Vicelord

I don't consider myself to have alcoholism, as I often will go a couple of weeks without an adult beverage, but I do definitely enjoy my booze. I'm starting to get annoyed by the vicious circle that is coming from drinking and partying on the weekends.

I'm 26 and though I've grown out of my real party stage, I like to overindulge on the weekends, but unfortunately thats also when I like to ride. The two do not mix, and I refuse to get on a bike drunk, for several reasons. If I have a morning group ride, I'll forgo the beverages and go to be early but if I'm going to be riding solo, I drink the night before thinking it will be ok, then when I wake up feeling like crap, heart racing, and dehydrated, I decide not to go until the night time. Well, after a while of feeling like poo, I decide to have a drink with lunch or a bloody mary or something just to take the ow factor out of my day. One drink in and I start to feel buzzed because I'm a light weight and then I'll have another drink. well, now I'm not riding at all today!! tomorrow doesn't look good either as I'll likely be hungover.

It's a vicious circle. I want to tell myself to HTFU and get on the bike anyway, but I'm really scared that my body will shut down on me if I'm hungover and try to ride in 100+ degree weather. I don't know how to ride at anything lower than 75% and I get bored with it if I'm riding slow.

Other than the obvious which is to not drink, what should I do? My roommate says drink more and ride the bike anyway, I say hell no. My heart says stop drinking all together, but that's difficult. Anyone else in the same predicament? I'd like someone to chat with about how to balance out the partying and exercising.

Cliff's Notes:

I'm a drunk. I want to ride my bike but can't stop drinking. Need someone to be like me and help me figure out a strategy. Posting about it on the internet because I dont know where else to ask. Tried AA, that was a wake up call, and definitely taught me I'm not an alcoholic. lol

DropDeadFred

I reward myself with a good pitcher or two after a hard ride...you need self control...or an I.V. so you can hydrate yourself. either or

Seattle Forrest

I had a neighbor who woke up in the back of somebody's jeep after going down a steep hill on a bike while very drunk. I think he'd probably call yours a wise decision.

There were a lot of alcoholics in my family tree, so I don't touch the stuff. Guess that means I have no good advice for you. Sorry.

timster

Yeah... I used to drink a lot, and also found that it interfered with my riding.

Then I stopped drinking the night before any rides. Then I stopped drinking all together. I don't miss it at all.

Best of luck!

Agave

Are you really the one to judge that?

I_think_not.

Intrepid

Drink AFTER your ride as mentioned previously. Consider it your reward. Take the next day off.

DropDeadFred

you seriously wont miss it if you stop..but if you don't FourLoko! FTW

chasm54

If you're drinking to make yourself feel better after drinking, you have a drink problem. There is no answer to your question other than to drink only in moderation, or not at all, the nights before you intend to ride. Incidentally, alcohol makes it difficult to benefit from your training, too. It interferes with the body's production of human growth hormone and therefore your muscles don't recover as well as they should.

Don't get me wrong, I like to drink. But there is absolutely no way to reconcile getting wasted with a hard bike ride the next morning. Sorry.

RUOkie

Actually you probably are. Just because you don't have the same problems as some in that support group, you certainly sound like you are a problem drinker and are at high risk to have some type of problem (health, accident, relationship etc.) because of your unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Get help before you are forced to.

merlinextraligh

Commit to do your early morning group ride. Go to bed a bit earlier, and don't have that last drink or two.

If you stay up too late, andhave too many, still do the ride no matter how much you feel like crap.

It's good penance, and good reinforcement to be a bit more moderate next time.

And unless you have an underlying health condition riding with a hangover won't kill you. ( at least not until you die of stomach cancer years later.)

dolanp

Aside from the obvious solution of not drinking, maybe you shouldn't drink so much. You can get 'drunk enough' for fun without waking up with a terrible hangover. Don't overdo it, stay hydrated, and pop a few ibuprofen before you go to bed.

ravenmore

I actually set a PR for a 4 mile running loop with a pretty severe hangover. Honestly, the best approach is to either not drink or drink more in moderation. If you're hitting it pretty hard try to drink a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage consumed. That will help out a lot in the morning.

ancker

One of my best rides ever was a very hot day where I had two (non-American) beers with lunch. I then had three beers in the parking lot after the ride. (Over 3 hours, so I was fine to drive.)

That said, I usually try to avoid alcohol before a ride. It usually makes me tired and sluggish.

Beer is a good recovery drink. It has a lot of carbs that your body just used up on the ride.
Like the others have said, set a rule of no drinking before a ride. Give yourself a beer or two as a reward.

