Post-Ride Recovery Ales
The most important moment in a man’s life is the first time they have a beer. I place it on the list above sex and having a child because sex usually only happens as a direct result of drinking beer. As for having children, I’m given to understand they are poop factories at first, then promptly become loud, and then obnoxious before they resent you for the next fifteen years. If my math is right, it isn’t until after about twenty-five years that you can stand them and the investment starts paying off. Given the instant gratification of beer verses the ROI on child rearing, its not even a close. But the real clincher is that men love solving problems and there is no chance of solving problems if you don’t create them first.
As Cyclists, beer also forms an important part of our training regimen; after a day of crushing our opponents and laying down enormous helpings of The V, it is critical that we give our muscles the rest and nutrients they require in order to rebuild and become ever stronger. Required nutrients include things like carbohydrates, sugars, and proteins. As it happens, beer is made of things like – wait for it – carbohydrates, sugars, and proteins. According to alcoholic nutritionists I’ve spoken to as well as some recent studies, beer taken in moderation is the ideal recovery beverage after a hard workout.
But there’s that annoying word again, “moderation” – always with the moderation, these scientists. Apparently, you can’t go and get hammered every time you ride a bike or the alcohol will have other effects like making you fat, stupid, and bloated. Alcohol slows your metabolism and lowers your impulse control, which forms a double-whammy as after you get drunk and stuff your face, your body will have a harder time burning those extra calories.
When I started getting serious about losing weight and improving my climbing (this was immediately after my first ride up Haleakala), I completely ignored the possibility of giving up on booze as I’d much rather starve myself than stop drinking. But the fact is that dieting and training only yielded limited results. When I finally accepted the notion of reducing my alcohol intake, my weight started to drop and my riding immediately improved. The most surprising side effect was how much better my sleeping patterns became which also feeds into post-ride recovery.
I’ll never give up beer completely because I’d hate to be without problems to solve, but for anyone who is struggling to lose weight, take note: diet and exercise are key elements, but you won’t get there without taking a hard look at your alcohol consumption. I’m not suggesting you stop drinking altogether; drink a beer or two after riding to help your recovery, but beyond that alcohol will get in the way of reaching your goals. Unless your goal is to drink more, in which case I remind you that your liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself.
I like to find beers with high alcohol content and then to drink very slowly. Gulden Draak would be a good example. Very tasty, very satisfying and at 10.5% not a lot needed to put you in the recovery zone.
@geoffrey
Interesting, as I often find beers with a high alcohol content and then get drunk very quickly…
Sr. Moderación ha dejado el edificio.
Being such a lightweight, in temperance and body weight, a couple of beers and I’m seeing my limit fast approaching. The perfect balance in my view.
Carbs, Sugar, Protein and fluids and better tasting than gels.
Hmmmm…
anyone found a bidon that fits a stubby cooler?
Dammit, I really hate the fact that your right, I am by no means heavy, some would say under-wheight, but every winter without fail I gain 3 kilo’s which is a lot when your starting at 54. and of course the usual 4 pints of lager turns into 10, and I wonder why I ate all the left over curry in a drunken stuper, and thought it was a good idea to smoke a cigarette, and wonder why I can climb the next day scratching my head like a moron. Thank god the holiday’s are over.
Just finished a good ride and was enjoying this as I opened FB and read the article.
It’s nice to have research confirm what we already knew; a quality ale heals the wasted cyclist. I’m already dumb from a long hot ride so a beer can only help my IQ. It can’t make me dumber and it sure helps the recovery. It is very good Velominati espouse this combination of hard riding and malted recovery beverage. We try not to take things so seriously that a post-ride beer won’t help matters or in Josh’s world, beer in the bidon during rides.
In fact, everyone should reread Josh’s post. He is wise and funny.
@Gianni
+1 to that.
Josh did Day Two of the V-V Cogal last summer. Demerits to everyone who only did one of the two days, especially for those of us riding Day Two with a hangover.
But to Josh’s credit, he did do the fucker with a beer in the bidon.
My current favorite recovery beverage – Raging Bitch IPA from Flying Dog, right here in Frederick, MD, USA.
@Roobar I’ve found this to be an effective Beer in the Bidon test vessel:
@frank
Thanks to Josh I have come to appreciate the Beer in the Bidon experience, although I lean more to that combination on winter base mile rides, not Cogal ass-kickings.
@PeakInTwoYears
Did you just post a cat joke?
WordPress. Someone’s always hacking it.
@Nate
Is it really an ass kicking when you’re only signing up for half the ride?
