SlowOlympian

OP, i like the "get on the bike and suffer through it" idea if you dont consider quitting altogether. maybe the suffering will help you quit or drink less. i do enjoy my beer, but it doesnt ever interfere with rides, except make me hydrate more, and the first miles tend to be slower, although i never really get much of a hangover, so starting out isnt too crucial. the drinking water between drinks is good too, and a glass or two(water, not beer ) a bit before the ride help even more if youre still a bit dry. I also find as i get more fit, i have less of an appetite for beer, hopefully the same will happen for you

Honestly, i think its an easy cash cow, lots of people smoke marijuana, and any decent insurance will pay for rehab at least once. Lil steve smokes some weed and now he doesnt clean his room as much and eats a lot! he MUST be an addict! And also a LOT of those guys are just court ordered. would your LBS turn down people who were court ordered to buy a bike? Would they turn down some parents who forced their kids to buy a bike? no! they'd love it! they may even come up with a way to get more of these people court ordered or shipped in by "adjusting" the criteria to get more people in and make more money. my .02, although, im not knocking the purpose of rehabs, im glad we have them, as there are a lot who do want help.

s4one

Same here, i party and drink on weekend nights and suffer the riding in the morning, its hell.

frantik

that is good you don't drink and ride

sounds like you know the heavy drinking is a problem, but you just enjoy it too much.

make a decision what you want to do... i'd recommend trying to drink less and still have as much fun with your friends. then have more fun riding the next day

Shuagster

So many complicated answers... Dude, alcoholism, no way. Just schedule your rest day to be after a party/drinking day. We need the partying and letting loose as much as the cycling. This has happened to me, and I just take the day off or go riding later in the afternoon when the hangover has subsided a little. Another thing you could do is ride hard the day of said drinking and think of it as a reward for your hard work.

SBRDude

I'm far from an expert, but I do have an opinion informed by lots of experience. Sorry that doesn't work for you.

PrinceofParamus

Stop drinking.
Set a goal to double or triple your miles you do now on your bike
You'll be happier and healthier.

bbattle

If you have to drink to be accepted they are not your friends. Most people figured that out in high school.


What do you want to do, ride your bike or hang out and get drunk with your "friends"? You see that you can't do both so there is a choice to be made. You've gotten more than enough advice from this forum so decide.

RT

This is what it boils down to. If you are able to master this concept in your 20's, you are light years ahead of your peers. A support system exponentially increases your chance of success. I lost all of my friends (a.k.a. drinking buddies) when I quit (none were cyclists, in fact, none were active). It was more supportive for me to be alone and make new friends than it was trying to hang out with them and not drink in their world. It sounds like you have pals in the cycling world now, which will help.

Keep your head on straight and don't be afraid to go against the grain when you know what is right for you.

glrnns280

This if you have a real problem. My father died from being a drunk 30+ years of it. 54 years old

jfmckenna

Yeah I drink all the time and still ride. I drink into the night and then go race my bike and still do well. I find that a hard ride is the best thing to cure a hang over. Don't get me wrong, I don't show up to the start line stinking drunk but I can definitely tell I've had a few last night. It all gets worked out after so many miles. Just bring plenty of water and as others have mentioned drink a little water between your booze the night before.

And, if it really is bothering you then just stop, simple right?

RT

At the risk of pontificating, I define alcoholic as not being able to go a day without drinking - I know there are other medical definitions, but this one is practical. It takes a shock to snap out of it, and gradual did not work for me - again, 18 years of 'gradually quitting' - well that's just another term for denial. I quit overnight because of a serious life shock and haven't looked back. I post in this thread because of the eerie parallels I found in the meager paragraph describing the OP's dilemma and my experience. glrnns280, it sounds like you have experience as the child of a drinker, so you have experience from a different vantage.

I worked in a bar for ten years, and I have been to no less than ten funerals for drinking-related deaths, all from that bar, three were suicide by Vodka. I am a professional at determining who has been drinking, for how long, how much they can handle, and at times how badly they 'need' their next drink. Even this wasn't enough to make me realize I drank too often for my own good. I try not to make blanket statements about drinking because some folks are able to drink a couple beers and go home. Not saying anyone is weaker or stronger than another, but all of our lives are different with different stressors of varying degrees of severity. We all handle it differently.

From the description in the original post, it sounds as if the OP is at the easy part (if there is one) of identifying that there might be a problem. Yeah, been there too. I tried not drinking while hanging out with the boys watching a hockey game, throwing some Euchre or just shooting the breeze. It didn't work. There is an allure, a grip that the moment takes on you, when everyone else is buying shots and carousing when each goal is scored. You sip your water and lose interest really fast, or you take up the next round and the next thing you know - it's Monday morning and you are about to be late for work, craving Chinese food for lunch which is four hours away, and looking forward to a gallon of ice water (which tastes like a roll of nickels since you smoked an entire pack the previous night) and about 14 hours of sleep.

