What is the advantage/disadvantage of a couple of beers after a ride. My riding partner will argue it is the perfect "recovery" drink. I love a cold beer but........

Your stomach is empty so you get drunk very quickly

Alot of calories, has carbs though... can it be all that bad

I never drink... nasty stuff happens when you get drunk...

you know, as a long time mtn biker - we generally packed beer into coolers for the end of the ride. NOTHING tastes better than a cold microbrew after hitting the trails for a few hours

You end up losing more water than you otherwise would have because now you're making more #1.

Advantage - refreshing
Disadvantage - hard to stop at one

Empty carbs. I guess if you don't mind doing all the work so you can waste it on beer, then nothing at all is wrong with it. :-/

Koffee

Nother better to waste empty carbs on. Beer is great.

advantage - your partner looks better with every bottle

disadvantage - too many bottles and you fall over

I drink it to enjoy, not to recover.

I don't drink myself, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a few beers. Getting intoxicated (ie drunk) regularly is a bad scene though. I used to drink, but it makes me... uhh, "urinate" too much.

No, that's WHY I do the work! After a hard ride there's no guilt. I'd probably have the beer (or wine) anyway, so I might as well have earned it.

Gives me pain in the thigh muscles funnily enough. Doesn't stop me though.

advantage - After about two the thrid and fourth actually taste good

disadvantage - Too many beers and you may end up with complimentary silver braclets and a free ride in the back of the local black and white taxi... did I mention a nice warm bed...

My reward after a hard race is a nice ice cream cone when I get home...

Otherwise... no beer

You've got a negative view of beer, my58vw.

Good beer tastes good and unless a person has a drinking problem, they rarely end up in trouble. Moderation in all things. Beer is like anything else, if you abuse it, it abuses you. Same as food, TV, work, money, etc.

I often have a beer or two, but rarely have more.

Beer is healthier than ice cream. Fewer calories, no fat, less sodium.

So is that in the advantage or disadvantage category?

I have a beer or a glass of wine just about every day. I can't remember the last time I had more than two in one day. One thing that's interesting to note is the attitudes about alcohol on this side of the pond vs Europe. Here many people view alcohol as evil, but in Europe it's a way of life for most, although there's much fewer people with drinking problems. In Germany, you are legal to drink at 16, but you can't drive until 18. I think they have the right idea.

"Athletes should avoid alcohol, caffeine, and carbonated beverages following strenuous exercise. Alcohol post-exercise can impede recovery by hampering the body’s attempt to rehydrate, and it can interfere with the body’s ability to replenish glycogen and impair the tissue-repair process. Alcohol also promotes vasodilation, which can cause an increase in body-heat loss in cold weather, increasing susceptibility to hypothermia. And, it is a diuretic, causing further dehydration.
Caffeine is also a diuretic, resulting in only 50-percent fluid retention, and is therefore not an appropriate post-exercise fluid choice. Carbonated beverages are not the optimal choice either, as an athlete may feel full before optimally rehydrating. A good rule of thumb is juice first, beer, soda, or latte later! Another point to consider is the temperature of the beverage. Cool drinks may permit increased intake over ice-cold beverages."

From this web site.

Probably not the best recovery drink, but there's nothing better than coming home after a long Saturday ride and busting open a cold one and sitting on the deck in the evening sun, still wearing my gear before a shower.

I couldn't agree more. Wait... hold on... damn it, my beer is empty. brb fridge run......

Ok I'm back with a second beer now....

Stop drinking light beer and you wont have that problem anymore.

the rule of thumb is 4 servings of water per serving of alcohol... a beer is 12 oz, so, 28 oz of h2o per beer should keep you in pretty good shape. the anti-fitness factor of beer (or alcoholic drinks in general) is that it soaks up the fat --> glycogen enzymes, so anything past one or two drinks, the alcohol uses up all the alcohol dehydrogenase your body has, and turns all the alcohol direectly into fat. e.g. beer belly. anyway, on an hour-long ride (or more) you burned at least 500 calories. a beer has about 120. have fun.

Sorry, I come from a group of friends who I no longer associate with beer that would get themselves in trouble with it. I hate the smell and taste of beer, I prefer malt beverages myself but a Corona is nice once in a while. I had a friend killed in a druck driving accident about 6 years ago. Once I got drunk at a party and had to have a friend drive me home, never again.

I know you can drink responsibly, alcohol can be a bad thing when not done in moderation. I have seen to many people hurt, mamed and killed because they mixed alcohol with driving and actually riding a bike (a friend was actually hit by a car some time back when he tried to ride home after a party in high school). At work I saw two kids die when the car that I saw swerving at work wrapped around a pole at 95 MPH and the rear passanger was ejected and ran over twice, dying as I comfortered her in the middle of the street. Another incident a man in his later 40's wrapped his car on the same street, so drunk he could not see straight, and flew out of the passanger door onto the grass.

I know a few people who drink after rides at resturants. It is when those people have a few too many (and that does not mean irresponsably) that the things can happen. It is a scary situation when you are drunk, you think you can drive (at least I did after 4 drinks) but you are stumbling and your motor control is bad. I am not saying anyone here is like that but like everything moderation is key.

I usually save the beer for right before going to bed in the safety of my own home... (oh ya I am 23 years old, I have been able to legally drink for 2 years even though I look 18).

I was going to say that it's an advantage, but after reading my58vw's post above, all I feel is .