@BaltoSteve
I had the Raging Bitch the other night at a local fried chicken joint. Very good. Not as good as my local favorite, Fremont Brewing Interurban IPA. A close second is Two Beers EVO IPA (used to be called Evolutionary IPA). When Fremont was starting on the cans path, they were using unlabeled cans. Genius, that. You could drink anywhere without fear of judgement.
Two Beers has it sorted; they even have a “Beer to Go” section on their site.
http://www.twobeersbrewery.com/beer-to-go/
@frank not sure I follow your meaning.
I should note that I had just returned from a ride when I pulled up the article. Recovery draught: deschutes inversion IPA.
@Nate I’m saying Josh riding half a Cogal isn’t really a Cogal ass kicking is a good ‘un.
I decided to quit drinking alcohol on June 13, 2011; one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. I wasn’t an alcoholic in any classical sense but I was definitely a heavy drinker and had become alarmed by my inability to moderate. So, I quit – Well, first I got ridiculously drunk at a work function and was so embarrassed that I decided I had to quit. At first my goal was 60 days but those 60 days gave me enough perspective and distance that I quickly was able to commit to a longer time. I had begun training to run a marathon so it seemed reasonable that I would quit for the 4 months it would take to train. Suddenly I was enjoying those long Sunday morning runs without the hint of a hangover! I was losing weight and I was about to follow through on running a 3:27 first marathon at the age of 42…Not bad.
After the marathon I somehow managed not to celebrate by getting loaded and quickly decided that maybe abstinence should be something that I do forever. I could be the great father and husband and really make the next 20 years of my life a study in health and fitness. My very first ride after I bought my road bike was with a 40 year old buddy and his 60 year old father – the father kicked our asses – a classic dutch hardman. When I’m 60 my sons will be 23 and 25…how’s that for a training goal? Be fit enough at 60 to school the kids on the road!
The other big change for me has been one of mental well being. When I drank, I always carried around with me the feeling that there was something not quite right about it…a dark secret if you will. It made feel bad about myself. It made me feel weak. It made me feel ashamed. unburdening myself of that baggage has been a wonderful transformation for me. I love being able to look anyone in the eye and know that they’ve got nothing on me – it’s made me more confident in life and in my career.
I go to bed earlier these days and I’m always the guy pushing for an earlier start time on those weekend rides. And I’m going to be ready to ride with my kids at 60.
Just enjoyed an Allagash Dubbell Ale in an official Velominati beer glass after a long turbo session. Perfection!
It’s a pity beer tastes so bad!
I tried to like it, I really have. Infact my younger years are pepperd with me at functions trying to drink beer without vomiting. Quite like a Cider however. Still, can’t drink it post ride. With the amount of booze I drink (virtually nothing) and with a little post ride dehydration it goes striaght to my head. Now if I could only get the wife dehydrated…..
@kixsand Thumbs up!
@kixsand
More power to you – that’s awesome. The bike is the reason that I don’t still smoke a pack a day and guzzle a six-pack to wash it down.
That said, there’s a reason that they serve beer and wine at the contrôles at Paris-Brest-Paris – alcohol is a fine analgesic. I’m a fan of having a beer at the turnaround on longish (300km+) rides. Just one, mind you…any more than that saps your virility.
Little Creatures or Fat Yak standard fare down here, or the good old South Australian faithful Coopers Pale Ale.
@kixsand
This is a great post. I was just talking to my boss the other day about the same subject; she was drinking more than she should and not losing weight despite training for a marathon. Stopped drinking just until the big race a few months later and hasn’t turned back. She still drinks socially, but it was interesting to hear her say things like, “I’m not such a bitch anymore”…the funny thing is, I have noticed that she’s been more supportive of how incompetent I am! Win-Win.
I’ve slipped a bit this last winter; nothing like being over-stressed, over-worked, and under-trained to get you to indulge in the booze.
Drinking seems necessary when you’re doing it, but when you ease off, you realize you don’t need a glass of wine in your hand all night. I’ll never stop drinking, but I like to keep the throttle eased back to where a glass is great but most of the time I’m just drinking water.
Or vodka. Hard to say, they look the same.
@Dean
Perfection! Funny story, as I was designing those, the idea to put the V-Cog in the bottom evolved. When I got the first prototype (which I think Brett has now), I got so fucking hammered, I couldn’t see straight. The VMH (i.e. adult supervision) was in India on business and I was so stoked to see the V-Cog appear that I just couldn’t stop pouring more beer in it and drinking it until the V-Cog appeared.
Ironically, that is the only glass in the world where the answer truly does lie at the bottom of the problem.
@antihero
Beer in the bidon stuff aside, drinking and riding is one thing I’ve never been able to get behind. Drinking and skiing, sure thing – loosens you up. But drinking and riding? Never.
