Alcohol and MTB

I recon i'd be dead if it were'nt for alchohol,i work my guts out all night in an intensely hot,stressful
environment doing very heavy physical work.then after a few hours of broken sleep i have to chase around after two teenagers who fight constantly,i have one or two glasses of red wine two or three nights a week and i'll usually drink a bottle on a saturday night.it is apart from my riding the most enjoyable thing i have.......
as for riding yeah it does affect the way you ride,if you can get a big sleep the night before a ride with little or no grog ,your gonna ride a lot better.
do DHillers drink more than Xc'rs? ,no i dont think so .........
 
I sometimes go 2 weeks at a time without a drink but I do LOVE a drink I just know what it does to the body as I have some friends who have destroyed lives due to it. I try NOT to keep some cold ones in the fridge because if I do... I will have a few each night, cant resist.

Mainly drink on Saturdays and have only rode hungover once.... never again as I nearly broke my wrist at You Yangs.

Alcohol effects every body organ, not just liver. It is a major diuretic which squeezes large amounts of fluid out of your body which leaves you massively dehydrated. The effects on the central nervous system the next day are great and the hypoglycemia leaves your blood empty of valuable glucose.

It also strips your liver of very valuable detoxification agents and enzymes which fuel, repair and process all the systems of our body's.
Having a good night sleep is impossible with a gut full of grog as the body will not enter the deepest stage of sleep and will be working hard all night to fight the alcohol, which the body takes as a toxin.

I would save hitting the piss for after a big ride as being hung over is the last thing you want when making split second decisions in remote area's.
 
pinkbike said:
The social side, once you stop drinking you realise just how many social events revolve around drunkeness.


I'm not sure I agree 100% on the drunkeness..but certainly most social events in my circle seem to revolve around drinking, ranging from a quick one on the way home after work to bitch about the boss, to the full on drunkeness that I am too old to enjoy (funny how knowing how much pain you will be in in the morning slows you down...)

I have been on "Dry July", and have been blown away by people's reactions...even though it is for a good cause, and really isn't that hard to do, it seems that having a month of no booze is seen as a bit, well, less than manly or somehow strange...and has made me realise that with 11 weeks and 6 days til the 24 solo worlds, I need to hang out with mates less and ride more to get away from the peer pressure side of things.
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I did the dry February, what I noticed was how habituated to drinking I was; along the lines of Friday = beer.

As to alcohols effect on sporting performance I know that if I have a race on Sunday, I can feel the effects of a big Friday. I go dry from mid-week for a big race.

Most weeks I have at least two or three AFD's, generally Monday to Wednesday.

I really like beer and will not be giving it up in the foreseeable future.
 
I've been do "Dry July" as well . It does feel different finishing a ride with mates and not having a few delightful beers.:p
 
alcohol definitely effects me the next day, unless it's 1-2 drinks.

I think the only benefit of being under the influence riding is that you fall better. You tend to be less stiff/rigid when you fall drunk, and many injuries that you would have sustained sober could have been worse, than if you were drunk. That said, you might not have fallen in the first place if you were sober.
 
Monks said:
alcohol definitely effects me the next day, unless it's 1-2 drinks.

I think the only benefit of being under the influence riding is that you fall better. You tend to be less stiff/rigid when you fall drunk, and many injuries that you would have sustained sober could have been worse, than if you were drunk. That said, you might not have fallen in the first place if you were sober.
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Many drunk drivers survive horrific crashes also as the body is limp and relaxed. And we would ride with more confidence if pissed!! Maybe we have now learnt to ride drunk and not hungover :rolleyes:
 
Drink two longnecks everyday, have done for years (never drink after dinner).Ride for fun,a little fitness, but definately for the rush!! Usually 2 to 3 rides a week,1 x trail, 2 x something more dh-ish.. cheers, Rick, 47 yr old plumber ! :):):)
 
I love to drink, no doubt about it. This is where riding or working out act as a distraction and keep me one the straight and narrow.I drink on a Friday night and almost always feel disappointment on a Saturday morning. It's just that there is so much to cram into the weekend, swimming lessons,shopping, riding, lawns and i just don't have the time to spend on a hang over .
I drink beer and red wine, but in reality there really is nothing i wouldn't drink ;). Does drinking affect my riding? Sure does, i can really notice a drop in VO2Max and strength.
 
