mijome07

I haven't toured yet, but I know I would.

Machka 

Not a lot. But then I don't drink much at all normally ... I can go months, even years, between drinks. However, when you're touring through France, you've got to sample some of the wines.

mev

I drink about as much as when not on tour - which is not much at all.

However, on my first trip into Russia I probably had as many toasts/drinks as I had in rest of my life combined. Here is one such picture. There seems to be a custom there of taking the entire wedding party and doing a bit of an excursion past historic sights/countryside.

So these folks in wedding attire were leapfrogging us as we cycled along, and they thought it to be novelty to invite us to help toast the bride and groom. Of course you need to have three toasts instead of just one. So our bike trip photos have them, and their wedding photos have us in them...

staehpj1

Not much if at all. Probably a bit less than at home which is already infrequent.

stevage

Crazy. I drink far more on tour than at home. Every night we find a pub and have a few. Our particular speciality is stout - the goal is to drink a pub out of stout. We've only managed it twice. Once we drank 2 years (at the pub's usual selling rate) worth in one evening. And not to mention wineries, breweries...

Steve

positron

Definitely.

A bit of single malt scotch at night, watching the embers die...
Maybe a cold beer in the midafternoon heat if I see an inviting watering hole.

Neil_B

I don't drink on tour. Nor do I drink at home. I did have a vodka after my June 2008 tour. I felt I needed it.

TheBrick

Beer and stout in pubs,
red wine if near a shop in the evening,
whisky or rum if away from shops, make whisky coffee and hot chocolatewith whisky I was introduced to a few weeks ago.

Cyclesafe

When I toured with people I drank alot. Like a tallboy when finishing up riding for the day. Or vodka in any soft drink.

Now, when touring solo I have an occasional beer - but only if eating dinner at a nicer restaurant. Alcohol acts as a diuretic and the volume of beer consumed provides the ammo. I get up enough at night as it is.

imi

hihi, yeah Machka, that is so true for me too

stevage

>Now, when touring solo I have an occasional beer - but only if eating dinner at a nicer restaurant.

Heh, I can recall at least two occasions when touring solo in Europe that I ordered a beer and asked if I could drink it outside to avoid inflicting my stench on fellow patrons. Both times (France and Austria) they agreed.

Steve

truman

Only when I'm breathing. I have the odd cigar, too.

Speedo

We had wine with dinner every night in our 2007 and 2008 Finger Lakes tours.

Speedo

xilios

Always

vik 

Beer whenever possible! Sometimes tequila!

I do find drinking beer at lunch can shorten the distance I ride that day so I wouldn't drink on a day I needed to crank out the miles, but for the most part the reason I tour is to have fun.

neilfein

I'll be touring there in a few days, so generally yes, and always in moderation.

rhm

I generally live by the rules my mother taught me. Here's her take on the subject of alcohol:

"You should never drink before 5:00 PM, but you should do so promptly."

When questioned further, she will grant that beer at lunch "doesn't count."

On tour of course you have to bend the rules, particularly since (as Vik observed) beer with lunch tends to reduce the number of miles one covers after lunch. But a good meal without a beer (or wine) isn't a good meal at all; and it's important to eat well while on tour!

carkmouch

You can't beat a good cheap Budweiser tallboy from a small grocery store

My dinner one night

axolotl

In Thailand, Laos, Sri Lanka & Mexico, I nearly always had a beer. The weather's hot and the food is spicy, what else you gonna drink? Although I should add that a Mexican "licuado con leche" is one of the most delicious (non-alcoholic) drinks on the planet!

Australia - great wine, beer, & cider. So many choices!

France, the wine is cheap and excellent. In Normandy & Brittany, cider is widespread and delicious.

On a recent tour in northern Spain, I sampled the local wine (very cheap and very good), beer, and bizarre but tasty cider in found in Asturias.

Chile & Argentina, great vino tinto (red wine).

One of my most pleasant touring memories is of sitting with 5 other cyclists in wonderful bubbly warm springs near the Madison campground in Yellowstone NP. One of the cyclists had brought in a 6 pack (likely against national park rules) into the park and we all sat there in the delightful jacuzzi-like water enjoying a beer as the sun began to set.

Black Shuck

Very rarely enough to be considered drunk, but a nice cold beer is a great way to round off a day of hard work.

wasabi

not during the day while riding - think it makes me sweat at least twice as much uphills..... But in the evening, after putting the stuff in the hotel room and a decent shower later, or after putting up the tent and washing off the dirt of the day definitely YES

mtclifford

Funny thing with me is I drank maybe two or three times a year. (Weddings, Birthdays, and such) But now the last two long distance rides I did I had a beer after.

Gordon P

[QUOTE=carkmouch;9292300]You can't beat a good cheap Budweiser tallboy from a small grocery store

There are so many great beers, wines and ciders to discover while touring and finding something unique and regional is one of the pleasures of traveling.

tarwheel 

Certainly, but I have to drink in moderation (the hard way).

kayakdiver

nope