I ride to feel sharp and in control, booze just takes that away. Any other time, I’m fine being fuzzy and out of control, but when riding, no way.
@antihero
Reminds of my favorite movie. “I don’t avoid women Mandrake, I just deny them my essence”
@kixsand That really rings true. I’m currently conflicted. I’ve made it to no alcohol Monday to Thursday with random Friday and or Saturdays without. I have moved away from what I consider the heavy drinker mentality that means generally “a” glass of wine turns to three, and one beer often results in a six pack. Bbizarrely I found myself saying to my wife the other week that I wish I’d never started drinking because I think my enjoyment of a beer or wine or three defines part of me I don’t want to give up. Man, I love beer and wine.
Honestly, I can’t see me going to full abstinence and I am at the point where I do have the control not write myself off and don’t even think about it when I don’t drink. Which is nice. The dark side of this that nobody tells you about, is that I’ve moved from away from booze and have a fully fledged ice cream and chocolate habit.
All kudos to you.
@Barracuda
I didn’t say you’re a Fat Yak. I said beer makes you fat and stupid. There’s a difference.
@Puffy
Funny about the bad taste of beer. Here’s a paragraph that I cut from the article deleted because it was pointless:
@frank
Yes, this. Even though I am deeply emotionally invested in beer, beer (sometimes, preferably, a lot of it) is for the end of the ride.
(I will take part in a certain regularly-scheduled group mtb ride that is as much about socializing and eating and drinking as it is about actually riding, but that’s an entirely different thing, and it obviously can’t be confused with Cycling.)
I haven’t quit but I don’t drink regularly.
Frank is spot on about the weight. I knew I had it to lose, but riding 300km a week and eating a well controlled diet of mostly home-made, non-processed, low-sugar foods wasn’t doing anything.
Until I cut out the alcohol. I was only having two glasses a night – usually wine, sometimes a scotch or campari – but it was enough over a week to be nearly a day’s intake of calories.
Now I pretty much only have it if I am out, which isn’t that often, and not always then. It’s not like I’m craving it and have to keep denying it to myself. In fact I have a well-stocked liquor cabinet at home, I just don’t use it.
And one of the benefits of living in a Muslim country is that it isn’t in your face all the time.
@EBruner
Purity of Essence. P O E It might be my favorite movie also.
@frank
I had a similar experience. My friend and I found (stole?) a warm six pack of Bud as kids. We couldn’t believe our luck. It had been sitting in the sun, heating up! We took it into the woods and each opened a can. I thought it was the worst thing I’d ever tasted, which it was. My buddy thought it was great (?!). It wasn’t until years later, in Scotland of course, I had a proper ale in a glass and thought, uh oh, this could be trouble. Me likey!
I’ve said this before and I say it again: You are practically taking estrogen as a recovery drink.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens
No self respecting Velominatus shall touch an ale that makes him soft and weak.
Interesting, so Frank posts something overnight (my time) on cycling and there may be a few comments by the time I log on in the morning. He posts something on beer and there are screens of posts by morning my time.
Yes there’s a delicate balance here, but I find myself usually just “going for another 50k” to justify another beer (sometimes factored from the previous day’s embiding, which can cause a nicely vicious circle).
The stuff is lipogenic though…
When I was in NYC it was a lot of drinking, eating, and no sleep, and then getting on a bike in the morning with a massive hangover, trying not to purge on the guys behind you. Then I moved to the motherland and joined a club and found out that if I did the same thing, all I got was spit out the back…from group 2!!!(oh, the indignity!). In the three years I have been here, I now go to bed early on weekends(usually earlier than weekdays), get up earlier on weekends than on weekdays, drinking and eating habits have changed drastically.
But as Rule #47 can be paraphrased: “Beer is the reason we ride”, or at least that’s how I read it ;-) So beer always is had after a ride. Even the gym we spin at during the winter weeknights has a bar, and while it’s selection is small, it still has pintjes, Prior, La Chouffe, Vedette, and Westmalle.
Side note: The La Chouffe Classic in the Ardennes, the last feed station is at the old La Chouffe brewery in Achouffe, and they hand out cold choufkes(15cl la chouffes) along with all the other usual food stuffs. I love this country.
@ChrisO
cmon mate – even though you are in a muzzy country, I am pretty sure you would have plenty of people around you drinking lots. How else are they going to deal with you?
Instead of drinking heavily I have perfected a method of just havering utter pish at all hours!
1) saves a fortune
2) makes you keep a clear head
@frank
Rule #52 still applies
Being a Brit I have to drink TEA as a post ride recovery drink.
@Marcus
That’s because there are also strict rules about insulting people, so they might think I’m a cunt but they can’t say it, even when they’re drunk.
