Beer as cycling fuel?

[Blue Hills]

I often work hard, do some long even very hard rides, but "performance" not an aim for me and my style of riding. A while ago I rode nonstop Wolverhampton to the Ribble valley fully loaded. 140 miles plus think the way I went. Was very grateful for the nice strong beer and special mixed grill when ipopped my bike inside the door of a spoons in bury

 

[Biker man]

Views?

Anyone who knows me knows that I quite often pop into pubs on bike rides - beginning, end or middle. And when I used to lead rides I would usually try to seek out a good pub with decent beer.

But I was wondering how it counts as fuel?

I know there are views that beer is "empty calories" but I take that to mean that it's not a balanced diet. Not a great problem for a cyclist scoffing cake, wine gums, malto fuel etc on rides.

I also don't buy the "diuretic" line - I mean a pint of liquid is a pint of liquid - it's not going to produce a deficit of liquid in your body.

I stress that I am not advocating seriously inebriated riding (tho have had the odd episode in my longish life).

So, views? , and a pic, for scientific nutritional analysis/case for the prosecution.

Breakfast pint before a long tough ride.

View attachment 614258

If I had a breakfast beer I would be asleep ☺️

 

[matticus]

SOME fats do have nutritional value.
Alcohol is a toxin - even in low quantities - so it's one rung up the ladder-of-evil from sugar.
But of course our bodies are clever complex machines, so we can deal with minor deviations from the perfect diet 😇

 

[Blue Hills]

If I had a breakfast beer I would be asleep ☺

See it as part of your performance training.
I should stress that I only do it occasionally, eg as a sinful treat after freecamping somewhere and heading to a spoons for a breakfast. I can reassure the nervous that I wouldn't dream of doing it at home.

 

[Biker man]

I often work hard, do some long even very hard rides, but "performance" not an aim for me and my style of riding. A while ago I rode nonstop Wolverhampton to the Ribble valley fully loaded. 140 miles plus think the way I went. Was very grateful for the nice strong beer and special mixed grill when ipopped my bike inside the door of a spoons in bury

How long did it take you to bike 140 miles got to admire that.

 

[matticus]

An interesting if irresponsible experiment for two folk might be to see who survived best long term - one on beer and another on gels.

"
Considering energy foods as adequate nutrition was first scientifically demonstrated to be false by François Magendie by experiments on dogs and described in his Précis élémentaire de Physiologie. He showed that eating only sugar, olive oil, or butter, each led to the death of his test animals in 30 to 40 days
" /wiki

 

[Blue Hills]

"
Considering energy foods as adequate nutrition was first scientifically demonstrated to be false by François Magendie by experiments on dogs and described in his Précis élémentaire de Physiologie. He showed that eating only sugar, olive oil, or butter, each led to the death of his test animals in 30 to 40 days
" /wiki

Doesn't altogether surprise me.
I think that even if I physically survived I would lose the will to live after 2 days on gels.
Did he do any experiments with beer? British not french.

 

[Biker man]

Guinness has got to give you strength but it's like a sleeping drug for me 😇

 

[Tenkaykev]

There are stories of ye olde Tour de France riders using brandy as a performance enhancer. I'm not sure how effective it was, and whether it was better or worse than strychnine.

There are accounts of " Pedestrian " ultra long distance races held in Victorian times. ( Captain Barclay? ) springs to mind. There was a lot of gambling on the outcome, with the participants dosing themselves with Brandy and opiates. The distances achieved were phenomenal, especially considering the stuff they were taking to keep themselves going.

 

[CXRAndy]

	Standard beer	Light beer
Protein	1.6 grams	0.9 grams
Fat	0 grams	0 grams
Carbs	13 grams	6 grams
Niacin	9% of the Daily Value (DV)	9% of the DV

Not much protein or fat, but fair amount of carbs. Not a carb dense as a potato or pasta. Hence excess consumption leads to a beer belly

 

[Tenkaykev]

	Standard beer	Light beer
Protein	1.6 grams	0.9 grams
Fat	0 grams	0 grams
Carbs	13 grams	6 grams
Niacin	9% of the Daily Value (DV)	9% of the DV

Not much protein or fat, but fair amount of carbs. Not a carb dense as a potato or pasta. Hence excess consumption leads to a beer belly

I sometimes refer to Guinness as " Diet Guinness " as contrary to the common misconception, it has fewer calories than some lagers ( < 200 calories per pint, and that's without deducting the missing volume of the frothy head ) 🍺😁
EDIT:
( I used to console myself when hurting on the tail end of a long training run, that each two miles I covered was earning me another pint of Guinness )

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Anyway, beer is fueling my ride today, what with it being the weekend. I was thirsty, so on arrival at the pub I ordered two. That first one goes very quickly, I tend to find.

And the bar is down the hill there at the coaching arch, so I might as well make it worth the walk.

 

[Blue Hills]

Anyway, beer is fueling my ride today, what with it being the weekend. I was thirsty, so on arrival at the pub I ordered two. That first one goes very quickly, I tend to find.
View attachment 614772
And the bar is down the hill there at the coaching arch, so I might as well make it worth the walk.

show off - i suggested a bike and a pint thread and you just had to make it two
what's the beer?

 

[Tenkaykev]

Daughter and friends did a 10k race yesterday that finished at a Brewery.( Stewarts, just outside Edinburgh) Looks like they had a great time.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

show off - i suggested a bike and a pint thread and you just had to make it two
what's the beer?

Its only Tim Taylors Landord, that pub is in the Camra good beer guide and they have all sorts but I'm not especially adventurous, a lot of beers now are too hop heavy for me.