CycleryNorth81

You know the guy's a professional when he opens a beer with the back brake and doesn't flip over.

Ghazmh

I have to wonder how can alcohol consumption whilst cycling ever be common or wise enough to necessitate a bottle opener mounted on the frame? Who doesn’t like a beer an hour or two after a long ride? By that point I can use a normal bottle opener from a kitchen drawer. Frame mounted bottle openers are a manufacturers way of selling an image instead of a practical and useful product.

Worknomore

You can get a DUI.
My only police encounter while riding my bike happened when I picked up a couple if empty beer cans from the parking lot of the market I rode to and put them in my bottle cages. Was noticed by the cops on my way home and detained, sobriety checked then lectured. No biggie but no fun either.

canklecat

When I drank beer more often I'd occasionally drink one or two before or on a break during a long ride. If I got back on the bike within an hour it seemed like an energy drink. Same when I was in the gym training for boxing. Occasionally I'd have a beer before a workout, if we weren't sparring. The body seemed to use it as fuel with little or no beer buzz. And if I was pushing hard enough I'd sweat it off and not need pee stops any more frequently than just drinking water.

Reportedly that's why cycle racing officials finally banned alcohol consumption during rides. At least with healthy young people it can serve as efficient fuel. And for many folks alcohol is a mild pain reliever (doesn't work that way for me), which could be considered an unfair advantage. But it's funny to see those 1960s film reels with domestiques raiding the local bars for beer and sparkling wine. Reportedly the bars would bill the team or organizers later. I'd bet they got stiffed a lot.

When I was in my 20s and riding from Mexicali to San Felipe (120 miles or so, I think) I had the bright idea to substitute beer for water or food and carried a six-pack in my handlebar bag. Canned beer with pop tops, of course, probably Dos Equis or Tecate, something local before Mexican beer was trendy. The route was much flatter than the western Pacific coast of Baja, so I wasn't sweating off liquid as quickly and by the 75 mile mark I needed to pee. But there was nothing but nothing for miles around -- not even a cactus to hide behind. I didn't want to get arrested for indecent exposure in Mexico, so I waited until we reached a "convenience store" that was basically a log cabin without electricity or plumbing. The shopkeeper let me pee in the corral outside -- that was his bathroom too. The horses didn't seem to mind. Anyway, the beer instead of water trick was okay but I wouldn't do it again.

I do recall one occasion a few years ago after three very strong beers in the 10% ABV range when I was too wobbly and pulled over for an hour before riding home. And I still felt lethargic, not energized. Now in my 60s with a dysfunctional thyroid, my metabolism ain't the same. I drink very seldom anymore. Maybe one with pizza or bbq, a couple of times a month. Any more than that and I feel like I'm getting a hangover within an hour or so. Takes all the fun out of beer.

OldTryGuy

I fill a water bottle 1/2 way with O'Doul's and into the freezer it goes. Pop another can a couple of hours before ride to lit it de-fizz then add a few ice cubes and beer to frozen bottle. On those 84°F midnight rides this past summer and fall, even 81°F this past Tuesday's Midnight ride, it's a refreshing change from H2O.

Rides4Beer

An hour or two after?? I'm usually having a beer while I clean the bike immediately after a ride.

Witterings

Our rides usually end at the pub

Metieval

which begs the question, How do you get home from the Pub?

Milton Keynes

I don't know about a DUI but they might write you up for a PUI (pedestrian under the influence). If you appear intoxicated on a public street and are a danger to yourself, and you blow over the legal limit then they could cite or arrest you for PUI.

Daniel4

Who said he was going to drink it? He's only holding the bottle.

FiftySix

Public intoxication here used to get one a night in jail, the next morning in court, and then released from jail a few hours after that. No fine as the overnight stay was the fine. Not sure if it affects a driving record or not. I haven't been charged with PI, but I've seen it happen to others.

bobwysiwyg

Actually, you can't be charged with a DUI while on a bike (pedal only) in Michigan as it, bike, is not classified as a motor vehicle. You could have challenged their reason for stopping you and refused the sobriety test.. though likely more trouble than it might be worth. This a statement be a member of The Bar from a Grand Rapids law firm.

