Anyone stopped smoking?

What differences have you noticed whilst riding?
It's been 4 weeks since I last had a cig, and whilst I can't necessarily feel any significant difference from before, I do seem to have dropped over 5 minutes from my 50 minute commute time. I'm trying to work out if it's purely down to lack of fags, or if there are other forces at work.
Haven't really done loads of hills or any rides over 20 miles though, maybe it will become more apparent then...

Anyone got any experiences to share regarding this?

i quit for about 6 months and felt no difference other than boredom (i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling/smoking) but i gave up quitting, best decision i ever made ;)

I've given up for 9 months having smoked since 14. Definitely got bigger lungs but more than anything I've got a really accute sense of smell now

Giving up smoking, in my opinion is the single biggest thing you can ever do to improve your fitness.

Ratboy i quit for about 6 months and felt no difference other than boredom (i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling/smoking) but i gave up quitting, best decision i ever made ;)

Jeez 2-4 hours! What do you do with all that spare time?

Ratboy i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling

that must have been a massive fag

OCD [quote]Ratboy i quit for about 6 months and felt no difference other than boredom (i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling/smoking) but i gave up quitting, best decision i ever made ;)

Jeez 2-4 hours! What do you do with all that spare time?[/quote]thats why i went back ;P
it took an average of 15 mins to roll then smoke a fag and i smoked about 20 a day i guess

CHUG_IT [quote]Ratboy i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling

that must have been a massive fag

[/quote]they dont make em like that anymore

I always hear the money arguement from smokers "I saved what I'd normally spend, couldn't believe it" So I guess this is the easiest way to save up for those Phils...

I find myself bing more energetic in general and wake up with a nicer feeling mouth. When riding I don't notice, but then I never time my rides or have a computer on my bike to beable to compare. I still end up having the odd one though but it is getting less and less. I gave up last year and did not smoke for about 3 months. I archived this by not socializing. Going out again put an end to that and I was on and off again. Doing better this time. No smoking pubs help imo.

CHUG_IT [quote]Ratboy i once worked out that about 2-4 hours of my day was spent rolling

that must have been a massive fag

[/quote]

NO, this is a massive fag!

[quote]CHUG_IT [quote][cite]

i quit but Chandra forces me to start again.

Top end speed didn't change, or endurance, as far as I could tell.

Big difference is RECOVERY. After any kind of effort before, I'd be gasping for both air and a fag for about 15mins. Now it tends to be a couple of deep breaths and I'm fine (with the exception of roller racing and competitive hillclimbing).

Smoking puff was good for all-day-comfort in the saddle, but my mind wandered more than usual and things like pedalling form turned to shit.

i quit monday. my chest pains have stopped allready. :D

I managed 3 weeks before, and was doing 45 mins on the treadmill. atm i can manage 10 before i get evil stitches.

running you will notice more of a difference i think as it knackers you more than cycling.

i quit for 6 months once...that was fun.
i don't think i'm that addicted,for the last week or so i have gone 2 or 3 days without smoking...i don't really see it being a problem.

I quit at the start of january. have managed to somehow justify in my head the purchase of my new road bike (i sinned) due to the amount i saved. i also do this thing in my head whereby it's either smoke or cycle but not both. bike wins everyime.

just say no aidan!

^^^ I'm with aidan - I just have the occasional one or two but not every day. I don't see it as a problem though I do feel it if I have one just before a ride. Also, if you go some days without, you really notice the difference between faggy- and non-faggy-morning-mouth!

I quit february 14th 2005.

fell off the wagon once or twice but all in all am off them and now consider myself a nonsmoker. first 9 months was pure hell. Any riding, flats, uphills even descending (wernt long enough to recouperate from the climb) was shear torture. Almost started smoking again a few times because quitting seemed to make things harder.

I was a VERY heavy smoker (if anyone in the group had a flat, ide use it as an excuse for a quick roli) and after quitting after a ride was the wrost time coughing up all kinds of things (most were black a tarry) this could go on for a while even till the next morning.

At about 12months the black stuff stopped but i was still coughing up stuff. but now it looked (and tasted) much more healthy. at 16 months the coughing had eased totally.

Afterthree years I dont think i can say that I am any fitter than i was before the same hills and routes feel just as hard although i can recover on descents again. times have imrpved but weather this really is becasue of quitting or just natural prgression i cant say,. truth is i was prgressing quite well with times before i quit and when i did quit the times got all fkd up anyway and i pretty much had to start again.

I think i am healthier though, my little toe on my left foot had had been numb for a while, after quitting I have realised recently that I have full sensation again. Also fingers and toes warm up much quicker after cafe stops, infact overall warmth in general is far better now (better circulation perhaps)

As far as all the money I was going to save, well i did have plans for new bieks and holidays etc etc. But to be honest , i dont knwo how i managed before cos ime still skint and cant afford the bike i had my eye on.

Not sure thats what you wanted to hear but when it comes down to it, i quit because ive lost a few mates from smoking related illnesses (all guys who were young and in very good shape, a couple of handy cyclists, boxers who were in the forces and a couple of runners too, all much fitter than i ever could be) so i beleive smoking kills and I realised i was fooling myself cos i though I would be ok becasue of the ammount of exercise i do.

cheers
tiktok

BringMeMyFix Top end speed didn't change, or endurance, as far as I could tell.

Big difference is RECOVERY. After any kind of effort before, I'd be gasping for both air and a fag for about 15mins. Now it tends to be a couple of deep breaths and I'm fine (with the exception of roller racing and competitive hillclimbing).

I was reading through the thread thinking that stopping smoking hadn't done much for my fitness when I read this and realised that I have the same experience as BMMF. By the time I stopped I'd cut down significantly so maybe that's a factor. I quit about two years ago after smoking for since I was 13 and am very happy about it.

i have never quit, but i did drastically cut back for over a year (down from 25 a day to less than 5) and i didn't notice anything until i increased again. i think the positives come on really gradually, but the negatives (re)appear almost immediately.

aidan i quit but Chandra forces me to start again.

yes I literally hold a gun to his head saying ''smoke or I'll smoke you bitch"

He shits his pants every time

On another note when I did manage to quit for four months, I noticed a definate difference in speed and fitness. Plus I smelt better, I mean I could smell and taste better and I personally didn't smell like an ashtray.

i stopped in Sept 06, didn't find it as hard as i thought, used nicotine gum for 3 months, then stopped that.

i agree, i think recovery time is the key, but then i hear that's the best measure of fitness generally...it's ok to puff and pant, just as long as you don't keep puffing for 15 mins afterwards..

Well done brett, hang on in there

don't let your mind play tricks on you

just because you haven't noticed the difference

doesn't mean there is no difference

I quit three years ago

Now I race motorcycles just for a laugh

The day I stopped saying "no thanks, I've given up" when people offered me a fag, and started saying "no thanks, I don't smoke" I knew I was never going back.

In the last 8 years since quitting (during some of which I continued to pipe a bit of hash here and there), I think I've shared tobacco/dope spliffs 3 times. On each occasion, obviously I was pissed out of my mind, but it wasn't like 'oh shit, that's it, I've relapsed and will now go back to 40 a day'. I just passed out and woke up with a bit of a sore throat.

Having said all that, I still think people have a right to smoke fags. Smokers seem to have become scapegoated as much as cyclists (in differing contexts), and to be honest, there are a shed load of other things detrimental to your health that could do with being legislated against/monitored more closely.

And it still looks fucking cool on the big screen :)