As a lawyer you might appreciate this learned argument about the difference between ‘fuck you’ and ‘fuck off’ from a recent court case.
If I’m ever up on a similar charge I’m calling Frank as an expert witness.
In all seriousness, it is taken very strictly and there are regular cases of people losing their temper with call centre operators, shop staff etc and then being arrested and charged. I had a run-in with a service centre droid last week who when queried in front of her supervisor just barefaced lied about what she had done and said. It was on the tip of my tongue to say “She’s lying” but if I had it would have been game over.
Woops, forgot link… http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/courts/f-word-is-not-an-insult-argues-director-in-dubai-court-1.1250652
As most probably know, the hour (or even half-hour) after physical exercise is the most important opportunity for the body to rebuild its glycogen stores — i.e. make you stronger — and alcohol interferes directly with the body’s ability to do this! For god’s sake, at least make sure you’ve drunk enough water and eaten plenty of carbs and protein before you have an ale. Otherwise you’re only making the next rides harder, instead of maximising the benefit from the work you’ve just done.
Alcohol-free Bavarian wheat beer is popular in Germany after runs and rides; it may taste like piss, but at least it won’t give you man-boobs.
@kixsand Congratulations and more power to you. I’m a social drinker – I just don’t drink by myself – never have. I’ve more booze in my house than I’ll ever get through unless I have a ton of folks over. If we ever get through this shitty winter, I think that’s what I’ll do.
@andrew
As far as getting the work done, drinking one beer (Newcastle Brown Ale) right before a ride gives an immediate reserve — and should not effect any abilities. Used this plan once or twice and worked each time.
@unversio Ha, never thought about before the ride, though I think I’ll stick with what’s been said above about wanting to be sharp and clear.
Last year I did a ride around San Diego on a stinking hot day and stopped just after half-way for burgers in Coronado. I’d gone through 1.5L of water and was still thirsty, so had a pint of something malty and delicious, which didn’t touch the sides, so had another. I remember thinking on the ferry over past the naval base that I couldn’t feel any effects of the beer, but bloody hell did I suffer all the way back up to La Jolla, and not just because the saddle on the loaner was too narrow for me. Never again.
Ha! This is true!
Our bodies convert alcohol to sugar. Remove the alcohol and your body still wants sugar. I went from never eating a chocolate bar or ice cream or really dessert of any kind to where I now have to indulge from time to time!
For many years I’ve been known at one of the Seattle tech industry’s most visionary drinkers. That reputation my be slightly mythologized (by me) to Dean Martin proportions, but like all good myths, it’s based on a grain of truth.
I spent my 20’s as a proud binge drinker, my Celtic and Germanic background clear advantages in the party sphere. This allowed me to cultivate a reputation as a heavyweight consumer, but also as A Professional. I don’t get falling down drunk. I great really, really intoxicated. The problem has always been that my iron German control enables me to be much more wasted than I look, and this leads me to unwise descisions and potentially harmful situations.
Last summer, while still regularly drinking, I lost 23 pounds, mostly on the bike. And by drinking I mean at least 1/2 a bottle of wine per night, celebratory MRB’s, and liquor, mostly in the form of vodka, Fireball, and scotch to wash it down.
But a confluence of events over the past year have forced me to take a long, difficult look at my drinking. The first being the fact that my best friend began a relationship with an alcoholic. Not a drinker, mind you. This person has no taste or moderation. This is a “put away as many ice-beers as possible” kind of guy. Not a bad chap when sober, but those fleeting moments grew increasingly rare as their love blossomed, so my friend and I began to drift apart. Her man’s performance at parties and other social functions made me less and less inclined to drink at all, as I felt someone had to be responsible if Shit Went Down.
The other part was my performance on the bike. I’m getting the legs of my mid 20’s back and it feels fantastic. It’s been 15 years since my guns were this magnificent. And back then, I could drink with the best and ride just as hard. But these days… well, the numbers don’t lie. Fucking Strava. But the numbers are there in black and orange. The more I drink, the less I perform.
So ever since last fall, I’ve scaled back. As of the new year my drinking has become rare. I did a 130 km on Superbowl Sunday and recovered with a round of Fat Tire. Since then, nothing.
I don’t really miss it – it became a habit, not always a pleasure. I don’t think I’ll ever *quit*, per se, because I’m not a quitter. But for now at least, I just need a break. Some space to grow.
That said, I don’t really feel any different. And I’ve gained a little weight, but that’s perhaps only because I’ve traded alcoholism for an addiction to Snapple. The staff at my favorite Irish bar think I’m sick. My friends think I’ve been replaced by an android. The fact that it freaks people out so much that I’m *not* drinking tells me that I’m probably making the right choice.