Can you be a smoker and still be good at cycling

Question

Can you be a smoker and still be good at cycling

Answer 1

I have to answer with a Yes, and I also have to agree with everyone else that it's not something to get happy about if you smoke.   As an unfortunate smoker myself, I still do very well but I notice a huge difference in the amount of effort required to maintain the same pace and endurance that I had before I started five years ago.  If you keep up your fitness, it doesn't seem to matter as much, but once you slack off you'll really feel it and it sucks.  Especially in the winter.   There are 1,000 reasons to not smoke....this is one of the smallest reasons I could think of.  I'm in the process of tapering down to quit right now myself.  

We have a local rider/racer who is in his early 60's and can SMOKE most people around here 20 and 30 years younger than he is.  He's got decent skills, but he's also just fit in spite of smoking....get this.....THREE packs a day for years.  He quit for awhile then started up again.  Still rips up the trails.

Anyway, quit, and/or encourage your smoking friends and relatives to quit.  There's nothing good about it.    

Answer 2

yea, i guess. You will just have to work LOTS harder than all other bikers to be good at the sport. You will probably get tired very quickly and be short of breath.

Answer 3

quit the habit man you will thank yourself for it

Answer 4

I smoked for 6 years. When I first started I, like many smokers, it was in high school. At the time I was an athlete, and in exceptional shape. I could still run, cycle etc for the first year or so. After that, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle made cardio very difficult. Long-time smokers find cardio activities much harder than non-smokers.

> You can do it, but it will take more effort.

Answer 5

An easy answer, no!  Smoking drastically reduces the amount of Oxygen that your blood can carry to the muscles.  Cigarette smoke contains a high level of Carbon Monoxide which binds irreversibly to the Oxygen carrying site of the heamoglobin in your blood.  Oxygen is needed by the muscles to produce energy.  Less Oxygen going to the muscles means less energy, which means poorer performance in any sport, but especially in high cardio sports such as cycling.

Answer 6

Yes, but why not quit and be better.  I was determined to quit smoking and I did on Feb 14 of last year.  I gained a few pounds and decided to start cycling again to loose the weight.  I think it helped me to quit,  the last thing I wanted after a hard ride was a cigarette !

I even treated myself to a new road bike this year  with the money I saved.

No wait, I forgot about my new comfort bike for the trails.

Answer 7

Yes !!

Answer 8

yeah you can my dad smokes like a choo choo train and he rides his bike 18 miles everyday

Answer 9

Yes

Answer 10

Good?  Yes, at the very outside you can be good, or almost good.  Your best?  No, of course not.  Your lungs will be too clogged up to reach your maximum potential.

Smoking is simply a way (a very foolish, self-destructive way) to voluntarily handicap yourself in cycling.  You could put lead weights in your pockets instead and do no permanent damage to your health.

Now for the bad news.  Smoking doesn't always kill you quickly.  My chain-smoking father spent the last 5 years of his life confined to bed with a tracheotomy, unable to speak (or smoke), and pissing in a pan.  Instead of dying quickly of lung cancer like his smoker father before him he slowly and painfully wasted away with emphysema.

Answer 11

Nope.  You will get a ticket when you toss your still-lit butt into the roadside brush and start a fire.

Answer 12

Not really my friend can barely run and shes a smoker your going to tier out easily because your lungs wont have the same capacity that they do when you don't smoke

Answer 13

Interesting question that generated some great answers.

As a couple answers here exhibited, I think it really depends on the person.  Some of us are more naturally prone to respiratory illness/conditions due to genetics, childhood illness, work hazards, etc.  Others with stronger systems can smoke like chimneys and seldom seem affected by it.  It's also going to depend on the intensity of the ride and how you define "good."

There are no good reasons to smoke...and every good reason to not.  Even though the smoking cyclist may ride just fine, you must agree that s/he would perform noticeably better by not smoking.