Training & Nutrition - Anyone here smoke and ride?

How do you do it?

I haven;t smoked in years, and never really smoked at the same time as I rode, seeing riding as a countermeasure to smoking. but during those rare times I did smoke and ride, I really noticed it when I did (and I was younger then and more able to take it).

Don't get me wrong, I don;t judge any of you (and used-to-be-me) smokers. I know all too well the hook it puts in you. I went back and forth, and for years fell into a smoking trough should something stressfull happen. I put it down to an addictive personality. But like I said, I really never could ride and smoke at the same period of time. I found it just sapped my energy too much.

Yup, though not 'while' riding. I never really give it a thought, unless I am huffing my butt up a climb, in which case I never fail to vow to quit. ;) But I also tick off my doctor every time I take one of those pulmonary capacity tests and do better than most non-smokers.

I smoke about a pack a day and ride. Like chipcom, I do ok on flats but really feel it on climbs. I've been enjoying the post-ride pre-cigarette clean feeling in the lungs a lot lately. I'm hoping that getting a real road bike and getting into racing will be good motivation to quit.

I never smoke but on a rare special occasion, I will vaporize.

Quit cigarettes a few months ago but I smoke on occasion. Maybe once a week, if that.

Gave up cigs about 6 years ago, but confess to imbibing in other types of smoke;)

Even as little as that is, I will notice it the next day.

The second smartest thing I have done in the last half century was quit smoking.
Quit. Don't **** around, just quit. Watching someone die from cancer just sucks.

Watching someone die from cancer just sucks.

I speak from expeience in seconding that.

I smoke a pipe sometimes on bike rides, but usually not while I'm actually riding. The logistics of that are a bit too complex. I usually go with a Virginia/Oriental blend that's heavy on the Turkish and easy on the tongue. The big risk is burning your mouth. Frog Morton On the Town is a great blend for a ride or hike.

I smoke a pipe sometimes on bike rides, but usually not while I'm actually riding. The logistics of that are a bit too complex. I usually go with a Virginia/Oriental blend that's heavy on the Turkish and easy on the tongue. The big risk is burning your mouth. Frog Morton On the Town is a great blend for a ride or hike.
I've got a soft spot for Esoterica's Pembroke -- especially in Autumn here. I don't smoke that either though. Just heat it to volatilize the aromatics.

Don't **** around, just quit.

Best advice I have heard yet. I admit that I smoke. I have been wanting to quit for a while but never really follow through with it. But you are right. Just need to say forget it all and finaly do it.

How I quit.

1. (most important step here) Decide that you will never smoke again. Really
2. Pick a weekend to do it. I picked Labor Day weekend 'cause it was 3 days.
3. Buy nicotine gum.
4. Before going to bed the night before, destroy all tobacco products, throw away all matches, lighters, ashtrays
5. Get up on Quit Day and hang on.
6. Drink lots of water. Chew some of the gum.
7. When you really want to smoke, get on the bike and ride till it hurts.
8. Take a nap.
9. Chew some more gum.
10. Go to bed early.
11. Day One is over.
12. Repeat above until urges are gone.
13. Congratulate yourself often.

Quit cigarettes a few months ago but I smoke on occasion. Maybe once a week, if that.

Then you did not quit, you just cut down. Don't kid yourself.

I quit tobacco 24 years ago. I no longer smoke cigarettes.

Then you did not quit, you just cut down. Don't kid yourself.

I quit tobacco 24 years ago. I no longer smoke cigarettes.


There is a difference between an addiction and a vice. One can drink, smoke, have sex, watch sports, etc without necessarily being an addict and 'unable' to stop.

Carbondale is right. Quitting is all about substitution. That's lesson 1. If you've been an addict, then you're either abstinent or you're not. That's lesson 2. If you're not an addict, then cut it out! The physical addiction to nicotine only lasts 3 days. After that, it's just the mental part.

And yes, any sort of a smoke will take down your performance the next day. Alcohol is poison. Don't use it the day before an important ride.

There is a difference between an addiction and a vice. One can drink, smoke, have sex, watch sports, etc without necessarily being an addict and 'unable' to stop.

99% of smokers are unable to handle nicotine as a "vice"...if that guy is still smoking a few times per week, then he's still an addict, and I predict (based on personal experience) that he'll find himself smoking more than that soon.

FWIW, it takes most successful quitters many attempts before they finally shake the addiction. One of my "quits" was for a year...then I had a stressful bit, picked up "just one pack of smokes to see what they taste like", and was hooked for another year.

