, the long descents are something I’ve just had to get used to. When possible, I do try and spin my legs even with little to no power, just to keep them moving some. I’m also a particularly terrible cramper, which these stops in pedaling can also have major impacts on. ---
**Author:** ![NigelTufnel11](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/nigeltufnel11/32/160164_2.png) [@NigelTufnel11](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/NigelTufnel11)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/5 "2026-10-06T18:11:52Z")
Without anything behind this but ‘anecdata’, I’d agree with the ‘cafe legs’ comment above. My feeling is that, effectively, the body looks at this period of coasting, after some exertion, as ‘going into a rest/recovery phase’, which makes it difficult to get started again, as the body has to ‘switch gears’. I feel that this is the factor that often makes rolling terrain feel more difficult than just doing a climb. At some level, I’d also says it’s not indifferent from having a bunch of tasks to get done around the house, and just plowing through all of them until you’re done, versus taking a break in the middle. My experience is that taking a break in the middle makes it much less likely that the rest of the tasks will actually get done. The practice of actually keeping some pressure on the legs during the descents seems like a good one. ---
**Author:** ![BobbyDropTables](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/bobbydroptables/32/159891_2.png) [@BobbyDropTables](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/BobbyDropTables)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/6 "2026-10-06T18:32:08Z")
Keeping the legs moving on the downhill would probably help clear the accumulated lactate versus just coasting. Agree with the comment above on keeping some resistance on the legs during the downhill. ---
**Author:** ![bicycleperson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/bicycleperson/32/177574_2.png) [@bicycleperson](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/bicycleperson)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/7 "2026-10-06T18:58:30Z")
There is lag between the recruitment of muscle fibers and the shuttling of blood to those muscle fibers. You see it in your heart rate but it also takes a bit of time for the muscles to re-engorge with blood to handle the load. Essentially your blood pressure drops and there is less blood in the tissue. You have to get that whole system going again. That’s why its common to find that, say, VO2 intervals separated by easy spins can seem harder than those same intervals separated by high endurance or tempo. Objectively you’d think that its more watts so it should be harder but the fact that you don’t spin down the mechanism completely means that when that second interval starts your muscles are still full of blood and ready to fucking go! ---
**Author:** ![cyclist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@cyclist](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/cyclist)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/8 "2026-10-06T21:15:16Z")
Cafe legs is “normal” to some degree, where you take a 20 minute break, eat a bunch of carbs, allow your body to shut down, etc. But simply not pedaling for a few minutes shouldn’t cause this. If it happens if you stop for a quick nature break, a coast downhill, or something short like that, it can be a strong sign that you are chronically under recovered or over reached. That said, a study on it would be very interesting!! ---
**Author:** ![ZHVelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ee59a6/32.png) [@ZHVelo](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/ZHVelo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/9 "2026-10-06T21:22:18Z")
I don’t usually get this outdoors (and I ride a lot up and down, so get a lot of rests). But indoors, if I take a short break, the session after can feel massively harder than prior. But I struggle riding indoors anyway. Mentally, as much as anything else too. Which might indicate it is a mental thing (even if subconscious). Your body and mind started believing it’s over. And then when it’s not it’s telling you to f off. ---
**Author:** ![TrekCentury](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/trekcentury/32/123801_2.png) [@TrekCentury](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/TrekCentury)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/10 "2026-10-06T22:09:19Z")
This happens to other people besides me? The older I get, the worse it becomes. On group no drop rides, I will pedal back to the last group to avoid stoping to wait for them. Ride circles until we are ready to continue. If not it takes about 5 to 10 min to get back where I can ride at speed . Ouch ---
**Author:** ![grwoolf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/grwoolf/32/7725_2.png) [@grwoolf](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/grwoolf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:38am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/11 "2026-10-07T01:38:00Z")
I think it’s a common phenomenon, very obvious after a store stop during a hard ride. But I also experience it at races/rides where there is a long climb and then descent with minimal pedaling. Always take a bit to get the engine going again when it’s been shut down for a bit. Here’s the explanation from the interweb (below). Hard to say how much of that is bro science vs. real, but most of it sounds reasonable. There is a bunch of stuff going on in your body to turn fat and oxygen into aerobic power and many of those processes aren’t switches that turn on and off instantly. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/4/6/46bdc3e82ec2b0b72ef3faf4e6fe4fdcde6f7fdc.png) ---
**Author:** ![GoLongThenGoHome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@GoLongThenGoHome](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/GoLongThenGoHome)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/12 "2026-10-07T08:24:27Z")
After less than two minutes you will still be carrying the fatigue of the 5 mile climb. Plus your skin and legs are now cold. Notice you also do not say what your LT1 or LT2 are, or what your TTE at 210W is. For one rider you might have been close to LT2, another cruising in Z2. Nor do you say what preceded the 5 mile climb. ---
**Author:** ![G7NXX](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/g7nxx/32/141175_2.png) [@G7NXX](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/G7NXX)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 10:54am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/13 "2026-10-07T10:54:36Z")
Cafe legs And the main reason why on long rides, id prefer not to stop where possible. Sub 30 second stops for feed stations etc are OK but anything longer than a few mins just doesnt feel productive to the effort. Makes the ride harder if anything ---
**Author:** ![splash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@splash](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/splash)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/bonking-after-resting-on-climbs/115192/14 "2026-10-07T11:33:30Z")
Might be good to mention that not everybody suffers from this. I’ve definitively had the ‘cafe legs’ feeling after a longer stop, but it usually passes in a few minutes. Short descents etc I just find restful, the less pedalling, the better. There is of course a growing fatigue with repeated efforts, both physically and mentally, but I can’t say I’ve ever thought the rest was at fault - rest is good in my book.