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?

quit NOW.

smoking is a bad idea in the fisrt place and if you dont stop say goodbye to your physical life

Dude awesome thread. My good buddy smokes hand rolled cigs.

With that you get like 40-50 cigs from a bag. He smokes like 25 a day. TWENTY FIVE.

Anyway, he rides a lot and makes a lot of long distance rides. Tells me about them all the time, blah blah. But when we ride together the guy drops, and often. I got furious w the kid bc he dropped a 60 mile ride 30 miles in bc it "was windy and his knees hurt". WTF. Most of you already know my knee situation, so when this guy complains ab the wind and his knees hurting, I call bull**** and tell him to quit the cigs, he gets defensive, takes a seat at a gas station and calls his gf to pick him up, whilst rolling up.

I have smoked on and off since college. I binge sometimes, but I'm quit now. But one's body becomes accustomed to the constant smoking and you start to forget what feeling healthy and breathing free is like. My gf still smokes sometimes and it makes me FUUUUFUUFUUUFUUUURIOUS.

I challenge you to quit sharps. It's going to be hard, so don't get caught up rolling yourself and making a bad habit worse. Nip it in the bud.

You know damn good and well those things are bad for you, fella.
If you can't cold turkey, get the patch.

I smoked about 1/2 a pack a day for three years before I started riding, about a month into seriously riding, I decided to quit, and it made a world of difference. You'll feel about a million times better every day and you will definitely notice difference in your riding. It was even in the first week that I noticed a difference in my stamina and increased lung health, on and off the bike. Mind you, I was only 18 when I quit, the older you are, the longer it'll take you to rebound from the damage you did to your lungs, stop now before it becomes harder to back track.

On another note, the easiest way to quit is to convince yourself that you really really want to quit, and if you want to improve your riding, feel better, and live longer then you want to quit smoking.

pssshttt.....EFF these haters yo. i smokes like a chim and look awesome doing it, while riding my sick fixie down haight street AND chuggin some PBRs.
i was hangin with my boy who does sick neck tats and we both agree only a lycra wearin roadies hate on smokin. as long as you arnt smokin those fat cat corporate cigs and keepin it real with american spirits (you know those are hand rolled by REAL indians, right?)...besides it keeps you real thin so you can still fit into some sweet skin tight jeans and awesome v-nex.

Wouldn't it make more sense to quit? Then you could save all your money that you spend on cigarettes. That's not to mention the hospital bills you'll incur in the future and the quality of life loss you're feeling now...

Never know who avoids you when they see you coming. I avoid smokers like cancer. Oh man, I made a pun. I kill me.

yes, it makes a difference. good idea to quit

now a pipe on the other hand ...
https://hilobrow.com/wp-content/uploa...ti-bicycle.jpg

Too classy. Great picture.

haha awesome, that kid looks stoked

Now, that's funny as hell.

Seriously, man. What do you think? You know you should quit.

There are millions of people who have quit and there are several ways to do it. I've never been a smoker, but along with the advice given above, maybe you can not go to places where smoking is common (bars, restaurants, etc...) for a while till you get over the first 2 or 3 weeks. Alcohol makes a lot of people who are trying to quit weak for cigarettes, so avoid that for a while, too. Doing that, you will have LOTS more money in your pocket.

Tell your friends who smoke that you are trying to quit and they should respect that and not smoke around you or offer you cigarettes.

You will smell better.

Your breath will smell better.

You will breath more freely and become a better cyclist.

Im in the exact same boat man. I stopped quitting and aside from feeling like my body is healthier, I can notice a huge difference in breathing. I used the 4mg gum. I didnt even need to create a plan because I got so bored of the gum I eventually stopped chewing it. I do however, have a puff every blue moon, but no longer do I smoke 5 - 10 cigs a day.

Also...

Understand that it will be hard. Expect to be tempted and expect to feel weakness for it. Understand that your mind and body will play tricks on you to get it.

You can do it. You can do it cold turkey, too.

Remember,

No man is free who is not master of himself.
--Epictetus


Free yourself.

AWESOME!!!!! HAHAHA

BTW - EVERY SMOKER IS PERFECTLY AWARE SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU, telling them again is simply pointless. Quit for yourself and nobody else, and tell the rest to go to hell.

If you have never been a smoker you are not allowed to say anything about quitting, your lack of experience in the matter voids your opinion.

I've had other vices.

I never smoked cigarettes, but I used to smoke a pipe and cigars. Even though I did not inhale, it was still very addictive, and I had a hard time quitting. I finally found that hipnotherapy worked the best for me. I haven't touched tobacco in any form now for 20 years, and life is so much more enjoyable when you a physically fit and healthy.

What worked for me is to take Robin Williams' how-to-quit advice from that cinematic gem, The Fisher King,

"There's only two types of people in the world, those who smoke and those who don't. All you have to do is decide which one of those you are, and be that person"

Paraphrased of course but really it's all about your headspace. Simple and powerful. Ponder it, then go there Monday morning and you've got it beat. Even if you start again, wait a bit and come back to it again when you're thinking straight. Very Buddhist, really.

Been 35 years ago for me. I was 21.

Check my sig!

I'm not going to bore you with a story but I HIGHLY recommend looking into Vaping or e-cigarettes as an alternative. PM me if you have any questions.

Here is a great forum to get you started:

https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

I find quitting to be nearly impossible. I've done it many times and within a week to a month I'm smoking again.
What I find easier to do, and while I;'ve also failed at this I've had much better luck with it, is to just smoke less.
Stop buying packs, mooch off a friend. Make sure to do something nice for this friend in return, but just smoke the occasional cigarettes off him. Try to smoke no more than one a day. Maybe if you go out on the weekend feel free to smoke if you're drinking.
Make it as easy as possible for yourself. Don't punish yourself for giving in and having one. Just try to focus on smoking less.
Sometimes when I do this I pick up my habit quite quickly, sometimes I've fully quite like this for upto a year. Right now I smoke at the very most 2-3 cigarettes a week and sometimes go a month or two without them entirely. This has been going on at this rate for nearly a year.

Slowly like this you'll stop enjoying cigarettes as much. Sure, occasionally you'll still want one and it wil be heaven on earth, but you will find that once you start to really smoke less you notice the bad aspects of smoking more. If you're down to 2 ciggies a week and then go out and get drunk and smoke a pack in one night, you will feel terrible the next day. You will feel gross. And you probably wont smoke a cig for at least a week. When you're only smoking 2 or 3 a week you're gonna hate the way your hands smell after you smoke. So once again, that's gonna keep you from smoking. After a year you might not be smoking at all.

Or you could try to quit cold turkey, deal with the crankiness for a month or two and then cave and start smoking again.

I went from a pack and a half a day to barely ever smoking. I consider this a pretty good accomplishment.