Beer as an energy drink

bice
bice Posts: 772
edited July 2009 in Road beginners
Any reason why beer isn't a good energy drink? I had a pint of bitter (3.4%) on the London-Oxford yesterday and some prissy types drinking rubbish like Coke muttered disapprovingly like I was an alchie. I would have though 'liquid bread' was a good calorie boost and the alcohol acted like a mild analgesic. I was drinking plenty of water so what can be the problem?
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Comments

  • Garz
    Garz Posts: 1,155
    Sounds like you went into the lounge and not the bar! :wink:
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Alcohol will boost your blood sugar but will also reduce it again by the same amount if not more at a later time.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • sampras38
    sampras38 Posts: 1,917
    bice wrote:
    Any reason why beer isn't a good energy drink? I had a pint of bitter (3.4%) on the London-Oxford yesterday and some prissy types drinking rubbish like Coke muttered disapprovingly like I was an alchie. I would have though 'liquid bread' was a good calorie boost and the alcohol acted like a mild analgesic. I was drinking plenty of water so what can be the problem?

    It will also dehydrate you, which you don't want on a long ride.

    Assuming this thread isn't a joke of course..;-)
  • therichieboy
    therichieboy Posts: 58
    People can ride without drinking beer?
  • butcher_boy
    butcher_boy Posts: 117
    It was good enough for the early TDF riders !!! :shock:
  • PhilofCas
    PhilofCas Posts: 1,153
    and Tony Adams/Paul Merson didn't do too bad on it too !!!
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Hi,

    Good news, read this -

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandte ... -body.html

    Justification, if you need it 8)

    PS:- Everyone knows the need to keep hydrated so it is best used in conjunction with water, post ride, as the OP said.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • tlw1
    tlw1 Posts: 22,183
    are there other energy drinks available then???????????? :lol:
  • term1te
    term1te Posts: 1,462
    I know a guy who stopped at a shop half way around the Marmotte sportive on Saturday for a can of Carlsberg, he got a DNF.
    The Master
    The Moser
    The VN
  • drumon
    drumon Posts: 175
    Term1te wrote:
    I know a guy who stopped at a shop half way around the Marmotte sportive on Saturday for a can of Carlsberg, he got a DNF.

    Did he get a DNF cos he" DNF" or cos of the beer? rotten luck if it was the beer. is that in the rules?
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    I'd be worried about the advice you get about drinking, sport, and recovery, I've seen studies like this which indicate that it significantly effects recovery rates from sports where damage to muscles occurs. While it was based around a sport other than cycling I would think the conclusions would be the same.

    Personally I find that if I have more than just a little to drink the night before a club run I will struggle, and by little I mean more than a pint or a glass of wine. How you would perform better then with alcohol as opposed to say a proper isotonic sports drink I can't work out, maybe if reality is distorted enough from too much booze that you can't function without it?
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • topcattim
    topcattim Posts: 766
    drumon wrote:
    Term1te wrote:
    I know a guy who stopped at a shop half way around the Marmotte sportive on Saturday for a can of Carlsberg, he got a DNF.

    Did he get a DNF cos he" DNF" or cos of the beer? rotten luck if it was the beer. is that in the rules?

    Yup, I know the same guy. he got a DNF, I believe, partly because he has a history of enjoying his beer and partly because of some rotten luck. However, if he enjoyed his beers a little bit less, he would have had more time to spare in order to deal with his rotten luck.

    He had an interesting attitude. His pre-Marmotte preparation on the day before the race included purchasing two crates of "beer-based energy drink" on account of the fact that it had a lot of carbohydrates in it.
  • Mossrider
    Mossrider Posts: 226
    London - Oxford is only 57 miles, a pint half way round is going to do no harm to anyone reasonably fit and you'll ride it off by the time you're there. In my club we have a group in their 50's who swear cycling and beer go together. I've done a few long rides, finished off in the pub and them had to go and do another 20 miles and a couple of climbs to sober up... (let alone a midnight race 4 hours after the club freewheel competion, which followed a 60 mile commute, no tea and only the good Lord knows how many pints of Taylor's best; the muscles were alcohol fuelled that night, no mistake, and boy did I float up the climb home).

    Remember, you're doing it for fun, there's days to abstain, and days to go with the flow. We can't be fundamentalists all the time.
  • fatblokefromwarwick
    fatblokefromwarwick Posts: 331
    Get it down ya man ! :D
  • nasahapley
    nasahapley Posts: 717
    Mossrider wrote:
    Remember, you're doing it for fun, there's days to abstain, and days to go with the flow. We can't be fundamentalists all the time.

