General Cycling Discussion - Smokerings & stereotypes, what should I quit?

An aquintance of mine that I've cycled with for over three years, just about fell over with a cardiac when he stopped by my garage for some help with his bike and he caught me smoking. "I didn't know you smoked", says he. "Yeah, I do", I confessed. I went on to explain the health benefits of smoking. He didn't pay any attention at all. I told him I was Catholic and all Catholics smoke. Still no bite. "But, I'm in the Knights of Columbus and we have special rituals that require smoking". He almost took that one since he's Baptist and they don't know much about the Catholic cult. Am I being stereotyped for smoking? I've been enjoying pipe smoking for many years. Should I keep this perversion of mine hidden? I want to hear from other smokers on this issue.

As a devote non-smoker, I'd imagine you don't want to read this, but I'm going to say it anyway. For God's sake man, give up! We all know how bad smoking can be (me more than most it damn well nearly killed my Dad), but what good is it doing you? The pros of quitting massively outweigh the cons.

I dont care what you do one way or another, just dont do it near me. I can stand riding/walking by a smoker, or talking to one while they are smoking. The smell is too strong and just lingers. Anyway, smoking isnt good for your lungs and cycling being an aerobic sport I would imagine you need your lungs to some degree.

My grandfather on my dad's side died when my dad was only 7. This was because he had lung cancer from smoking all his life. My other grandfather on my mom's side also has lung cancer due to smoking even though he quit about 10 years ago. As Johnny B said the pros of quitting outweigh the cons. I would advise all smokers to quit, but the final decision is yours.

As an ex smoker (3 years) I understand what you are going through, but quitting is better for you. As a commuter I don't think that smoking was doing any more damage to my lungs then sucking in all those exhaust fumes

Ever watch somebody die from lung cancer? I have.

I don't know what you expect to hear from asking a question like that. You don't need to hear from a bunch of strangers that smoking is disgusting, harmful and an awfully expensive way to kill yourself - I suspect you know all this already.

My personal experience has been that a smoker will only quit when they are damned good and ready to quit. No amount of cajoling from those around them will make them quit. I suspect you already know this too. So, if you're thinking of quitting - good for you. If you're not, stop talking about it because nobody cares - least of all you.

I don't know what you expect to hear from asking a question like that. You don't need to hear from a bunch of strangers that smoking is disgusting, harmful and an awfully expensive way to kill yourself - I suspect you know all this already.

I also sense a tone of denial in the original post (i.e. "I went on to explain the health benefits of smoking"). To be honest, I'm close to calling "troll" on this one, but I'll refrain for now and give it the benefit of the doubt. Regardless, I'm ultimately with Tri Devil on this one. Do whatever you like, but leave me out of it.

Why would you share something like this on a fitness type of newsgroup in the manner it was shared?

Sounds like someone wanting to create a stir and get a reaction - in other words, a "troll."

If not, someone needs a brain transplant!

"The health benefits of smoking." Goodness, such denial.

But until someone really wants to stop, they won't!

Like ngateguy, I quit smoking about 3 years ago. Best thing I have ever done. If cancer doesn't motivate you to quit, then perhaps the following will:

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/copdchronicobstructivepulmonarydisease.html)

I used to work in a Hosptial and got to see these patients quite often. The diehards were even out in the smoking area with us. Anyway, enough preaching. ;)

I quit using Wellbutrin (http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?DISAMBIGUATION=true&MAX=500&FUNCTION=SEARCH&SERVER2=server2&SERVER1=server1&PARAMETER=welbutrin&WORD1=welbutrin&REPLACE1=wellbutrin) It was really painless. Just stopped with little to no cravings.

What ever you decide, good luck!

I quit using Wellbutrin (http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?DISAMBIGUATION=true&MAX=500&FUNCTION=SEARCH&SERVER2=server2&SERVER1=server1&PARAMETER=welbutrin&WORD1=welbutrin&REPLACE1=wellbutrin) It was really painless. Just stopped with little to no cravings.

What ever you decide, good luck!

