Smoking & Cycling

snafu said:

Just wonder how may people smoke and cycle? Do you believe it hinders your cycling ability if so to what extent.

I smoke a pipe... but not when I'm cycling. I should also mention that I cycle for fun and not for competition. That said, I've been inspired to train for a triathlon. Whether I continue to smoke a pipe remains to be seen.

snafu said:

Just wonder how may people smoke and cycle? Do you believe it hinders your cycling ability if so to what extent.

I smoke, but not tobacco...................420!

I smoked for the first year or so I started riding seriously (read got good bikes), and had for 9 or 10 years before that. I actually used to smoke while we were out mountain biking and still smoked all my friends. I've always been fairly fit, so that may have something to do with it. It's now been 310 days since I quit, and the aerobic differance is quite large. I noticed it the most on long steady rides. On shorter climbs, I would just mash & go anaerobic so it didn't (doesn't) matter much. But on quicker (15MPH+) road rides & can breathe better and it rocks!!

snafu said:

Just wonder how may people smoke and cycle? Do you believe it hinders your cycling ability if so to what extent.

I smoked for 25+ years but finally managed to give it up...in no small part due to the fact I'm biking on a regular basis. And yes, it made a huge difference in my ability to bike once I gave up the smokes.

Feeling good.....

I'm still smoking - I've been dieting and exercising for almost a year now and have lost almost 100 pounds. I tried to quit a few times but failed. Each time I quit I started to gain weight. There's nothing worse than failing at 2 things you'd really like to do at the same time! Now I've decided to go down about 25 more pounds then give quitting an all out effort. And if I gain ten pounds I'll just knock it off!!

I smoked for 14+ years (20 to 25 a day) and did road and mountain biking. I just celebrated my 15th month smoke free. The difference is huge. When I quit, I too gained weight. I was up to 215lbs (6ft tall). Through a healthy diet and exercise, (cycling and running) I am down in the 185 - 190 range and feel better than ever.

If you really want to break the nicotine addiction, my advise is to not worry about weight gain. When you stop the smoking and continue the cycling, you will notice the benefits and want to cycle all the more. 😄

Cheers
Dave

snafu said:

Just wonder how may people smoke and cycle? Do you believe it hinders your cycling ability if so to what extent.

Smoke ? Just the tire baby!

snafu said:

Just wonder how may people smoke and cycle? Do you believe it hinders your cycling ability if so to what extent.

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I can't believe that ANYONE here actually smokes. Ugh! Smoking killed my father, who died of lung cancer in early 1999. This is one filthy, disgusting, deadly habit.

I tried to edit my post but couldnt because I waited too long. I dont mean to offend anyone, its just that this is a very touchy subject for me because of my father's death from lung cancer.

I applaud anyone who quits, I know how hard it was for my father when he tried.

HellonWheels said:

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I can't believe that ANYONE here actually smokes. Ugh! Smoking killed my father, who died of lung cancer in early 1999. This is one filthy, disgusting, deadly habit.

You're right. And I'm going to quit! In fact I'm taking my last puff right now and then I'm heading out to buy some nicotine patches!

portrider said:

You're right. And I'm going to quit! In fact I'm taking my last puff right now and then I'm heading out to buy some nicotine patches!

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All RIGHT! Hey if you want, email me I can give you some good ideas that work for quitting. It involves positive thinking taken to an extreme, and it worked for me in my life in some really difficult situations involving bad habits. It worked for a friend who quit smoking 6 years ago after I told her what to do.

zaskar said:

I smoke, but not tobacco...................420!

whacky tabakeeeeeeee!
hahah
seriously thou
any type of smoking kills your lungs in the seirous climbs...

portrider said:

You're right. And I'm going to quit! In fact I'm taking my last puff right now and then I'm heading out to buy some nicotine patches!

Here are a couple of great websites to really learn about nicotine addiction and how to break it. They also offer a program to quit which was successful for me.

www.whyquit.com
www.lungusa.org - go to the Freedom from Smoking Link

Cheers

izzodesh said:

whacky tabakeeeeeeee!
hahah
seriously thou
any type of smoking kills your lungs in the seirous climbs...

Portrider...figure out how much you spend biweekly on the smokes. Go to the bicycle shop and pick out your new sweet ride. **Every** payday, go slap the money you would have spent on smoke on the ride. Then in those moments when you're having a "moment", haul out the receipt and take a look. So far, I've bought my bike, kid bike, BOB trailer and one for hubby is next.

Portrider, try doing this. It worked for me with other stuff, and worked for my friend Rose, she quit 7 years or so ago!

EVERY morning, look in the mirror and say to yourself, I AM A NONSMOKER. Do this no matter what. Focus, concentrate as you have never concentrated on anything before. CONTINUALLY tell yourself this even if you pick up a cigarette. Do this enough and you will find yourself ACTING as a nonsmoker. It really works, esp. if you are a highly suggestible person. May sound New Agey but it really does work.

I've cycled as a smoker and as a non smoker and the difference I noticed was mostly in how I felt than in my actual performance. I think I was able to ride just as hard as a smoker but my lungs felt a lot worse.

And here's how I quit smoking. It's based on the analogy that nicotine addiction is like a popup for some free software. You get the popup in your mind however long after your last cigarette and it says "Would you like to smoke a cigarette?" And you can select "Yes" or "Remind me later." And remind me later is any excuse to not smoke at that moment.. one may be that you're quitting.. it doesn't matter. Then over the next few days the popup will keep coming more and more frequently, peak, and then start appearing less frequently. After a week has gone by it'll appear a maximum of two times in a day. After three weeks it may not appear at all.

So if you want to quit, just treat it like a waiting game. When the popup shows up, find ANY reason not to smoke at that moment.

And this may help some people. Get some free form L-Tyrosine and put a few grams into your sports drink or your drink mix before a strenuous ride. It'll help synthesize and release a lot more endorphines. A hellish ride in the morning with L-Tyrosine once as a smoker and I forgot to smoke all day.

HellonWheels said:

Portrider, try doing this. It worked for me with other stuff, and worked for my friend Rose, she quit 7 years or so ago!

EVERY morning, look in the mirror and say to yourself, I AM A NONSMOKER. Do this no matter what. Focus, concentrate as you have never concentrated on anything before. CONTINUALLY tell yourself this even if you pick up a cigarette. Do this enough and you will find yourself ACTING as a nonsmoker. It really works, esp. if you are a highly suggestible person. May sound New Agey but it really does work.

Thanks - day 2 and so far so good. I'm going to need everyones help in quitting. If you could email me a message to keep going I think it would be a great help. [email hidden]

portrider said:

Thanks - day 2 and so far so good. I'm going to need everyones help in quitting. If you could email me a message to keep going I think it would be a great help. [email hidden]

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Done! Keep uo the good work!

"Nothing is impossible to a willing mind".--Books of the Han Dynasty

Hello all, I am new here as you can see, this forum is set up excactly like the art forum I belong to, love this one so far.
Yes I do smoke, and it is a embarrasing thing at this point, that's why I am starting to ride again with hopes of finally quiting for good. Tommorow I am picking up my new wheels, Trek 1700 or 7200 don't know yet, can't wait.

Regards Tony