Thankfully, I haven't had one of those smelly, toxic, cancer-causing pieces of sh*t in 16 years. And, I live in California, where I rarely have to smell cigarette smoke at all, due to stringent laws prohibiting smoking in public places.

How I quit.

1. (most important step here) Decide that you will never smoke again. Really
2. Pick a weekend to do it. I picked Labor Day weekend 'cause it was 3 days.
3. Buy nicotine gum.
4. Before going to bed the night before, destroy all tobacco products, throw away all matches, lighters, ashtrays
5. Get up on Quit Day and hang on.
6. Drink lots of water. Chew some of the gum.
7. When you really want to smoke, get on the bike and ride till it hurts.
8. Take a nap.
9. Chew some more gum.
10. Go to bed early.
11. Day One is over.
12. Repeat above until urges are gone.
13. Congratulate yourself often.

Excellent advice. I would add a couple of items:

14. Form a really, really negative association with cigarettes. Think of them as evil, putrid, death-dealing pieces of sh*t that are turning your insides black and poisoning you. You want to have a strong visceral reaction to them, to the extent that thinking about smoking makes you want to puke.

15. Be very careful after you've quite for 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, and 6 months. It's very easy to think "I've got this thing whipped" and "I wonder how just one would taste with a beer?", and fall off the wagon (ask me how I know this....:mad: ).

16. Like they do in Alcoholic's Anonymous, admit to yourself that you can't "have just one". Nicotine is a very powerful addictive substance (it's been compared to crack cocaine). And while it can be beat, it's easy availability means that to successfully quit you need to remain vigilant...especially if you live in one of those ******** states that still permit smoking in public places.

Best of luck to everyone who decides to quit...the bike can really help with that. You won't believe how much more energy and stamina you'll have after a few months of not sucking down that stupid poison.

99% of smokers are unable to handle nicotine as a "vice"...if that guy is still smoking a few times per week, then he's still an addict, and I predict (based on personal experience) that he'll find himself smoking more than that soon.

FWIW, it takes most successful quitters many attempts before they finally shake the addiction. One of my "quits" was for a year...then I had a stressful bit, picked up "just one pack of smokes to see what they taste like", and was hooked for another year.

Thankfully, I haven't had one of those smelly, toxic, cancer-causing pieces of sh*t in 16 years. And, I live in California, where I rarely have to smell cigarette smoke at all, due to stringent laws prohibiting smoking in public places.

I don't buy the 99%, especially if you include ALL smokers, including cigars and pipes. Some folks either don't ever get addicted or they manage to reduce their dependence to the point where it's more of a vice. My grandpa was a good example - smoking his pipe was a Sunday after dinner thing, never touched it otherwise. Indeed, speaking of grandfathers, does smoking a ceremonial pipe, as part of a ceremony of course, make all Native Americans who do so addicted to smoking? Saying that anyone who smokes is an addict is like saying that everyone who takes a drink is an alcoholic.

I don't buy the 99%, especially if you include ALL smokers, including cigars and pipes. Some folks either don't ever get addicted or they manage to reduce their dependence to the point where it's more of a vice. My grandpa was a good example - smoking his pipe was a Sunday after dinner thing, never touched it otherwise. Indeed, speaking of grandfathers, does smoking a ceremonial pipe, as part of a ceremony of course, make all Native Americans who do so addicted to smoking? Saying that anyone who smokes is an addict is like saying that everyone who takes a drink is an alcoholic.

Nicotine is a powerful addictive substance, especially when delivered in cigarette form. I'll stand by my assertion that 99% of cigarette smokers have an "addiction", and not a "vice".

Ceremonial usage in Native American rituals, plus all cigar and pipe usage, probably represents less than 1% of all nicotine consumption in this country. And, no, I don't consider those who smoke a pipe during a ritual ceremony, or a pipe on Sunday afternoons only, as "addicts"...but, the vast majority of cigarette smokers *are* addicts, whether they like to admit it or not.

I smoked my last cigarette on March 8, 2006. That's about 86 days ago. I used the cold turkey method. Had previously smoked for about 35 years.

Here's an excellent website with hundreds of articles and a forum.concerning how to quit smoking. The Dr that owns this website says smoking is not a habit. It's definately an addiction.

Here's the link to the website. WhyQuit (http://www.whyquit.com/)

Here's another good stop smoking forum. Stop Smoking Center (http://www.stopsmokingcenter.net/)

So for those that really want to stop smoking. These 2 forums can really help.