    Very well said. Reminds me of the old line 'Don't drink, don't smoke, eat healthily, exercise regularly, die anyway'. Most of us could cut out the sauce altogether and we'd still be also-rans, so there's no harm at all in quaffing a pint halfway through something like the London-Oxford if that's what you want to do. I'll usually get on it in a big way after an event I've been training for, and sod the recovery rate! Can't say I'd fancy it during the Marmotte though!
  • timb64
    timb64 Posts: 248
    Moderation's the key isn't it?

    I really don't see the problem with the occasional pint when riding as long as you don't spill any!
  • zedders
    zedders Posts: 509
    edited July 2009
    M8 if you want a pint, have one. Your a fully grown man for crying out loud, and you should make you own decisions. Someone turned their nose up at me like that, I would be telling them were to get off! If you want two pints have two. The only thing I would say is don't have too many that it affects your reactions and judgement making you more vulnerable on the bike etc.
    As long as your not sinking half a dozen pints every ride I can't see it being a problem. And like it been said, your ment be having fun and enjoying your time out on the bike.

    Next time have one on me, and have some pork scratching as well.
    "I spend my petrol money on Bikes, Beer, Pizza, and Donuts "

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/38256268@N04/3517156549/
  • bice
    bice Posts: 772
    Good. That's my energy drink requirements sorted then.

    And I kind of warm to the guy I saw on the London -to- Brighton - for the British Heart Foundation - who lit a cigarette after getting to the top of Ditchling Beacon. He was flicking the ash over his handlebars as he peddled down to Brighton.
  • Crapaud
    Crapaud Posts: 2,483
    matthew h wrote:
    are there other energy drinks available then???????????? :lol:
    Buckfast - for attacking hills. :wink:
    A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    bice wrote:
    Good. That's my energy drink requirements sorted then.

    And I kind of warm to the guy I saw on the London -to- Brighton - for the British Heart Foundation - who lit a cigarette after getting to the top of Ditchling Beacon. He was flicking the ash over his handlebars as he peddled down to Brighton.

    After a club ride recently, another rider said that he saw TDF riders in a hotel a few years ago smoking and was told that a single cigarette actually helps open up the lungs and is actually beneficial to endurance riding! I have also regularly smoking a single cigarette can help prevent alzheimers in later life, some studies have shown that tiny amounts of nicotine are actually good for the brain. I don't know how true this is though.
    Do not write below this line. Office use only.
  • Frank the tank
    Frank the tank Posts: 6,553
    Never smoked a single cigarette in my life, but I've drank enough beer to float an aircraft carrier on. :)
    Tail end Charlie

    The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
  • Shezzer
    Shezzer Posts: 229
    Frank the tank wrote:
    Never smoked a single cigarette in my life, but I've drank enough beer to float an aircraft carrier on. :)

    You'd better drink up ... we've got two carriers on the way!
  • bahzob
    bahzob Posts: 2,195
    This thread reminds me of my tour of France. When in Normandy I thought "when in Rome" so stopped by one of the farms touting local cider.

    Bemused the guy a bit when I immediately opened the bottles he'd just sold me and filled my bidons.

    In terms of OT, seemed to keep me going fine. Only problem was that I hadnt reckoned on combination of fizzy drink and rustic roads. A few km down the road I heard a strange hissing sound followed by a sudden rush of warm fluid between my thighs...

    Also on OT picture below shows essential preparation prior to tackling Marie-Blanque on Raid Pyreneen

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HA3t_DGwgjw/RytMCFko3UI/AAAAAAAAAHo/pP8Ok2hgSeE/s1600-h/First+beer.JPG
    Martin S. Newbury RC
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    "A few km down the road I heard a strange hissing sound followed by a sudden rush of warm fluid between my thighs... "

    :shock:

    Quote of the day? Must've been some ride :lol:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • juankerr
    juankerr Posts: 1,099
    I can attest to the energy giving benefits of a pint, although probably best towards the end of a ride as the alcohol will ultimately start to dehydrate you.
  • mikey0303
    mikey0303 Posts: 134
    Pint of Guinness anyone? ................ its good for you apparently :wink:
    Cube Attempt 2011
  • Frank the tank
    Frank the tank Posts: 6,553
    Love the black stuff.
    Tail end Charlie

    The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
  • iain_j
    iain_j Posts: 1,941
    I can't tolerate beer/lager after a ride. After looking forward to it for so long - get home, soak in the bath, crash out in front of TV with a beer - then after a few mouthfuls I feel like pouring the rest away. Such a let-down feeling :?
  • stagger
    stagger Posts: 116
    iain_j wrote:
    I can't tolerate beer/lager after a ride. After looking forward to it for so long - get home, soak in the bath, crash out in front of TV with a beer - then after a few mouthfuls I feel like pouring the rest away. Such a let-down feeling :?

    so glad i dont have that problem...!
  • bice
    bice Posts: 772
    Yeah, I've felt the let down feeling after a ride, but a light bitter during the ride is excellent

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