Fifty Plus (50+) - Smoker? Time to fess up

Over in the Road Forum, everyone's favorite 50+er has started a thread about who smokes. Since smoking was a different matter to our generation, I'd kind of like to know who here smokes, or used to smoke.

I, for one, have never touched the stuff and got the C anyway.

FYI -- Here was a closed poll and thread from a couple of years ago. Lots of folks have come and gone since then.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=229974&highlight=cigarette

30 years at a pack a day rate. Quit in 1992.

All my C has been sun related!

I smoked a pipe from my 18th birthday in 1975 until 2002 when a neurosurgeon told me he would not operate on me if i kept smoking due to the negative effect it has on bone growth. I needed the 2 bone grafts in my lower back to be able to walk, walking won. I miss the calming effect and the taste of the special blends I smoked but not the aftertaste, coughing or sinus problems. Riding is much more pleasurable for a calming effect.:thumb: I still have all my pipes, U.S.M.C. lighter, racks, humidor and pouch.:rolleyes:

Bill

Have never smoked. And am never around tobacco smoke. Have grown very sensitive to it over the years, to the point where I have a hard time eating at an outdoor picnic if there are any smokers within about 3 tables from me. Can't even go into restaurants that allow smoking as my eyes start burning within 30 seconds or so.

I tried to become a smoker in college, the exact reason escapes me. That lasted about a month. I could not under stand why anybody in thier right mind would send that kind of cash to smell so bad all the time.
And this happend in 1975, with the price of cigaretts today, I stil can't make sense of why anybody would want to smoke.

Ex-smoker (worst kind of non-smoker) snuck cigarettes out and smoked them as a kid (9-10 years old) quit a while. Entered the Army at 17 and smoked a bunch.

Probably haven't had a smoke in 18+ years. If my Dr ever tells me I only have 6 months to live, I'll smoke them two at a time until the day I die.

That dern Cigar fad has almost snagged me a couple of times; I'm sure I could "smoke just a few" and keep it under control.:rolleyes:

Did. Don't now. (28 years)

Used to been off over 6 years now

I smoked for way too many years, tried to quit and failed quite a few times (I think I was sincerely trying...). One day my wife announced that we were going to a hypnosis session being held at an auditorium. I laughed and told her it was BS and a waste of money. But I went and on the way out I pitched my pack and lighter in the trash and never wanted a cigarette again. And I don't mind being around people smoking, the smell doesn't bother me, I didn't turn into a Nazi or anything. Just quit. That was somewhere around 1985, so I'm pretty over it.

Smoked for twenty-two years. Haven't smoked for twenty years now. I'm one of those ex-smokers that can't stand to be around smoke and find it repulsive.

Did in my stupid years . . . before I grew a brain (20s) . . . thankfully quit by 30 . . . never did enjoy it that much, mainly on weekends . . . and with a beer . . . typical ex-smoker now, can't stand to be around second-hand smoke . . . *L*

Are we talkin the legal substance here?

About 3 pack-years of tobacco abuse. Last cigarette smoked in 1976.

I started smoking at 18... after all of the warnings were on the packs. Such a stupid mistake.

I smoked for about 18 years. Typically about a pack per day.

I quit about 15 years ago... In 3 years, my life will be divided evenly into thirds of non-smoker/smoker/ex-smoker :)

Always felt I owed it to my father not to start. He'd smoked for about 40 years, but quit when I was in Jr. High, after reading some of the scientific evidence about it -- took up chewing instead. Got lung cancer when I was in college. Lived about a year and a half after diagnosis. I hope young people find better things to spend their money and energy on.

I've always enjoyed the smell of pipe smoke (but can't stand cigarettes). So I casually smoked a pipe in college. Very casually... as in rarely.

A few years ago I found that old pipe... went down to the store and bought some cherry blend and lit up. Smoked one pipe full and got sick and puked.

I grabbed that pipe and tobacco and tossed it in the trash!

:o

I started at age 11 and by the time I was in college I was smoking two packs a day. That tapered down to about a pack a day after office buildings went smoke free in the '90's. All that I would smoke was non-filtered Lucky Strikes - if I bummed a Marlboro, I'd tear the filter off it. I tried to quit several times; tried patches, gum, wellbutrin, hypnosis, all to no avail. I would literally pull off the local bike path for a smoke break while out for a ride.

Then, about 18 months ago, after forty years of heavy smoking, I decided that it was time to quit. No planning, no patches, no nothing. I haven't had a cigarette since, and don't miss it a bit...and yes, although I swore it would never happen, I have become one of "those" reformed smokers. I can't stand the smell of it in the air or on someone else. I am (mildly) annoyed when a smoker sits next to me on the commuter train.

I know that I am in better health now, and I only hope that I didn't already kill myself with all those years of smoking.

Started when I was 16. Was up to 3 packs a day of Camel unfiltered at 21. Cut back to a pack a day of lights by 25. 1/2 pack a day of lights by 30. Then got the flu right before Christmas in 2004 and was down for 2 weeks. Didn't smoke while I was sick and figured I had a jump start on quitting. Haven't had one since.

Had a lung capacity test yesterday (I have to be certified for respirator use for my job though I haven't worn one in years) and the nurse was amazed. She told me I have the lungs of a 27 year old.

I think you are only allowed to smoke if you are wearing your helmet.

I smoked a lot in college, but never tobacco! So yeah, only illegal substances.