"You can only be charged with a DUI in Michigan if it is a motor vehicle. I did have a case once with a client riding his tractor lawn mower down the street. You can get a DUI on a motorized bicycle , but it has to have a certain amount of horsepower."

You could be charged with public intoxication, but not sure what behavior they have observe beforehand.

subgrade

Around here, you can get charged with DUI on a bicycle as well as driving a motorized vehicle. The legal limit is the same (0.05% blood alcohol), only the fines are much smaller and you don't lose your driver's license (if you have one) (contrary to what many people seem to believe).
The reasoning, I guess, is that while a drunk bicyclist is mostly a danger to himself, he still might collide with with other vehicles and pedestrians, causing damage, or cause an accident when vehicles are suddenly forced to avoid running him over.
And it does get enforced too, although not very often, it seems. I myself have been stopped and required to do a breathalizer test (sober), and I know a few guys that have been fined, even repeatedly. That said, it doesn't really stop people, myself included, to ride after a few beers.

eja_ bottecchia

Open container law will apply.

Milton Keynes

I don't know if a PUI affects driving record, but I don't think it does. But giving a drunk cyclist a PUI is the way it works in my state since a bicycle doesn't meet the legal definition of a motor vehicle.

burnthesheep

Have I lived under a rock? Thanks for that link.

livedarklions

In my state (NH), the DUI statute definitely applies to bicycle riders as a bicycle is defined as a vehicle, and DUI is is defined by statute as operating a vehicle on a way while intoxicated. Open container law, however, only applies to "motor vehicles", so they can't get you for beer in the bottle cage.

A quick look at Michigan law makes it appear that OWI laws don't apply to bicyclists. The bike statute defines a bike as a "device", not a vehicle, but states that the operator of the device has all of the same duties as a driver of a vehicle "except as to the provisions which by their nature do not have application." Exclusively human-powered devices are specifically defined out of the category of vehicles. The OWI statute definitely identifies the offense as operating a vehicle while intoxicated, which by definition a bicyclist cannot do as the bicycle is not a vehicle. Open container laws likewise apply only to "vehicles".

Might have been able to get him for drunken disorderly in Michigan if his riding appeared sufficiently impaired that he put someone or something at risk: "A person who is intoxicated in a public place and who is either endangering directly the safety of another person or of property or is acting in a manner that causes a public disturbance." That's a crime. They could also take him into protective custody (non-criminal) if he's drunk. If they want to be jerks about it, I think they could get him for the drunken disorderly for endangering the safety of his own bicycle if he had tested sufficiently intoxicated (statute doesn't specify it has to be someone else's property).

Paul Barnard

Bad ideas are often the best teachers.

Trakhak

Back in the early days of mountain biking, I once rode with a motocross guy whose offroad MTB handling skills were amazing. Trying to keep up on one rocky descent, I stopped to pick up a bottle that had ejected from one of his cages. When I finally caught up to him and handed him the bottle, which looked as if it held a yellowish liquid, I asked what was in it. He said, "That? That's half water and half Jack Daniels." I said, "What's in your other bottle?" "That's all Jack Daniels."

Falkon 

Ahh, Germans. You gotta love it. I wouldn't doubt that it's easy to get a DUI on a bike, but I don't know about container laws on single occupant bicycles.

subgrade

Icelanders.

Falkon 

Lauf is an Icelandic brand? I stand corrected. I thought it was like the German word "laufen".

Hypno Toad

You do you!

Hypno Toad

Reading the 'open container' and 'public intoxication' posts makes me happy to live were I'm at ... no cop has time to bug somebody for having a beer. They will take notice if you're at risk of injuring yourself or others, but simply having a beer out-and-about ... that alone isn't gonna get any cop's attention.

subgrade

That was my first impression too, when I first heard of them. Actually "lauf" means "leaf" in Icelandic, hence their logo.