Excellent advice. I would add a couple of items:

14. Form a really, really negative association with cigarettes. Think of them as evil, putrid, death-dealing pieces of sh*t that are turning your insides black and poisoning you. You want to have a strong visceral reaction to them, to the extent that thinking about smoking makes you want to puke.

15. Be very careful after you've quite for 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, and 6 months. It's very easy to think "I've got this thing whipped" and "I wonder how just one would taste with a beer?", and fall off the wagon (ask me how I know this....:mad: ).

16. Like they do in Alcoholic's Anonymous, admit to yourself that you can't "have just one". Nicotine is a very powerful addictive substance (it's been compared to crack cocaine). And while it can be beat, it's easy availability means that to successfully quit you need to remain vigilant...especially if you live in one of those ******** states that still permit smoking in public places.

Best of luck to everyone who decides to quit...the bike can really help with that. You won't believe how much more energy and stamina you'll have after a few months of not sucking down that stupid poison.

I would also like to add a few. I smoked for seven years, then quit cold turkey. As I was quitting, I was running and smoking (not at the same time). That was 4 years ago. This is what helped me:

17. Quit smoking during a busy/stressful time in your life. When you are actively focussing on other problems or issues, quitting smoking just doesn't seem as awful in comparison. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but staying really busy and distracted really helped.

18. Go into the quit knowing it will be the most difficult thing you may have to do in your life, but leave no option for failure. People who set themselves up with 'it will be easy', or 'this is hard and I may cheat' generally fail. I prepared for quitting smoking like I was going to war. It helped to steal my resolve. I knew that failure would be a choice that I made, not somthing that 'happened'. I chose not to make that choice.

19. Remember that if you cheat, you have to go back to the beginning and do it again. If you think day 1 was hard, and you cheat on day 2, you have to go back and do day 1 over again. That was enough to keep me straight. I heard a statistic that said that people who cheat in the first two weeks are much more likely to start smoking again within 6 months. The 'forever' part is very scary, so I said - no cheating for 6 months. After 6 months, I certainly didn't want a cig!

20. Some people think "why bother quitting if I'm always going to crave cigs?" This was my worry. I didn't want to 'want them' all the time! I thought, 'how can I have fun without them?" Rest assured, a day comes when you are as much a non-smoker as you ever were a smoker, and you don't crave them, think about them, or want them. After a year of being a non-smoker, smoking literally digusted me, and made me sick. I can't cheat now - I feel like vomiting if I have one.

21. Exercise was the single most important factor in keeping me going - if I didn't overhaul my health from A-Z, I wouldn't have had the motivation to stay quit.

22. Drink water, and brush your teeth often. Feeling clean helped me fight the urge to smoke.

Good luck to anyone who tries to quit - and even if you do fail, just remember that any less cigarettes smoked is good, and the more often we practice quitting, the better at it we become!!

I quit smoking 28 years ago.

I started when I was 14 years old with my cousin Ruben who was 16. We were both in our 20's when we were up to 3 packs a day.

I quit and he continued. He died 2 years ago at the age of 58 from emphysema. His last 5 years of his life were spent walking around with an oxygen tank, unable to make it up stairs without panting. His death was excrutiatingly painful.

I quit cold turkey, because they had no nicotine supplements at that time. It was the single most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. It took 2 weeks of constant urges before I quit thinking about cigaretts every second of the day. I dreamt about smoking. I woke in the middle of the night and started scavenging my garbage looking for a butt.

For those of you who smoke, I know how difficult it is to stop. But you really have no choice. I'm not making a moral judgement here. It simply is the right thing to do.

I quit smoking almost 7 years ago. Smartest thing I ever did....that and losing 230 lbs.

How do you do it?

I haven;t smoked in years, and never really smoked at the same time as I rode, seeing riding as a countermeasure to smoking. but during those rare times I did smoke and ride, I really noticed it when I did (and I was younger then and more able to take it).



When I see someone smoking and riding, I always assume they got a DUI and are riding to work because they have to, not by choice.

I smoked a pack a day for about five years, about 15 years ago. Must say, I loved cigs, but I'm sure glad I was able to give them up. Good luck to everyone's who's trying to. You can do it.

I smoked my last cigarette on March 8, 2006. That's about 86 days ago. I used the cold turkey method. Had previously smoked for about 35 years.Congratulations, that's great!

I quit almost 15 years ago, after smoking for about 10. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, hands down. For the longest time I said to myself that if I could make it one year, I'd have a cigarette on the anniversary to celebrate. :rolleyes: Luckily, I had realized by then that with cigarettes I'm like an alcoholic--I simply can't have "one" because it'll be a downward spiral.