Rick / OCRR

Since smoking was a different matter to our generation, I'd kind of like to know who here smokes, or used to smoke.
At first I understood this to mean a "different kind of smoke." Been there, did that :thumb: - until I got put in charge of drug testing at a Federal agency at which point that became history. But the rest of the posts seem to indicate tobacco. I smoked 1 - 2 packs a day from high school until I was about 32. Then I quit cold turkey. In certain circumstances (e.g., sitting at a bar with a beer) I would still like to light up.

Never smoked, dipped or chewed. Tried a couple as a kid, didn't like it. Folks didn't smoke, friends didn't, just never was a conscious choice, just didn't.

Smokers can't TELL it smells bad. My mother in law smoked for 40+ years. When she quit, she discovered how awful her clothes and house smelled, and how much better food tasted. She couldn't believe what she had been missing. I think that's why so many ex-smokers are so intolerant to it.

I quit, but the smell doesn't bother me. It's like the morning after a campfire.

Are we talkin the legal substance here?

Yes, I was referring to the legal kind of smoking.

My parents, in their late 70s, have lost a huge number of friends due to smoking-related disease. My children and most of their friends wouldn't consider smoking. Those of us in our 40s - 60s are in the middle of a huge positive shift regarding attitude toward smoking.

Smoked 14 years...been clean for 16 years. :thumb:

I quit, but the smell doesn't bother me. It's like the morning after a campfire.

Cigarette smoke and day-old campfires do not smell at all alike to me.

I still smoke, but not when riding!

Cigarette smoke and day-old campfires do not smell at all alike to me.

+1

Oh, yeh, BTW...I quit the "other" kind of smoking a L-O-N-G time ago. Seems like once I got past the age where I could no longer be trusted, the illicit kind of smoking just put me to sleep. It was way too expensive a vice to sleep through the buzz :)

Been smoking since I was 6, so that's 54 years.

I quit cigars 5 years ago. It wasn't quite soon enough, apparently...

Social smoker on weekends for awhile in high school. Only time since then I've smoked was when we were in Cortona, Italy, a few years back with another couple. We were at a local restaurant for dinner. Great wine, great food, and my girlfriend and I left our hubbies, went to the local store, and bought a pack of expensive French cigarettes. Brought them back to the restaurant, and all four of us had a smoke. It was really a wonderful time and those cigs made it really special.

Cigarette smoke and day-old campfires do not smell at all alike to me.

I meant what your clothes and hair smell like the when you wake up the next day.

I meant what your clothes and hair smell like the when you wake up the next day.

That's still a different smell to me. I'm not a big fan of how clothes smell the next day after being around a campfire, but clothes that have stale cigarette smell on them turn my stomach. That's really nasty.

People who smoke outside and then come into meetings just don't realize how bad they smell. Just like it is hard to detect your own body odor after working out.

When I have my cars worked on, I always request no-smoking in them. I've gotten my car back from auto repair shops reeking of cigarettes. I remember having to drive home with all of the windows down. Then parked it in the garage for a few days with the windows down, not being to drive in it. Then having to leave the garage windows up because the smell was so bad in the garage that it was hard to go in there.

I quit around age 40, 25 years ago - cold turkey, had no problems at all. One day I just considered myself an ex-smoker and that was it. That was when I bought my first good bike.

Got my first cigarette from a cousin when I was eight. He died of lung cancer about 10 years ago. Smoked off and on until just before I turned 40, when I decided that the "someday I'm gonna quit" had arrived and stopped. Thats been 18 years and I'd like to claim I got off scot free, but I have to gasp very deeply to get enough O2 during vigorous rides. Doc says there is mild emphysema. There is always a price.

Second-hand smoke only bothers me when I have a cold and my sinuses are very sensitive. But then it REALLY bothers me.

Don't mind the smell otherwise, even on people's clothes. Guess the smell reminds me of my father, who smoked all of his life.

I am a lifelong non-smoker and anti-smoker. I absolutely detest the smell of tobacco smoke and disliked having the workplace polluted with it. I have been a dues-paying member of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights for many years. My parents never smoked, but my great-grandmother and great-aunt did, and my maternal grandmother always permitted her guests to smoke. My wife and I have always prohibited smoking in our home, and we were very early adopters of this policy.

Smoked tobacco for 30 years, quit 5 years ago. Quit the other stuff about 20 years ago.

I never smoked cigarettes, but in the last 6 years I've learned to enjoy a good cigar...especially after an inspiring ride.

I think you are only allowed to smoke if you are wearing your helmet.


:roflmao2:

You crack me up!

I smoked, but I didn't inhale.

:roflmao2:

You crack me up!

I was about to post those exact words.

I quit 28 years ago after smoking for 8 years. I was up to 2 packs of Kool Longs a day for a while. I can't imagine smoking now. Disgusting habit.

I smoked through high school and college and loved it. Then, I met a girl who had asthma and I felt too guilty to smoke around her so I quit. I still love the smell of cigarette smoke, but haven't touched a butt in over 30 years.

I smoked from about age 18 until about 4 years ago. I'm always so proud of all of those years of smoking when I'm riding up the mountain:rolleyes::mad:

but haven't touched a butt in over 30 years.

This explains a lot.

This explains a lot.

Sadly, true.

The cost of smoking is amazingly high nowadays. Here in Wisconsin I believe cigarettes are up to $4/pack. So a two-pack-a-day smoker is dropping nearly $3000 a year on cigarettes. I don't know how a lot of people can begin to afford that, once you pay taxes, utilities, mortgage/rent, insurance, etc., a fair slice of one's disposable income would be going to cigarettes.

Over a few years, this adds up to a sizable sum of money.

Guess it would be even higher in NY once that new tax goes into effect.

:roflmao2:

You crack me up!



I was about to post those exact words.

:love: