Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - smoking before a ride

i heard from someone that smoking a cigarette an hour before a workout or whatever would open up your capillaries and benefit your oxygen/blood levels. Is there some merit to this or is this just incredibly backwards? I would think that it would make breathing harder

I'm sure the long term negative effects outweigh the short term positives.

Definately not a reason to start smoking.

agreed. it seems to be a double edged sword

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksJBlood.html

"As a vasoconstrictor, nicotine tightens blood vessels and restricts blood flow"

http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/ih_Q_A_drugs_smoking.html

nicotine does not open up capillaries

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksJBlood.html

+1

I see it every day working in a stress lab for a cardiologist.

thanks

smoking before sports always deteriorates performance from my personal experience. cigarettes after sports hits the spot though.

Go on, smoke all you like. If you're stupid enough to believe 'positive' spin you're going to wind up under a truck sooner or later anyway.

Save the smoking for the post ride beer drinking.

I heard that smoking reduces stress and that stress causes cancer.

Keeping your smoke lit while in the drops is a *****.

That's like 1920's logic right there. Hell they used to do it in the Tour de France, so it must work! :thumb:
http://www.bicycle-gifts.com/jpg/q45.jpg

I really want that poster.

Happy people live longer, so, smoke if it makes you happy.

Smoking (a little) and exercising is better than not doing sport/exercise at all.

smoking weed before a ride makes it more fun, sometimes.

That's like 1920's logic right there. Hell they used to do it in the Tour de France, so it must work! :thumb:
http://www.bicycle-gifts.com/jpg/q45.jpg

I really want that poster.

+1

You took the words right out of me... I was literally about to make this exact post with the picture and everything haha.

http://tn1-3.deviantart.com/fs9/150/i/2006/037/6/b/Cooler_ways_to_die_by_wilson1.jpg

http://tn1-3.deviantart.com/fs9/150/i/2006/037/6/b/Cooler_ways_to_die_by_wilson1.jpg

I dunno, smoking does make you look pretty cool.

For a while, but then it makes you look really gross and old and smelly.

Live fast, diarrhea.

this girl i know has been smoking for the past 5 years but shes been jogging for the last 7 and she sings, and after inquiring about lung damage to here doctor they did some sort of scan and concluded that there was literally no damage done to her lungs because she uses them so actively.

doesnt justify smoking but if your healthy enough i guess its not that bad

http://www.hahastop.com/pictures/Smoking_Is_Cool.jpg

True story from this past summer:

I'm riding on the local MUP and (strange for me) I suddenly start gaining on a fully geared "roadie"; he had slowed to take something out of his jersey pocket. Just before I pull even with him his hands go up to his face and I see a puff of smoke. Yep, he'd lit a cigarrette and was smoking while riding. First time I've ever seen that happen.

I used to smoke while riding during alleycats back when I actually used to do both. I knew a guy who could roll cigarettes while he was riding. That was impressive.

But yeah, smoking is gross and I'm amazed that I did it for 9 years.

True story from this past summer:

I'm riding on the local MUP and (strange for me) I suddenly start gaining on a fully geared "roadie"; he had slowed to take something out of his jersey pocket. Just before I pull even with him his hands go up to his face and I see a puff of smoke. Yep, he'd lit a cigarrette and was smoking while riding. First time I've ever seen that happen.

Somehow I find this badass in a sort of "**** you to the rest of the uptight roadie world" sort of way.

i smoke crack before i ride and i can ride for days at a time. although it can be quite frightening at times...

I'm sure Palm Beach County is filled with crack rocks...

I have this poster in my room. Your lbs should be able to get it through QBP

smoke a bowl and then ride!

lol to the OP...

both my roommates were smokers last year. I know for sure he refused to smoke before he played a game of bball in the greek intramural sports because it made him play worse.

i'm pretty sure biking is no different. :P

this girl i know has been smoking for the past 5 years but shes been jogging for the last 7 and she sings, and after inquiring about lung damage to here doctor they did some sort of scan and concluded that there was literally no damage done to her lungs because she uses them so actively.

doesnt justify smoking but if your healthy enough i guess its not that bad

Okay, but smoking doesn't just affect the lungs FWIW. Pink lungs with coronary heart disease is not my idea of healthy.

I ride harder after smoking some uhhh.... yeah. I actually have to be careful not to go too hard so that I'm not dead the morning after.

http://tn1-3.deviantart.com/fs9/150/i/2006/037/6/b/Cooler_ways_to_die_by_wilson1.jpg

dying is cool? and there are cooler ways than others? please share

dying is cool? and there are cooler ways than others? please share

failed parachute is always cool

If you chose to smoke, I chose not to subsidize your healthcare costs.

dying is cool? and there are cooler ways than others? please share

Thelma & Louise did it in pretty dramatic fashion. So did Queen Latifah in female 'gangsta' movie a few years ago. Don't want to forget Butch & Sundance, either.

dying is cool? and there are cooler ways than others? please share

The end of Como Agua Para Chocolate was a pretty sweet way to go. Or how about Hero? That was badass. Ditto with that hottie in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Gimme a hit!

smoking meth makes me faster.

I heard that smoking reduces stress and that stress causes cancer.
I heard that smoking fills your lungs with a nice little substance called tar which makes breathing a difficulty in its self and eventually you will get to cough up mucus! Yay!

dying is cool? and there are cooler ways than others? please share
There are badass ways to die

Nikatinan

If you chose to smoke, I chose not to subsidize your healthcare costs.

You're in luck. Studies have shown that smokers have lower health care costs than non-smokers. They die sooner of known problems that hospitals don't waste tons of money on.

don't want to forget butch & sundance, either.

win

If you chose to smoke, I chose not to subsidize your healthcare costs.


Well, good thing you live in america and have no choice. haha

Smoking while riding seems fairly common in quebec, the people who do so don't appear performance oriented.

Yeh, smokin J's while riding is pretty fun, although they burn much quicker with the wind factor..

If you ever sesh before a ride, I notice that riding behind buses etc. your lungs are much more sensitive to the fumes being pumped out the back. I think smoking after a ride is much better, although I always like to give myself around 2-3 minutes to get my blood rate down.

Whatever works for yourself!

When I was young, I'd see all these guys out touring on their fixies, and almost everyone of them had a short pipe stuck in their mouths.

Now they hobble into the bike shop on their walkers to tell the mechanics how fast they used to be. Sad. They could still be riding.

You're in luck. Studies have shown that smokers have lower health care costs than non-smokers. They die sooner of known problems that hospitals don't waste tons of money on.

Show me those studies. Lung/mouth/throat cancer, pulmonary disease, asthma, emphysema, et al are NOT fast killers, hell, some are not killers at all. "Best" case scenario, at least from a public moneys standpoint, is that a person suffers no real ill effects up until the point where they suffer a heart attack and die.

In America, heart attacks are only fatal 40% of the time. 60% survive, but will require some form of medication, surgery, physical therapy, or all three. This costs MONEY. So does asthma medication, treatment for emphysema, and cancer treatment, which can go on for years and years and years.

I heard that smoking reduces stress and that stress causes cancer.

I think you are confusing two facts here...

Smoking reduces your lifespan.

And looking directly at Chuck Norris's face causes cancer.

I used to ride with a guy who could pull a bag of weed out of his jersey pocket, twist one up and fire up while in the middle of a fast group ride. Then after sufficiently lit up, he'd hit the front and just ride away from us. The higher he got, the faster he rode.