Drinking before a Century - Triathlon Week

09-10-2004, 10:16 AM

I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited to
a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.

Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I would
like to avoid suffering during the ride !

09-10-2004, 10:52 AM

"Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
> I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited
to a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.

Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I would
like to avoid suffering during the ride ! <

Is the century a training ride or a race? If it's a training ride, then I
wouldn't worry about enjoying 1 or 2 drinks. If you drink regulary - 1 or 2
drinks per day - then I wouldn't worry about a drink the night before a
race.

Alcohol will not de-hydrate you. While most non-alcoholic fluids are better
for hydration, alcohol will hydrate you better than no fluids at all.

Godd luck!

09-10-2004, 10:54 AM

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:16:28 GMT, "Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote
in message <Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53>:

>I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited to
>a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you?

Hell yes. Stick to long drinks and consume at least a pint of water
for each measure of alcoholic drink. I find that more than a couple
of pints of beer leaves me feeling seriously flat the following day.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

09-10-2004, 11:18 AM

Williamsdrew wrote:
> Alcohol will not de-hydrate you. While most non-alcoholic fluids are better
> for hydration, alcohol will hydrate you better than no fluids at all.

Not true:

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09-10-2004, 11:19 AM

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:52:07 GMT, Williamsdrew
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> "Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
>> I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been
>> invited
> to a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>
> Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I
> would
> like to avoid suffering during the ride ! <
>
> Is the century a training ride or a race? If it's a training ride, then
> I
> wouldn't worry about enjoying 1 or 2 drinks. If you drink regulary - 1
> or 2
> drinks per day - then I wouldn't worry about a drink the night before a
> race.
>
> Alcohol will not de-hydrate you. While most non-alcoholic fluids are
> better
> for hydration, alcohol will hydrate you better than no fluids at all.
>
> Godd luck!
>
>

I've have as many as 4-5 beers before a ride as long as 65 miles.
However, I personally don't recommend it, but I don't sleep as well when I
drink anything and I think it hurts my performance during the ride. For
my century, I won't be drinking anything prior to the ride.

--
Bob in CT
Remove ".x" to reply

09-10-2004, 12:18 PM

In rec.bicycles.misc Rivermist <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited to
> a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>
> Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I would
> like to avoid suffering during the ride !

ummm, this is really going to depend a lot on you. while touring i've
polished off a bottle of cheap red wine and ridden 124 miles the next day
without any real difference. the hangover tends to go away within the first
30 or 40 miles as long as you slam a lot of water before going to bed,
don't wet your bed or choke on your own vomit.

how much are you planning on drinking, anyway?

i love questions like this. i have the same problem tonite, as luck would
have it.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

09-10-2004, 02:05 PM

Bob in CT wrote:
|| On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:52:07 GMT, Williamsdrew
|| <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
||
||| "Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
||| news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
|||| I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been
|||| invited
||| to a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
|||
||| Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and
||| drank water during the night would it offset the effects of the
||| alcohol? I would
||| like to avoid suffering during the ride ! <
|||
||| Is the century a training ride or a race? If it's a training ride,
||| then I
||| wouldn't worry about enjoying 1 or 2 drinks. If you drink regulary
||| - 1 or 2
||| drinks per day - then I wouldn't worry about a drink the night
||| before a race.
|||
||| Alcohol will not de-hydrate you. While most non-alcoholic fluids
||| are better
||| for hydration, alcohol will hydrate you better than no fluids at
||| all.
|||
||| Godd luck!
|||
|||
||
|| I've have as many as 4-5 beers before a ride as long as 65 miles.
|| However, I personally don't recommend it, but I don't sleep as well
|| when I drink anything and I think it hurts my performance during the
|| ride. For my century, I won't be drinking anything prior to the
|| ride.

I hope you mean you won't be drinking any booze :)

09-10-2004, 02:23 PM

Don't be a pussy. Go to the party and get all ****ed up. Then go on the
100 mile ride and bring along a 12 pack.

"Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
> I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited
to
> a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>
> Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I
would
> like to avoid suffering during the ride !
>
>

09-10-2004, 02:36 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
"Bob Marley" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>
> "Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
> > I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited
> to
> > a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
> >
> > Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> > water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I
> would
> > like to avoid suffering during the ride !
> >
> >
> Don't be a pussy. Go to the party and get all ****ed up. Then go on the
> 100 mile ride and bring along a 12 pack.
>

You mean you aren't going to recommend bong hits?

Please see my previous post on this subject:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

09-10-2004, 04:31 PM

Rivermist wrote:

> I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited
> to a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>
> Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I
> would like to avoid suffering during the ride !

Jacques Anquetil was a rather well-renowned party animal. He was also a
five-time (I think) winner of the Tour de France.

If you don't come back utterly sloshed, and get enough sleep, you'll be
fine. Don't think that downing a pint of water before you collapse
drunkenly on the couch will do--it never does. (and, having rowed on a
hangover, it's not fun). But a couple of drinks will be okay.

But then, I'm not usually a competitive rider.

-Luigi

--
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Photos, Rants, Raves

09-10-2004, 11:18 PM

>Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you?

Yes.

>If I went home and drank water during the night would it offset the
>effects of the alcohol?

Partially. Drinking alcohol, even dilute products such as beer, isn't
going to help your hydration.

To think you can rehydrate over a short timespan is naiive. You
were probably too wasted to drink enough water to compensate.

>I would like to avoid suffering during the ride !

Then save the drinking until after the ride.

I've heard some athletes say that alcohol gives a fast burn calorie
effect on things like running sprints, but I never heard that it had
any benefit on a long ride.

Generally alcohol will dry out your tissues, which is not what
you want on a century.

My advice is to hydrate well and forego the booze until well after
the ride. I'm not against drinking, but I'm saying that it's not
a good choice the night before a century.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________
------------------"Buddy Holly, the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>cwhitman@texastwr.utaust in.edu__________

09-13-2004, 06:52 PM

Well... I drank 3 beers and stayed up too late. I was worried about how I
would do during the century.

I am happy to report that I averaged 18.9 mph (my second fastest time for a
century), and I felt better after it than after any previous century.

I still don't think it was a good idea to drink and stay up too late, but I
did ok !

"Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:Mjl0d.164063$Fg5.32959@attbi_s53...
>I am doing a century tomorrow. As luck would have it I have been invited
>to a nice party tonight where there will be drinking.
>
> Does drinking alcohol tend to de-hydrate you? If I went home and drank
> water during the night would it offset the effects of the alcohol? I
> would like to avoid suffering during the ride !
>

09-13-2004, 08:03 PM

In article <q9s1d.298601$8_6.271730@attbi_s04>,
"Rivermist" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Well... I drank 3 beers and stayed up too late. I was worried about how I
> would do during the century.
>
> I am happy to report that I averaged 18.9 mph (my second fastest time for a
> century), and I felt better after it than after any previous century.
>
> I still don't think it was a good idea to drink and stay up too late, but I
> did ok !

As far as sleep goes, if you're going to only get one good night's
sleep, get it two nights before. By the night before it's too late.

Glad it worked out for you.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson