Irrefutable scientific proof that cycling drunk is safer than cycling sober

and that at one point we were going 58 mph

are u having a laugh ?

Probably the stupidest but ulimately exhilarating thing I have done on a bike has been whilst very very pissed. It started out at 1 am in the morning after a massive piss up, yeah let's go for a rinse around town, there'll be hardly any cars and it's really quiet it'll be sick. We end up deciding it'll be a good idea to have races down Kingston Hill, this isn't the steepest hill but it's steep enough to really max out your speed as it's pretty long. By the time we've had a few practise runs we're bombing down at what must have been approaching 50mph (we were all spinning out on our topmost gear). Seeing the world go past you when you are riding a bike, and even moreso whilst pissed, is a fucking buzzing experience. It then turned into 'who can ride down in the most fun way' I opted for standing up, no hands, thighs gripping the saddle which was a real rush at the speeds we were going. After an hour or so of fucking around we decided to head off home when a car approached from behind going just a touch faster than we were all riding and I think there was a collective unconscious decision to race the car because we all sped up at the same time. We ended up all beating the car to the bottom and as we slowed up the car pulled up and slowed down with us and the guy rolled down his window and told us we were nutters and that at one point we were going 58 mph, he drove off laughing heartily.

Did you manage to set off the speed camera at the bottom of the hill?

are u having a laugh ?

He may have been talking shit, however, what I do know is that I was spinning about 140/150 rpm on 52/14 before I span my legs out about halfway down the hill and kept accelerating after that so I was going at a fair whack.

Did you manage to set off the speed camera at the bottom of the hill?

I don't recall there being one to be honest, this was about 8/9 years ago. Is there one now? Whereabouts is it on the hill?

That's one to tell the grandkids there, Festerban.

Drunk cyclist falls off, car swerves to avoid him/her, hits peds at bus stop/other car etc. You can quite easily cause just as much carnage.

i see your point but i reckon it's pretty unlikely unless the driver is also drunk. much more has to go wrong for a drunk cyclist to cause a car to plough into a bus stop than for a drunk driver to cause a car to plough into a bus stop.

but like i said, it is stupid to ride pissed.

Says the posterboy for city types to get hammered and ride across London thinking of midgets?

That's why I added the "voice of reason" bit.. it was an in-joke for those who may have witnessed my drunken debauchery. :)

stringerman: Your mate might not have been hit by a car if he was sober :P

I (almost) never intentionally get drunk and ride, it just kind of happens, and until last week I've never had a problem (sober or drunk).
Falling over while unlocking your bike is not a good sign for the ride ahead...

As a scientist... I have to argue that your sample population is all wrong. As someone here suggested the time of riding drunk does not equal time of riding sober. Hence your stats are all wrong.

Even if it is safer for you to cycle drunk (lack of reflex etc etc...) how about other people? Yesterday I was cycling back home from west drinks a saw a car almost crash to avoid a drunk cyclist... (car almost hit me...)

Sorry Mr Serious Scientist sir, I didn't realise that I was being serious. I thought I was having a bit of fun. I won't try and have fun again - fun is not scientifically valid anyway. I should probably go back to uni and finish my science degree - that should help drain the remaining fun that was left after I dropped out. In fact, I'll quit my job and go back to my boring laboratory job so that I can prevent myself from having fun at work.

I think there is confounding, it is most likely to be late in the evening when you ride drunk, therefore, there will be fewer cars on the road to hit/ get hit by.

1. I said IRREFUTABLE PROOF, therefore, do not refute it.

2. your point has been made about 4 times already...

Sorry mr Messenjah ;)
Have a pint on me.........

i dont really mind riding drunk, but it definatly affects my perception of time. ill ride home and spent half an hour opening my door wondering how i got there. if im really wasted ill have trouble getting on my bike and giving up when i cant get into the straps. i hate it though becuase i get paranoid someone is going to nick my bike while im walking with it.

when i lived in cornwall i was working in a pub and a waster, so i rode home fuzzed most days. but it was fine becuase its cornwall and youd be lucky to see a bloke with dog than any traffic past 11. now i live in kent i have to deal with police rolling around and stopping me. alot of the time during the late hours they are virtually the only people driving around.

my mate had just got a new MTB with disk brakes, and got really pissed that afternoon. on the way back he did a full 180 becuase the breaks were so sharp. broken nose, hand, and fucked elbow amounst large amounts of road rash. dont ride unfamiliar bikes when drunk!

Thread resurrection, riding home drunk is not so good for your wheels, my mate (actually a mate not me, thankfully) went into a a curb at a stupid speed and mangled the wheel, frame's stuffed too. But I like the way it looks a bit like a heart, valentine fixed card?

that would make a great valentines

Riding back after 4 beers (not that drunk, but drunk enough). I don't remember going down through this cut through, it is fecking dangerous to take it at speed and I probably did.

a wheel as a spoke card
rather you than me

i had a great ride home last night. didnt take my bike out with me but found a crappy y-frame MTB lying in the middle of a busy road. cars were just beeping at it and swerving around it.

i was fucking pissed and ended up riding it for a couple of hours down by the river. fell off a couple of times but nothing serious other than muddy clothes. when i got up this morning had a look at the bike, its a really naff halfords jobby.

dunno whever to put some posters up in case somebody had it lost or stolen. i dont realy have any use for it, but i dont know if anyones realy gonna miss it.

Someone's invented this to help you get drunk while you're on the bike.

I support the riding better while drunk theory. I have surfed much better after a few beers, to the point where i could hardly paddle and if i fell off my board i probably would have drowned, once i stood up i was Kelly Slater. I think its the whole mime theory (body learns movements etc) after all isn;t there a saying; "just like riding a bike.."