edub

+1

driving drunk is for a**holes, whether you're in a car on on a bike...

I once drove home drunk from a party and crashed into a hedge and passed out... woke up a few hours later, not knowing wtf happened, still drunk. It was really early in the morning, and people were out walking dogs... I

I don't think anyone needs a lesson about impairment of balance/reaction/judgement when liquored up, but seriously...

dustinlikewhat

alcohol makes me ride faster.

gregtheripper

if you're a good enough rider you can probably ride with a few beers in you. i'm not going to lie and say i've never done it. but when sloppy drunk i would not recommend it. one time i came home and had no recollection of the ride back, it freaked me out a bit. so either drink less or ride less.

TRaffic Jammer

^^^well put^^^

Ready to Ruck

does anyone else sober up after 2-4drinks when riding a bike? Think about it, strenuous exercise certainly wakes you up.

also, I can't ride until 20 minutes after my last beer; damn mild heartburn.

Sinfield

I always figure that drunken bike riding is fairly self regulating. You're either not drunk enough to crash/ weave wildly and thus probably ok to ride home, or you're obviously too ****faced to be riding. Sounds like the OP fits into the second category and thus has no place riding a bike home drunk. Hell, I'm gonna go so far as to say that he has no place even riding a bike if he has to ask such a ****ing assinine question in the first place.

deviltroll666

stay at the bar. pass out in your own vomit. have the cops put you up for the night.

sfcrossrider

I had some tainted PB&J last month. I didn't know till I was half way home through GG park and started tripping balls. I wound up @ Ocean Beach trying to convince myself I could catch a wave with my beater bike. What I'm trying to say is... Hugs NOT drugs.

And yes you can get a DUI for riding drunk. Just walk home. Think of all the cool things you can step in/on @ 3am.

sfcrossrider

humancongereel

wow, that one passed me right by. i'm surprised it did.

funny, though, that people get killed by cars all the time and there's not much "anti car flare" you hear of outside of critical mass.

but that's neither here nor there.

i missed that story. i guess i was wrong to think bikes can't kill people....but i do wonder about these situations. how does it happen?

boots

the victims are always really old and decrepit

evictionsurplus

A friend of mine took a curb, well it ended up being a 12" drop, last spring and powdered his clavicle. Crappy thing is that he had to ride himself to the hospital. The lortabs helped keep his spirits up, but it still did a number on him.
j

manboy

I'm wondering how drunk the OP was to be unable to get on the bike. And if it wasn't fixed, what was it? A geared road bike? Cause that's not the bike you want to ride while impaired. The bike of choice for me is a roadster, followed closely by a fixed gear. Minimal controls on both. The roadster is easier to understand and stabler, while the fixie provides immediate access to speed control.

My technique is this: Stand on the pedal and kick off so you're rolling. (On a fixie, stomp on the pedal and get it going.) Next, swing your leg around and cruise away. If this fails and you can't control the bike while you're mounting it, you're too drunk to ride. Please lock up and try again later.

Another note: When I'm drunk I try to ride as fast as possible and look really serious. I ride straighter, and I look like I'm trying to get somewhere. I think it keeps attention to a minimum.

Is this very smart? Maybe not. However, I like to think I know my limits and keep to them, and in most situations, biking is a hell of a lot better than driving a motorized vehicle.

evictionsurplus

Me, the OP, was on a geared roadie with a very high seat. Even when sober I have to do the lean the bike 30 degrees and then get vertical. Not a very good bar cruiser at all. The frame is huge too, so that doesn't help. Oh did I mention I use toe clips, that isn't a good thing for this situation either. To make matters worse the numbers on my chain lock are worn off and it is like a f-ing rubik's cube getting my combo right when I am sweating out alcohol. But toe clips and a high AB content are just a bad combo.
I totally agree that speed helps when you are BUI. It makes straight lines much easier to maintain. That, and never go into the drops when you are intoxicated. Stay on the hoods.

Sinfield

cool story

cyclezealot

for starters. Dont ride near a sobriety check while drunk on the bike. Cyclists get stopped for those little inconveniences just like motorists do. At least where I have lived.

meatwad

Riding a bike is way too much exertion and far too dangerous for a serious bar-hopper.
What a pain in the ass. Will you let the task of the ride home dictake how much you will drink? Hell no. Thats why people drive cars. They are armored mobiled sofas.

Plan ahead you lush!

loaf

Riding drunk is not a good idea.

That being said, I do it quite often. I ride my bike everywhere and use it for work, so as long as I can stand vertical, I can ride. I've also found that riding a bmx drunk leads to bruises and road rash.

I've also found that when I get home from the ride, I feel more awake, so I end up clearing out whatever beer/boozahol is in the fridge with my roomates that are still awake.

SamHouston

if you can't walk you can't ride, if you can walk you can ride, not safely though when drunk. If you don't know you can't walk, and try to ride, thank you, we didn't need ya.

Matthew A Brown

Guys, guys,

Matthew A Brown

I think my point is "don't wear glasses".

Matthew A Brown

Or something.

queerpunk

know your limits.

if you're too drunk to ride, you're too drunk to ride.

mvillan

if you are too runk.. wait a while.. sit down drink some water and wait it out.. if you can't wait.. walk the bike.. this can also take a while..
If I'm unsure and you don't want to be hassled I wait it out or walk most of the way until I get into the park and take the back roads...

don't do anything too stupid..

YoKev

I've ridden my bike in all sorts drunken states. I didn't have to ask for www assistance via a post on bikeforums to as how to do it. I found my limits, exceded them, and still make home safe. Infact, I was just at a bike club meeting, had a few beers, and I rode the 4 miles home on a 3-speed roadster I picked up from a yardsale about a month ago. Time flew by, and I was home in no time! Beer FTW!!!!11!!1! OMGHI2U..