I don't write this just to see my words in a public forum; this lengthy post is only here in hopes that someone stumbles across it, recognizes some or all of it and can take something good away from it. After the initial shock in my life, cycling is what saved me from drifting back into the rut I had so often fallen into.

Mike F

Great think not to care about

Mike F

The 8 people I used to party with when younger:

4 Divorces
5 Dui's
2 DUI Collisions
3 Sobered up
1 Dead
1 Last Chance Agreement

Its all fun until life gets in the way... or if you can handle booze.

FactVord

Much respect to him for getting back on the saddle after Stage 9's turmoil.

jfmckenna

What do you mean by craving Chinese food? IS that a typical alcoholic thing or something? I hope not, because I love the Happy Wok down the street from where I work and often crave it

I think the definitive test is this. Can you sit down and have one drink, a beer, glass of wine, or shot of booze, and then carry on like nothing is wrong. IF you can then you are not an alcoholic, but if within minutes or even an hour you start to feel sick, stomach cramps, sweating and nervous, anxious etc... and then have another drink and all that goes away then you are definitely an alcoholic. It's a simple test really.

RT

Again, not an alcoholic, was just a heavy/binge drinker. We all have our poison, and Chinese food always made it all a little better the day after. I had a friend who craved peanut butter by the spoonful - that would have made me wretch.

My definitive test was that alcohol was doing absolutely nothing for me, so why even have one? You simply cannot apply your test as defined to all people who drink. They will all react differently, and while you will find some similarities, it is the reason I try to stay away from blanket statements.

There is nothing simple about a drinking problem. If it were simple, there would not be a problem.

gregf83 

That's a simple test but life isn't so simple. The OP says he can stop at one beer with no problem. On the other hand his drinking is starting to negatively impact other aspects of his life to the point where he is asking for advice on a public forum. It may not be a serious problem now but it certainly sounds like he's on a path for trouble down the road without a change in behavior.

Vicelord

RTdub, your hockey game analogy is perfect. I go to a party, and all of my friends are there carrying on. I won't have any fun sipping water, and I'll want to go home. If I go home, I'll be bored out of my mind, and when I actually do want to party, I won't be invited because they will say ooooooh he won't want to come.

To me, it's a lose lose. I know I know I should get new friends, but I'm talking about people I grew up with, close friends, some of whom I ride with. They will be hungover or drunk and get on a bike, I cannot do it.

RT

I truly hope you make the hard decisions instead of letting them live with you. I'm not saying that your life will mirror mine, but if I could go back to 26 knowing what I know now, I would not have fooled myself for so long. It is such a passive habit that 95% of the time you're not aware you are living with it. Your friends are probably really nice people, but it's not them causing the problem, it is you and it is the environment. Only you choose what you do and where you do it. My friends were unwilling to live outside of the bar for any significant measure of time, so I had to leave them there. That was a year ago March. I went back for coffee Sunday morning (I know the owners) and saw a few of my pals. Coincidence? Not really. It has been 16 months and absolutely nothing had changed. Pleasantly plastered by noon after the back nine at a local course was the norm.

FWIW, and not to scare you, but I lost a marriage and three relationships due to mutual drinking issues. It wasn't just me, it was both of us in each case. I decided not to be mutual anymore. I also know seven people who have served 30 days to a year in jail for DUI. They all thought they were being so careful.

It is so incredibly refreshing to get out and hammer 50 miles at 6:00 a.m. after a Stanley Cup game 7 the night before. Too bad it took me almost 20 years and four failed relationships to figure it out.

Good luck, my friend.

surgeonstone

This. Lots of contradictory statements by OP.

surgeonstone

If you have to drink to feel accepted you are heading into textbook descriptions of alcoholic drinking.

recursive

Well, it's a simple question. What's more important to you, riding, or partying with your alcohol-obsessed friends? Whichever one you choose, you may as well quit the other one because each one is holding the other back. You can't really do both.

mocolotion

I second this sentiment. I really enjoy getting out on the bike or going skiing after taking a few hits of weed. It's nothing like alcohol in that it doesn't have a negative impact on your motor skills or balance; it's more of a cerebral high that helps me to focus and really push myself.

Pug

Kudos for breaking the chains !

SoulPuppy

This! Water is a much better option. Most of the hangover effects stem from dehydration. Water will help minimize the hangover.