I sit down with my Negroni to peruse BF and I land on this goddam buzzkill thread!
Jeez!

You should be happy it wasn't about how cycling will make your Johnson fall off.

I'm sure some of biking culture can knock a borderline alcoholic over the edge but I'm not certain its as serious as this article is trying to make it seem. I've done a number of MTB, Cross and Road races that were accompanied by beer or hard cider and I see nothing wrong with knocking back a drink in that case but a person can be moderate and still enjoy themselves. Since I usually am the one driving I also limit it to the one and have never had more than that after a ride or race. If you're finishing a ride and waking up the next morning with a hangover you need to get your life together. Most people I know stopped having hangovers by the end of college. Will say that maybe it was the crowds I moved among but we had a much bigger munchie issue, still do at times.

Alcohol is a colorless volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars which has an intoxicating effect on certain carbon-based life forms, according to the Encyclopedia Galactica.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

A hangover doesn't necessarily indicate a drinking problem. I probably average two beers per month, and I will get a hangover from one beer.

Or how long days in the saddle might be harmful to your swimming tadpoles.(so to speak).

Humanity has been making alcohol for 10,000 years. We’ve had the bicycle for 150 years.

Cart-before-the-horse much, do we?

You’re saying the drinking has a cycling problem, then?

In most Western societies, the sharing of alcohol is very common in social gatherings.

Most of my social cycling experience is centered around MTB. And yes, beers are often shared in the parking lot afterwards.

I really don’t find this any different than most other social gatherings.

Yes. Too many road warriors believe that you can't survive a 25 mile ride in 85 degree weather without 2 water bottles and a CamelBak

Long thread about this elsewhere. Probably best to link to it, if that were allowed.

Anyways, like most all social activities and events in the US, cycling events can feature alcohol. That isn't a cycling issue, it's a societal issue.

Work party? Alcohol.
Tailgating? Alcohol.
Hanging with friends on boat? Alcohol.
Hanging with friends in a backyard? Alcohol.
At a stadium/arena for sports? Alcohol.
Watching a comedian? Alcohol.
Playing golf? Alcohol.

It's just a societal issue and not cycling specific. The author does a terrible job of tying it to cycling. She just cites examples where it's excessive in cycling due to the group dynamic and individual's inability to self regulate. That isn't unique to cycling.

Blame it on "Big Beer, Wine and Spirits." They do all they can to make it an important, everyday part of people's lives.

The bike culture in one vacation town tends to lean toward alcohol, so that means all bike culture is into drinking during/after rides? I mean, it's easy enough to just refrain from drinking if you don't want to, unless you're an alcoholic.

That describes me as well! Also a drinker with a running problem. On-On!

I would sometimes drink 6 beers before leaving work. 6 beers was a warm up for many things. When I started riding dirt bikes in the desert it was just another excuse to drink and get butt-faced. Total alcoholic. I was even (a small) part of a study of alcoholic children of alcoholic parents.

I got very sick and quit in the late 80s. Actually had 2 beers in 1990 when visiting an alcoholic friend in another state, but not a drop since.
Bicycling helped with quitting but I was still drinking when I started riding. Seemed to me more of my dirt bike friends were alcoholics than bicycling friends.

This reminds me of when someone asked an NFL player about drug problems in the NFL. He responded that the biggest drug problem in the NFL was the same as in any other endeavor, and society at large, alcohol.

Generally speaking, all cultures in all towns tend to lean toward alcohol.

I agree, nobody I ride with drinks that much, that I know of. Some times, after our regular weekly group rides we might have a margarita at the Mexican restaurant we usually go to, but I don't see anyone downing 6 of them in one night. I admit that after one of our rides when I was hot & thirsty an icy margarita tasted pretty good. I'm not a big drinker, maybe one or two every few evenings, but I've never associated cycling with drinking. When I'm riding, I'm drinking water or Gatorade.

Drinking non-alcoholic beer is like burning incense that smells like pot.

I love journalism.

Same site:

https://www.bicycling.com/health-nut...u-lose-weight/

nice.

On MTBR? Bring your popcorn for that one.

You do get to witness a well-deserved ban happen.

paceline.
I'll have to check out the mtbr one.

Not if you just happen to like the taste of beer and almost never drank to the point of getting drunk even with alcoholic beer. I still drink alcoholic beer too, but I've started drinking non-alcoholic beer most days to reduce alcohol consumption. It's obviously not as good, but there are some decent non-alcoholic ones out there that almost make you forget it's non-alcoholic.

The article succeeds in being good click bait. Rather worthless beyond that.