Yep used the same method not only no cravings but it makes you feel pretty good also. :D

Beginning March 1, my company (a large industrial/aerospace firm) is banning all tobacco from company property. Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, everything. They have gone so far as to ban the possession of tobacco, not just using it.

Whether this becomes enforceable remains to be seen, but the point is that employers have decided that smokers cost them money in lost productivity and increased medical expenses. So employers are trying to make it harder to smoke in the hope that smokers will either quit smoking or quit the company.

The writing is on the wall. In case anyone has missed it, smoking has almost completely become socially unacceptable. Life as a smoker is likely to get a lot worse before it gets better (if ever). Consider that 20 years ago, there were virtually no restrictions on smoking anywhere and try to imagine what it will be like 20 years from now.

I quit using Wellbutrin (http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?DISAMBIGUATION=true&MAX=500&FUNCTION=SEARCH&SERVER2=server2&SERVER1=server1&PARAMETER=welbutrin&WORD1=welbutrin&REPLACE1=wellbutrin) It was really painless. Just stopped with little to no cravings.



My wife has mentioned this as well. I'll have to consider it.

My wife has mentioned this as well. I'll have to consider it.

Go for it! It is also an anti-depressant, as ngateguy eluded to. :D
Now, if they could make a weight loss pill that worked as well... ;)

Go for it! It is also an anti-depressant, as ngateguy eluded to. :D
Now, if they could make a weight loss pill that worked as well... ;)

The only time I get depressed is when I consider quitting. :rolleyes:

Eventually I'll just have to cowboy up. I know this is a filthy and unhealthy habit, and if the DevilBeDamned tobacco companies sank into the bowels of the Earth tomorrow I'd cheer among the loudest of revelers (between bouts of cold sweats and grinding teeth).

The only time I get depressed is when I consider quitting. :rolleyes:

Eventually I'll just have to cowboy up. I know this is a filthy and unhealthy habit, and if the DevilBeDamned tobacco companies sank into the bowels of the Earth tomorrow I'd cheer among the loudest of revelers (between bouts of cold sweats and grinding teeth).

Yea, I used to feel that way too. But I gotta say, this drug works on the receptors in your brain that are effected by the smoke. After a short time on the pill, you don't even get that "buzz" anymore.

I like to say it helps ya quit and makes you happy to do it... :D

Anyway, YOU have to be ready to stop. Nobody can make that choice but you.

Good luck, Rob!

Yea, I used to feel that way too. But I gotta say, this drug works on the receptors in your brain that are effected by the smoke. After a short time on the pill, you don't even get that "buzz" anymore.

I like to say it helps ya quit and makes you happy to do it... :D

Anyway, YOU have to be ready to stop. Nobody can make that choice but you.

Good luck, Rob!

Thanks much. :)

Well, my mother has smoked for a long as i can remember. 80% of my friends smoke, and I do not. I can tolerate it to some extent, up you should give it up. Life is to short to life it making it shorter!

Someone mentioned being an expensive way to kill yourself. Think of all the money you spend on cigarettes a year, that could easily add up to some nice new bike parts, maybe a new bike if you are a chain smoker!

Why would you share something like this on a fitness type of newsgroup in the manner it was shared?

Sounds like someone wanting to create a stir and get a reaction - in other words, a "troll."

If not, someone needs a brain transplant!

"The health benefits of smoking." Goodness, such denial.

But until someone really wants to stop, they won't!

You're partly right DnvrFox. Much of my post was intentionally provocative and a bit silly. It was my attempt at providing some entertainment while trying to ask a legitimate question. That is; if there are any other cyclists that use some form of tobacco, do they attempt to hide it from other cyclists for fear of being sent to the back of the bus? I'd never thought about my tobacco use as being a contradiction to enjoying riding a bicycle. But the cycling buddy I mentioned seemed shocked when he found out. That said, you are indeed correct in stating that the general public is more than just a little aware of the health implications of tobacco use. This debate has gone on for 40 plus years and clearly the loser is tobacco. And rightly so. My post wasn't in any way a justification for tobacco use. Nor an invitation to this forum's frustrated pedagogues.

