I'll add that I quit about 17 years ago. Yes, life sucked for about three months as I adjusted to life without nicotine. That was a short three months of my life and any discomfort I felt has been mostly forgotten....water under the bridge. The worst was over in about three days. Cyclist are probably better prepared to quit smoking than most. We willingly sign up for suffering when we get on the bike. Nicotine withdrawal is a lot like climbing a hill or a persistent head wind. It's a constant nagging thing that is unrelenting at the time. However, like cresting a hill or finally turning a headwind into a tailwind, the withdrawal does subside and then all that suffering turns to bliss.

My best friend quit ciggys by just smoking pot instead, it will work guys plus biking is so much more fun with a little toke on.

That was an early attempt at doping. In relatively low doses, nicotine is a stimulant, therefore it was thought that smoking helped you ride faster.

Quit that a long long time ago also. It just made me stupid and lazy. "Go bike riding? Dude, are you nuts? Ha,ha,ha,ha. I'm comfy right here on the sofa watching this mindless garbage on TV. Hey, while you're up would you bring me a beer and the bag of chips so I don't have to get up?" But hey, if it worked for him, fantastic.

Whoops. this was in response to Scotia's post above.

I'm old.......I smoke,drink,cuss,go to bars and chase women.......Rode my bike 142 miles last Sunday.......meaningless,unless your my long lost brother or sister.

I will die with a cig in one hand,a pork rib in the other and a big smile on my face....the only shame is in other peoples heads!

I feel like such an ass smoking during breaks. Anyone else want to admit to smoking and cycling?

I still smoke. And I ride. But I do wait until I get home to light one up

As long as you're happy and keep smiling .Personaly I'm happier and smile more now that I'm smoke free

Racing and riding at altitude I find myself wondering if that extra lung function I lost after 8 years of smoking would help.
Then again that was 14 years ago.

Shame is a tool of the devil.

I love you.

In answer to your question about how much better you'd feel if you quit: through the years I've witnessed two cases of a fellow cyclists quitting smoking. After a few months they were so much faster and could climb hills so much better that all the rest of us joked that maybe we should all start smoking so that we could then quit and get that much faster. The difference in these two was amazing.

I quit 2.5 years ago after 20 years of smoking. It was tough, but well worth it. Good luck to you quitters. I know how you feel.

Before picking up cigs in 2005 I smoked cigars and pipes (tobacco pipe of course). I still smoke the cigars and pipes, but quick the cigs in 2010' I think.

I don't feel an iota of regret lighting up a cigar or pipe once every week or two.

I've stopped for over a year now. I did it as a 40th birthday thing and "doctor's advice" before I really screwed myself up. Even with medications, the hard part was the killing the craving, but after researching it, I found that cranberry products were the key to curbing those nic-fits. So I started snacking on craisins and drinking cranberry juice (the regular cranberry not cran-grap or other mixed cran drinks...well, okay sometime I added a little something extra in the evening to wind down). I have heard blueberries have the same anti-oxidants as well, but bleck, I can't stand them. I wasn't cycling then, but I can run 5k comfortably and it feels good to breathe normally at the finish of it...I should try for 10k now...

So that being said, you're still young enough, try kicking the habit. Instead of taking smokes with you, take some craisins to grind on during your breaks, and if that don't work for you go see a doc for some advice and/or maybe a prescription to help you out and point you in the right direction. And eat healthy! I'm not a big guy, but I packed on the pounds quick...about 20 pounds over the first 3-4 months (I was about 140 when I first quit. Now, I'm at about 150-155 since I started doing more activities)

I'm not a doctor, but these are some things I did to help me out during the stopping process. Day 4 was the worse day, but well worth it considering I smoked for about 25 years. After that its been smooth sailing.

-Jon

I went through a couple stages of the patch. Then I replaced it with food. Ooops

So how did you get down to being such a skinny bastard?

A pack a day is 7,300 per year, year after year. Ask yourself; How am I going to come out ahead on that? Or come anywhere close to breaking even? After mulling this over, quit. Hypnosis works really well, but you need at least 4 sessions over a month. bk

When we got the chest during gross anatomy and people saw what cigarettes did to the lungs it got the few remaining smokers to quit.

I discovered this strange object in my garage with two wheels and covered in dust. The rest is history.

Bought a bike and quit smoking when I was 23. It took until I was 25 to absolutely completely quit. (Last cigarette was in 1975)
Once in a great while I think that it would be pleasant to have one. I doubt I'll ever act on that feeling but it's an urge that for some never completely disappears.

Damn! Glad I don't smoke 4 to 5 packs a day anymore.

My Mom helped me decide not to smoke as a teen. She did it by setting a great example; having horrific coughing fits from her cigarettes. That and the, then recently released, report from the Surgeon General disuaded me from doing more than trying a couple and not really liking them.

Did it look like this?

Well i quit shooting heroin so i think I can quit smoking cigs!! Wish me luck.

It also had a seat and pedals.
Though I could use a wheelbarrow for landscaping projects.