To add to the tips already given in this thread...The one thing that helped me more than anything else was when I really wanted one, I'd take like a pretend puff: I'd suck in and hold it for a second and then let it out, as if I were actually smoking. It seemed to relax me and although obviously it wasn't the same, it was close enough to get me through those wild moments of Got To Have One NOW!

I also quit cold turkey; I threw away half a pack of cigarettes on the way to Vegas and that was that. I cannot tell a lie, though; if someone told me the earth was ending tomorrow I'd probably buy a pack on my way to the party. :p

Never tobacco, pot maybe 2-3 times a week. Unless I really overdo it, which is rare, I don't notice any decrease in performance really. If you're going to smoke, get something out of it.

How I quit.
1. (most important step here) Decide that you will never smoke again. Really


This is what worked for me (it has been 2 years since I had a cig.)

1.5 wks into my quitting (using the Commit lozenges). Never really felt like the smoking hurt me on the bike, but knew I had to give it up. I do admit to feeling noticably better but bike performance hasn't changed yet (at least none that I could tell).

Like a few others have said, I still partake of the "other" smoking every now and then.

This is what worked for me (it has been 2 years since I had a cig.)

:beer:

I totally noticed a difference in performance when I quit. I had thought I hit a ceiling in what I could do. Then I stopped f@$&ing around and quit the weekend partying with all the smoking and drinking. My game went to an all new level.

Absolutely in making a definite decision, including one that says if you ever have a cigarette, you have to start quitting all over again.

It is also a good idea to tell all those around you that you are quitting. Those who are compassionate and helpful - let them live. Those who give you a hard time - well, you got to get the irritation out somewhere...

For 15 years I dipped snuff (Copenhagen) up to August 1, 1996. Quit cold turkey. And yes i was doing training rides while getting a tobacco buzz. I quit because my then girlfriend (now wife) caught me and said it was her or the tobacco. Basically a no brainers. One week off the stuff and I took a 4th place in a sprint at a Greenbelt training race. My best result up to that time. It was all the motivation i needed to never touch the stuff again. And i hav'nt.

I quit 13 years ago when my grandfather asked me to carry his coffin to his grave. He hadn't smoked in a few years but still developed terminal lung cancer. Guess in the ole days those hand rolled smokes were strong.
As I was lighting up he looked me straight in eye and says..."You know those things killed me don't ya?"
It was pretty hard to have someone so close to me ask me to put him in the ground...so...I tossed the smokes and have NEVER lit up again.
You don't need all the gum and patches to quit. BUT YOU DO HAVE TO WANT TO QUIT....SERIOUSLY WANT TO QUIT. And don't let your so called "freinds" try to tell you that one won't hurt. That'll put you right back at square one. Just toss 'em and never look back. The urges will slowly go away even after the nicotine has left the body...REMEMBER...after a few days it's all mental.

BTW. Since quitting my lung capacity has shot up and I can sprint like a mad dog!

Good luck to any one trying to quit.

But I also tick off my doctor every time I take one of those pulmonary capacity tests and do better than most non-smokers.

I hear this a lot from smokers... I just figured they all check out Snopes on a regular basis.
Ranks right up there with "I can quit anytime I want to"

I quit 2 years ago after 42 years of smoking. One thing that helped me was when I realized that I was under no obligation to become an anti-smoking crusader if I quit. I just stopped.

I quit 13 years ago when my grandfather asked me to carry his coffin to his grave. He hadn't smoked in a few years but still developed terminal lung cancer. Guess in the ole days those hand rolled smokes were strong.
As I was lighting up he looked me straight in eye and says..."You know those things killed me don't ya?"
It was pretty hard to have someone so close to me ask me to put him in the ground...so...I tossed the smokes and have NEVER lit up again.
You don't need all the gum and patches to quit. BUT YOU DO HAVE TO WANT TO QUIT....SERIOUSLY WANT TO QUIT. And don't let your so called "friends" try to tell you that one won't hurt. That'll put you right back at square one. Just toss 'em and never look back. The urges will slowly go away even after the nicotine has left the body...REMEMBER...after a few days it's all mental.

BTW. Since quitting my lung capacity has shot up and I can sprint like a mad dog!

Good luck to any one trying to quit.