Well, it's been a while since I've been on Farkin. Nice to see another interesting section of the forums open up, namely this one, even though it really hits home how old I am now considering I'm deep in the "vets" territory now.

Hugor said:
How many AFD's (alcohol free days) would you have per week?
Whats your favourite beverage?
Do you notice a decrease in your performance if you've been drinking the day/night before?
Do you think drinking with the boys after a hard ride affects your recovery the following day?
Anything else alcohol related?
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This will even be a little bit of a confessional for me.
This current situation for me has only come about in the last 4 years:
I have usual zero AFD's a week.
My favourite beverage by far is bourbon. Usually mixed with cola.
I don't know about a decrease in my riding performance since about 4 years ago my riding tapered off to nearly zero for mountainbiking, although I still ride 50km back/forth to work every day.
I've been drinking so much now that I think my body has actually adjusted (physical performance-wise) to the alcohol. However, my cognitive performance, and this is important since I'm a programmer, has probably suffered.
I might add more later.
 
Good to hear you're giving it some, Techno!:)

I drink every night, and a lot of afternoons as I mainly work from home and the fridge is too close to the office. Maybe I should think about relocating?? I only drink beer, and drink a shit load of water also.

It's my birthday today, and I'm officially the oldest woman in the village (43) and I've just come back from a dandy little street ride around the beach. I don't get to ride as much as I used to with teens etc, but I would never let booze get in the way of a good pedal. I just combine them....

Like techno, I feel I've become almost immune to the effects of alcohol, but do notice it if we have a morning ride and the others are hammering it. But I choose to ride at my own pace and remember to enjoy it!

There is nothing better than hooking up for beers after a long trail ride that's for sure.

I say each to their own - and more of it!!!
 
I drink daily and sometimes hit it hard on the weekends meaning I have missed quite a few Sunday rides laying in bed feeling like crap. Not good when you only get one chance to ride all week and you write it off. Have recently decided to lay off the beers during the week and only have a few on the weekend. Have definitely been sleeping better and not missed any weekend rides. Even lost a little of the love handles which is always good.

I agree Sutek nothing beats a coldie after a long hot ride!
 
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Sutek said:
It's my birthday today, and I'm officially the oldest woman in the village (43)
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not quite - i turned 46 yesterday :) happy birthday, Sutek :)

speaking as a bmx-er here:

How many AFD's (alcohol free days) would you have per week? i try to have at least three but it doesn't always work out that way.

Whats your favourite beverage? red wine. i gave up spirits and beer a long time ago, they just don't agree with me, more so as i get older.

Do you notice a decrease in your performance if you've been drinking the day/night before? absolutely. i generally don't drink more than two glasses of wine on a Thursday night at Muso night, but when i don't, i notice less wobble on the start gate at racing and more stamina, more consistent pedalling.

Do you think drinking with the boys after a hard ride affects your recovery the following day? considering alcohol is a neurotoxin and beer especially is an inflammatory agent, yes, i would think so. a couple shouldn't particularly hurt, but i wouldn't tie one on.

Anything else alcohol related? my family tree also harbours a fair few alcoholics, my stepfather died at 45 and my mother at 53 from alcohol-related health issues. there's been times of intense stress like divorce where my usage has crept up on me, but i always manage to pull it back. having said that, i didn't drink at all from the time i had my kids till my youngest was 13.
 
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saw this quote recently on the topic and quite like it...and trying to have a lot less...


"This is what i tell my friends when they ask why, i say "whats the point of drinking, a) you are spending your hard earned cash b) the next day you feel crap and c) it adds unnecessary calories. Then i ask them "if i said give me 20 bucks and i will give you a tablet that will make you feel great now but rubbish in the morning oh and you are gonna put weight on would you do it. No of course not."
 
Man I use to drink till dawn,in my 20's but I've had my fill, drinking doesn't have the draw it use to. I train and race (not just xc/enduro stuff) a fair bit now so drinking hasn't got a place or a time in my life at the moment. Not to say it wont happen again I'm no wowser or a born again type, but being older time gets a bit precious to waste on hangovers and boozing. But geezers I have murdered a few beers in my day.:p
 
Apparently the wife n I are doing a dry July thing.
Starting tomorrow so we can get pissed for our 7th anniversary on the 20th July....

Hmm, will be interesting.
 
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