DropDeadFred

i had to take a DUI class years ago and they said hangovers are a sign of addiction...your body hurts and if you are getting rid of the pain by drinking again then you are an addict. Most non alcoholics drink..if they gets wasted then they pay the price but they don't drink again to get rid of the hangover..they recover...so yeah...seriously you should kick the booze for awhile...you will start feeling fantastic...I rarely drink anymore. If i do it's because the old ball n chain let me go out with the boys or I finished a nice ride...and I only drink after if I chug an entire bottle of water first...drink before you pass out too...makes a big difference.

pallen

You can still go out, just limit the alcohol consumption to a few drinks and avoid getting drunk. If you are unable to do that, then you might have a problem. You may not be a hardcore serious alcoholic, but if you are unable to control your consumption, that's a problem.

Fiery

That's not how to cure a hangover. That is how to become an alcoholic though.

gregf83 

Seems like a bit of a paradox. On the one hand you're concerned that you may be somehow damaging yourself riding in a dehydrated, hungover state, while ignoring the millions of brain cells you're destroying by binge drinking.

Just ride. You'll feel better after an hour or two on the bike. Hopefully, you will eventually control your drinking and the problem will go away.

merlinextraligh

I'd skip the ibuprofen. If you've drank enough to need it, you may have GI problems from the combination of alcohol and ibuprofen, with the worst case scenario being a bleeding ulcer.

And you definitely don't want to take tylenol wich can casue liver damage.

I figure that if I've drunk enough to need pain medicine, I've drunk too much, and should suffer the negative feedback, rather than medicate it away.

celticfrost

I tend to "overindulge" on occasion as well. I use quotes not because I drink a ton (at least relatively when compared to my younger days), but because I'm a freakin' lightweight and sometimes just 2 drinks will give me a mini-hangover.

What I do to help make sure (not guarantee ) that I don't go overboard is to drink a pint of ice water for every drink I consume -- that way it takes me longer to drink the booze and I end up drinking less of it as a result. Also combats the dehydrating effects.

SBRDude

If you're looking for an easy answer, there are none. Either drink in moderation or not at all. Try to find other evening activities that are fun besides sitting around and drinking. I know it's hard to do because it's generally part of socializing, but you need to learn to do it in moderation. If you're at a party, it doesn't mean you can't have a drink, but you should also drink a perrier or something non-alcoholic as your next "drink." I find that I get into the habit of sipping or drinking at a party and I don't really care what it is, so it might as well be water. If you're really not an alcoholic and don't want to become one, then you need to have these kinds of strategies to keep from overindulging. It's smarter to do that than to go to a party or whatever with the attitude that you're not going to drink when everyone else is and then give into temptation. Instead, go with the idea that you'll have a 2 or 3 drinks and space them out over the evening. Good luck.

Daytrip

Don't drink with Ibuprophen. It's really rough on the liver. And it sounds like your liver needs all the help it can get, OP.

I agree with Merlin that riding with a hangover won't kill you, and it will probably make you feel better (without drinking any more) IF you be sure to hydrate like crazy, get some good nutrition in your stomach and, perhaps most important, replenish your electrolytes, which are removed when you drink.

Seriously, as others have said, if you drink to relieve a hangover (and I know from experience just how effective that is), then you've got a drinking problem. I would never ride under the influence of alcohol. Pot, sure. Alcohol--never.

macnolias

I agree with the moderation and if the night before kill it off early and hydrate before bed. Also drinking doesn't kill brain cells.

RT

In all seriousness, I was you 20 years ago until just two years ago. If you need honest, brutal advice and a glimpse at what life is like on the other side, PM me. Not here to pontificate or rail against drinking, but I know where you are. Exactly.

bigbadwullf

Would you drink a 'sports' drink if you found out it really dehydrated you? Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc.

Now you have your answer....

Time to put away childish things in favor of growing up
Not trying to beat you up. I've been there. I partied pretty hard. I drank pretty hard. I wasn't a drunk but I got drunk. I went weeks/months without drinking. I could have one or two and stop(easily). But there comes a time when you figure out that crap isn't good for you. Just like you wouldn't drink a sports drink if you found out it did the opposite, or you wouldn't live next to a nuclear plant(although it's pretty damn safe) and you wouldn't eat McDonald's every meal, every day, why drink alcohol if you know it affects your riding?

Just common sense. If you can't stop knowing that, then you have a problem. Admit it and get help(if that is the case). The admitting is the hard part. The rest is easier.

I have a beer or two every now and then. Sometimes 3 or 4. No big deal. Rarely do I drink "to get drunk". Just don't like the feeling the next day and grumpy feeling a few days after that.

merlinextraligh

Alcohol affects my riding; it makes me fat.