Beer as cycling fuel?

[carpiste]

To be honest I can`t imagine anything worse than a beer anytime during or prior to a ride. I get maybe a beer or two after the event but not for me I`m afraid. Tea at a cafe is worth stopping for though

 

[HMS_Dave]

Steak and Ale pie. Got your protein, your carbs, your fats and your ale. Someone should patent that one...

Perfect cycling food.

 

[StuAff]

Calvados. Visited a distillery on the Fridays tour a few years back, which naturally ended with a tasting. I was flying along in the afternoon!

 

[FrankCrank]

You don't wanna run dry

 

[Blue Hills]

Salt ((ed) peanuts) diluted with 96% water (beer).

ah, I thought perhaps you meant something more exotic.
Pic of a fairly recent mid-ride beer stop - waiting for the curry - pretty sure the salt in that and the poppadom cured the mild cramps I was getting. And the beer/s was/were a welcome boost.

 

[PaulSB]

Beer and cycling? Not for me, it would be too dangerous. I've occasionally had a pint, just one, during or after a ride. The effect is always the same, slightly inebriated and a danger to myself and others.

My theory, which I can't prove, is as I'm dehydrated and probably hungry the effect of alcohol is increased. Beer, bike and me isn't a good combination.

 

[Blue Hills]

Beer and cycling? Not for me, it would be too dangerous. I've occasionally had a pint, just one, during or after a ride. The effect is always the same, slightly inebriated and a danger to myself and others.

My theory, which I can't prove, is as I'm dehydrated and probably hungry the effect of alcohol is increased. Beer, bike and me isn't a good combination.

A danger to yourself and others after a single pint at home after a ride? I'd definitely stay away from the mighty hop Paul.

Slightly inebriated? Have you considered a complaint to the brewers?

I suggest my other favourite evening tipple as a safer alternative for all concerned.

Used to be available at Sainsbury's - now you have to go down the big river for it.

 

[PaulSB]

A danger to yourself and others after a single pint at home after a ride? I'd definitely stay away from the mighty hop Paul.

Slightly inebriated? Have you considered a complaint to the brewers?

I suggest my other favourite evening tipple as a safer alternative for all concerned.

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Used to be available at Sainsbury's - now you have to go down the big river for it.

No, no. I mean stopping for a pint after the ride and then having a 6 mile ride home. After 70-80 miles a pint has a very quick effect on me.

 

[taximan]

Once upon a time I bumped into some old workmates while on a cycling tour. Naturally, we had a beer or two which resulted with me waking up in a field several hours later using a cowpat as a pillow 🤢

I'm a little more cautious now.

 

[theclaud]

we had a beer or two which resulted with me waking up in a field several hours later using a cowpat as a pillow

Hopefully the bike was still by your side?

 

[Tenkaykev]

I think some electrolyte loss is common isn't it, so I imagine a replacement of salts is important along with your choice of isotonic beverage.
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Doesn't matter whether you decide to "buy" it or not, alcohol is a diuretic and does result in a deficit of water. It does this by suppressing water reabsorption in the kidneys. How significant this is depends on the quantities involved.

Green Tea, I enjoy green tea, but for some reason it has me peeing frequently, more so than coffee or beer 🤔

 

[davidphilips]

Old jokes about cycling when/after drinking beer, this beer tastes like i am not going to cycle very well.
Or one beer two beers three beers then hit the road.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good evening

.....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. .....

The thing to realise is that alcohol is not digested in the same way as "normal food", a search for "alcohol digestion process" may be informative, as may be https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa72/aa72.htm One of the side effects of breaking down alcohol is that some of the water within the body that was part of these reactions is now too impure to recirculate so it has be disposed of.

Had you drunk a pint of orange squash instead it's different digestion process is much "body friendly" and you would only need to dispose of the excess liquid, not the liquid plus water already in body that is now toxic.

An other issue is that alcohol processing is a "high priority task" it override many other digestion and maintenance tasks, your beef burger may be moving through you digestive system without being digested and muscle damaged during the ride is not getting repaired.

Obviously one pint of 3.6% makes very little difference, but after six pints of 6% these processes or lack of processes start to add up.

There was the “ 100 Club “ I heard about back in the 80’s. The challenge was to run 100 miles and consume 100 pints in 100 consecutive hours........

Sounds like fun, until you do the sums, a typical person can process 1 UK unit of alcohol an hour, apparently body size doesn't matter that much but there are some suggestions that for women it is a little less. One pint of 1.8% beer is one unit, a while back you could occasionally see 2.8% beer as the duty is half that of normal strength beer, but I rarely see anything less that 3.6% so I suspect that you can see the problem.

Assuming a 70kg man and a 3.6% beer after about 7.5 hours the blood alcohol levels would be roughly 220mg/dL which is roughly the point at which non alcoholic people start to vomit, this level is of course a very personal thing. The lethal alcohol level is also very personal but a cautious numbers start at around 300mg/dL-400mg/dL so if the participant doesn't vomit he will probably die from alcohol poisoning after 15 hours or so.

The lethal levels and the unconscious levels overlap a lot so the 300-400400mg/dL level could easily mean that the participant will pass out before hitting the lethal level, but this is quite uncertain as the increase is quite slow and the effects of the exercise are unclear. But at 660mg/dL after 22 hours death would seem certain.

Bye

Ian

 

[matticus]

Doesn't matter whether you decide to "buy" it or not, alcohol is a diuretic and does result in a deficit of water. It does this by suppressing water reabsorption in the kidneys. How significant this is depends on the quantities involved.

Yep. Well-established science.
Doesn't stop me imbibing, but if I was struggling hydration-wise a beer would be a bad move.

Fortunately beer is usually served where plenty of water is available, so I can avoid any problems (if sensible)

Paris-Brest-Paris used to give riders one free beer at the turn. More recently they charge for it, but it's still a special, well-earned moment! I think after 600km your body deals with the alcohol very quickly - a quick nap and I was on my way again quite happily ...

 

[Blue Hills]

Doesn't matter whether you decide to "buy" it or not, alcohol is a diuretic and does result in a deficit of water. It does this by suppressing water reabsorption in the kidneys. How significant this is depends on the quantities involved.

so you drink a pint of liquid - get no bodily benefit from that pint of liquid and lose some of the benefit of liquid you have otherwise consumed?

Forgive me - I find this rather hard to fathom.

If crawling desperately across a desert I don't think I'd turn down a pint of beer - even Fosters.

Are you suggesting I should?

And hold out in the hope of finding a urine donor over the next sand-dune?