so i have been smoking for the past 5 years or so and riding a bike for the past 3. about a month ago, due to financial constraints, i switched to hand-rolled, unfiltered cigarettes. since then i feel like riding a bike has gotten significantly harder. my lungs feel like they're going to explode when i'm mashing up those big hills.

so i'm thinking about quitting and wondering what other people's experience are. did you feel like smoking was holding you back on the bike? did you notice a difference when you quit? any quitting strategies?