This same thread decay happens on so many issues when the topic is some cultural or societal hot button. If I had posted a question like, "what's so bad about tobacco?" I could understand the flood of opinions regards the evils of tobacco. But, I didn't did I?

Considering this is a cycling forum where people cycle and smoking would make that harder then it is and 99.9% of the people on here are into healthy habits,non-smoking would be the rule of the day.Go to a drinking forum and you'll have a lot of smokers on your side,to smoke is ok i mean.

Anybody out there quit smoking a notice or document an increase in performance on the bike?

My uncle used to smoke, A LOT. He is both biking faster and feeling better since quitting...

An aquintance of mine that I've cycled with for over three years, just about fell over with a cardiac when he stopped by my garage for some help with his bike and he caught me smoking. "I didn't know you smoked", says he. "Yeah, I do", I confessed. I went on to explain the health benefits of smoking. He didn't pay any attention at all. I told him I was Catholic and all Catholics smoke. Still no bite. "But, I'm in the Knights of Columbus and we have special rituals that require smoking". He almost took that one since he's Baptist and they don't know much about the Catholic cult. Am I being stereotyped for smoking? I've been enjoying pipe smoking for many years. Should I keep this perversion of mine hidden? I want to hear from other smokers on this issue.

I know how you feel. I still miss my pipe. I quit 3 years ago - I was in the hospital getting the tendon reattached to my knee so couldn't smoke from after breakfast Friday untill I came home Sunday. And I still had some pain pills that I used for about a week so that helped. I didn't inhale much but my teeth were getting loose and I suspected the heat from the pipe was doing it. Hay it saved me $10 a month.

But it sure was nice to fill up a pipe when some one asked a really dumb question instead of telling them how dumb the question was.

Joe

Eleven months, five days, 21 hours, 57 minutes and 32 seconds. 10287 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,800.30. Life saved: 5 weeks, 17 hours, 15 minutes.
:D
And I expect (rather, hope) that all the cycling is negating some of the damage that I did to myself through all the years of smoking. As a former smoker (the worst kind) I'm confident in saying that smoker=dumbass. Furthermore as a former dumbass, I can say that I feel a heck of a lot better since quitting and find the thought of smoking as well as smokers themselves less attractive with each passing day.

...In case anyone has missed it, smoking has almost completely become socially unacceptable...

So now I'm gonna have to start smoking??

:D

Seriously though, there is a cross-state ride every year here called Freewheel. The last time I rode it there were a couple people who smoked while they rode. You could get behind one of them on a long climb and they looked like a big steam engine puffin' up a hill. It was a riot, you must really be hooked if you have to smoke WHILE you ride.

You notice a difference in lung capacity almost immediately after quitting! I have to say I'm surprised anyone here smokes still, being cyclists, but I see these guys who ride their bikes to the cafes and then sit there smoking and drinking coffee!

I hear wellbutrin is quite effective, and has few side effects. The way it works is that it suppresses the sudden urges you get so you don't go crazy for cravings. It also can work to suppress your appetite as well, so you don't have to worry about stuffing your face and getting fat, and if you're a cyclist you don't have to worry anyways!

WHen I quit I used the gum, since I was quite a light smoker, so that was enough. It's true, you have to be really ready and decide to quit. Stories about lung cancer, etc, won't make any difference. Cigarettes are three times as addictive as crack! For me it was only bad for the first week and then after that it was much better.

Yeah, you know. Whatever.

I quit a couple years ago and couldn't be happier having done it.

On the other hand, the sense of moral outrage people have about other people's smoking, and sudden extreme sensitivity to not just second hand smoke but now even the smell of it in people's clothing and breath is all kind of galling to me. We are turning into a country that has extremely severe restrictions on what everyone around them should be doing in order for them to be happy (too much B.O., blowing their nose to loud in the same room, clearing their throat, smelling of garlic from lunch, smelling of smoke, chewing their gum too loudly, wearing clothes they don't approve of, blinking too often,...)