My father, like your grandfather, died of lung cancer after he had quit smoking. He'd quit for six years, and had smoked a pipe all his life (usually considered "safer" than cigarettes - a bit like cigars, I suppose). He was healthy enough even when he smoked, but after he quit, it seemed he had a full and active life ahead of him. Well, at only 64 he was in the ground, or rather (ironically), up in smoke. He never got to see my sister's girl grow up, never got to see my two daughters. All because of that damned pipe. He did better than his father, though, who was dead at 60, not from cancer, admittedly, but from pnumonia brought on by nearly 50 years of smoking.
Like I said in the original thread, I used to smoke, so know the hold it has on smokers. But, as my friend always told me, the joy is not really in the act of smoking, it;s in the stopping of the craving. It's like wearing a really tight pair of shoes only for the pleasure of taking them off. That thought helped me a lot when I was quitting, and if I was ever tempted, I used to contemplate how that temptation I felt at the time would, if I gave into it, be crystalised into a solid craving the next morning, instead of just evaporating into the ether, as most temptations do if ignored.

Since I started commuting by cycle again after 10 years of sloth (12.5 miles each way, fairly hilly) a few weeks back, I'm down from 20 skinny roll-ups a day to 5: wakeup, arrive at work, lunchtime, clock off, arrive home. And about half the time that's 4 as I often don't get a lunchbreak.

Haven't had a problem cutting down at all, but then back when I smoked cigarettes I could smoke a pack of Marlboroughs or a pack of Silk Cut Silver (as much nicotine total as 2 Marlys) a day and not notice the difference. I realise this may be contentious, but on this basis I concluded that nicotine isn't nearly as addictive as a lot of people make out.

I know lots of people who only smoke socially - my g/f for instance might have 1 or 2 if we go down the pub at the weekend, but that's it. I never smoke around non-smokers or children, and never in the house.

Why don't I give up completely? Same reason I'll have a glass or two of wine in the evening, and a few pints over the weekend down the local: I enjoy it.

Am I an idiot? Maybe. Am I enjoying life? Damn right I am. :)

I ride for a living and I smoke. Not sure I understand the question really. Ive had to go thru quite the conditioning process going from zero to 300 miles a week at age 35, but the issue of smoking or not never really was something I figured was a big problem. I climb hills and ride just fine, heck the lat race I was in I sat in the pack and finished and my HR never got over 150 while some guys DNF'd. Would I be faster without smoking? Dunno, might find that out someday. I do know this, massive amounts of exercise does wonders, and I usually have more problems with even small diet changes than anything else. I'd rather not give up caffeine or nicotine though, only two vices I have left and I like them :)

I ride for a living and I smoke. Not sure I understand the question really. Ive had to go thru quite the conditioning process going from zero to 300 miles a week at age 35, but the issue of smoking or not never really was something I figured was a big problem. I climb hills and ride just fine, heck the lat race I was in I sat in the pack and finished and my HR never got over 150 while some guys DNF'd. Would I be faster without smoking?

Duh! Ya think? :rolleyes:

Watching someone die from cancer just sucks.

+1

To add to the tips already given in this thread...The one thing that helped me more than anything else was when I really wanted one, I'd take like a pretend puff: I'd suck in and hold it for a second and then let it out, as if I were actually smoking. It seemed to relax me and although obviously it wasn't the same, it was close enough to get me through those wild moments of Got To Have One NOW!



My father knows the cigarettes are killing him(two heart attacks, three stents) but he says he LOVES to smoke and the habit of smoking, lighting up, holding the cigarette, etc. is so ingrained in him he doesn't know what he'd do with his hands(insert joke here). Plus, he's now so angry at all the anti-smoking campaigns he's acting like it's his duty to keep the tobacco company in business. He got his office at work moved to the smoking trailer. His house smells like a giant ashtray and my wife and I can hardly stand to visit. When he wakes up in the morning, he lights up and that first puff sends him hacking, gacking, coughing, and what sounds like him puking his guts out. That goes on for several minutes and makes my skin crawl. He won't go anywhere unless he's sure he can light up. The last time he went to a restaurant with us, I thought he was going to climb the walls because he had to go an hour without a cigarette.

If you give up think of the bikes that you can afford with the money saved instead of burning it.

Only idiots smoke.
________

Unfortunately, as you can see from my avatar, I am one of those idiots.

I have gone cold turkey, had patches, acupuncture, hypnosis, and everything.

I even learnt to juggle with 3 balls to have something to do with my hands when the cravings hit.

Guess I'm weak.

I have smoked for over 30 years, and I wish I didn't start.

The best way to give up

Don't start smoking in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

george