I've known people taken in the prime of their lives from smoking. I've known others that have had fairly long lives but painful, ugly deaths that were still too soon. I've also known people who have lived full, long happy lives, enjoying tobacco all the way to the end.

If you want to smoke and have accepted the responsibility then go for it. If not, then for God's sake quit.

Cigarettes are three times as addictive as crack!

Please...

my lung collapsed 3 years ago june from smoking, i never smoked another. i was in the hospital with a chest tube for a week so the first week without smoking was easy. after that i used the patch for the maximum time i could. i wanted to kill everyone that looked at me wrong and was a cranky son of a *****.

Cigarettes are three times as addictive as crack! For me it was only bad for the first week and then after that it was much better.

Oh how long did it take you to quit crack?

Joe

Oh how long did it take you to quit crack?

Joe
He did'nt,it just made him forget to smoke.

When people quit smoking they usually take up more repulsive habits, like bragging.

Have you ever seen someone die from Emphysema? I have, my Grandfather and an old friend. Not a pretty sight and I wouldnt want to end up like that because of smoking.

Do what you want Don.


I quit 4 years ago, it's hard to quit but I don't miss it at all, honest. I can't imagine smoking and riding if you ride hard, now if you are one of these "wrong way riders, around here, they almost all smoke! I wouldn't try to hide it either, if you choose to smoke, be proud of it! :p When I was in high school all the smokers perfered the back of the bus where they could smoke in a group. Form a smokers only pace line on the next group ride, be creative!

Seriously, we just buryed my wifes uncle, lung cancer, 2 year loosing battle, long time smoker. I have to see one of my coworkers mother dwindle away, lung cancer, long time smoker.

I thought my wife would NEVER quit! She is having bariatric surgery at the MED next Tuesday, for weight loss. She was forced to quit smoking, or they wouldn't do the surgery. Once she knew she had to quit, it was no problem and she was very good about it, only a little bad mood for a few weeks.

I'll just pass on the promise that my dad's doctor gave him. Dad was a pack a day smoker in his 40s. Doc told him he'd gaurantee 10 more good years in his old age if he quit. He did it cold turkey & never slipped back. Dad passed on a couple years ago at age 83. Doc was right. Don

An aquintance of mine that I've cycled with for over three years, just about fell over with a cardiac when he stopped by my garage for some help with his bike and he caught me smoking. " Should I keep this perversion of mine hidden? I want to hear from other smokers on this issue.

No, let all your mates know you smoke. I've been smoking Most of my life. Why worry about heart disease and Cancer, it hasn't caused you a problem yet. I've been smoking most of my life, mid fifties and The Byapss I had 5 years ago and the Cancer of 3 years ago didn't stop me riding. It has stopped me smoking though

Smoking is just amazing. I watched my Dad die from lung cancer. My Mother watched him too. She smoked while she was doing it though. She still refuses to admit that smoking had anything to do with it. But, you should see the fear in her eyes if she has to have a chest x-ray. Again, amazing.

Now for a little rant.
Do smokers know how bad they smell? I have to hold my breath when I get into an elevator with one.

Now, in some places, that smoking is banned inside restaraunts. It has made the outside eating area the smoking lounge. Great, now I can't sit outside half the time because of someone elses bad habit.

Now for a little rant.
Do smokers know how bad they smell? I have to hold my breath when I get into an elevator with one.

Frankly, I'm amazed smoking isn't banned in elevators in your part of the world. I mean, they've even managed that here in Queensland!


Now, in some places, that smoking is banned inside restaraunts. It has made the outside eating area the smoking lounge. Great, now I can't sit outside half the time because of someone elses bad habit.

Just don't sit down-wind of them.

its not the quality of your life that anyone can debate.... it's the quality of your death. horrible and slow and painful.

When people quit smoking they usually take up more repulsive habits, like bragging.

...or encouraging foolish people to quit.

Did you think this silly comment on your very own :mad:

Actually, the big problem is eating. Fewer people than ever are smoking, which is good, but more people than ever are overweight or obese. We've stopped smoking and started eating!

Frankly, I'm amazed smoking isn't banned in elevators in your part of the world. I mean, they've even managed that here in Queensland!


:roflmao: Of course smoking is not allowed in elevators, theaters, shopping malls and most other public places.

I think what he meant was the residual smell smokers carry around with them always. Some think they're being really cleaver chewing gum or using breath mints but that doesn't do a thing for the smell in their hair or their clothes....Yuck! Being stuck in an elevator with a smoker sucks big time!

:roflmao: Of course smoking is not allowed in elevators, theaters, shopping malls and most other public places.

I think what he meant was the residual smell smokers carry around with them always. Some think they're being really cleaver chewing gum or using breath mints but that doesn't do a thing for the smell in their hair or their clothes....Yuck! Being stuck in an elevator with a smoker sucks big time!

Point taken, although as someone who prefers steps if they're available, that doesn't happen to me very often. However, what does bug me is when people flout these bans with no disregard for anyone around them.

However, what does bug me is when people flout these bans with no disregard for anyone around them.

I have never experienced that here. It really is amazing how society's attitude has shifted 180 degrees in just the last 10 to 15 years. Up to the late 80's and early 90's people still smoked at their desks in most offices and if you were a non-smoker, you were a minority. Today, it is quite unacceptable to light up in most public areas, except for the sidewalk. Even our bus shelters and LRT platforms (open air) are off limits to lighting up.

One gets the distinct sense that smokers are easily embarrassed by their habit and they usually can be shamed into leaving a non-smoking area, i.e. bus shelter, fairly easily.

I have never experienced that here. It really is amazing how society's attitude has shifted 180 degrees in just the last 10 to 15 years. Up to the late 80's and early 90's people still smoked at their desks in most offices and if you were a non-smoker, you were a minority.

I'm not so sure non-smokers were ever the minority as such. I remember even back in the 80's the message from the anti-smoking lobby was that the majority have no reason to tolerate this behaviour from the minority and so forth.


One gets the distinct sense that smokers are easily embarrassed by their habit and they usually can be shamed into leaving a non-smoking area, i.e. bus shelter, fairly easily.

*sigh* Queensland evidently still has some catching up to do. Bus shelters are still not non-smoking areas up here, we've only relatively recently got the ban on smoking in restaurants that the rest of Australia has had for years (decades in some states). And if you buy the newspaper on any given day, it's still possible to read letters along the lines of "I'm a smoker till I die!". In the past I've been tempted to reply with one or two smug comments in response, but I doubt they'd be published.

To be honest I just make a big show of moving away from them, but I don't know if people around here have evolved enough to understand subtlety yet.

I hear they are going to start putting "Dieased Lungs" on cig packs. Dont you just love sitting by someone with a hacking cough and smells like a chimney?

I was'nt gonna get involved w/ this thread but now it has turned interesting. They just raised the tax on cigs here in Virginia to 35 cents a pack. We have better roads and less expensive education thanks to all those smokers killing them selves. Funny how that works out. OF course the health care cost probably exceeds all of that? It's hard to convince Virginians and North Carolinian smolers how bad smoking is, a lot of them grow up with it as a way of life and it's more of a personal attack on them. I had this one little B**H ( sorry ladies but she was a B**H! ) drive by me last week and flick a lit but at me. Imagine that me a health conscience recreational cyclist threatening her disgusting, vulgar life style! Mean while I laugh and say hey thanks for fixing those pot holes...

It's true about the smell of smokers, but what can you do? Breathing in the smell, at least, isn't dangerous, just gross. What amazes me is when people come to the gym and you can smell cigarette smoke still clinging to them. Maybe they were just in a smoky car or restaurant and weren't smoking, but either way, it's not a smell I want to breathe in while working out. Even if it's just a smell and not smoke itself. Then of course, there are the people who dump a gallon of cologne/perfume over themselves, but that's another story altogether.

Then of course, there are the people who dump a gallon of cologne/perfume over themselves, but that's another story altogether.

I have allergies to a lot of scents. I will trade them for smokers anytime :D