Cycling Weekly — February 08, 2018

business, and you can depend on
receiving abuse, threats, and social
media assurances of a messy
death. The feeling of injustice
binds us together into a tight
brotherhood. But no one really
hates a runner. They feel sorry for
them, at best, and no one ever built
a brotherhood in adversity on pity.
Or is it the sheer machismo? If
nothing else we can explain away

unsightly-looking scabs as the

result of having ‘crashed’, rather

than ‘tripped’. Which word is

more likely to impress your

non-athletic co-workers?

In spite of the expense, the

inconvenience, the undeserved

hatred, the road rash, cycling is

still better. But I honestly can’t nail

down exactly why. I like to think

I’m a sophisticated adult, but could

it be that it’s just because cycling

still feels the way it did when I was

10 years old?

Like seeing beauty in art,

cycling’s glory is just a fact, and

you have to accept it. We are the

chosen people. And I really must

stop admitting to going running

on social media.

“Cycling offers

the chance to

join a despised

minority”

Real men carb

load with booze

How to...

ride with a

hangover

There are stories about riding with hangovers.

Jacques Anquetil won several Tour de France

stages after nights on the booze. The British

12-hour time trial record was once broken by a

rider who had single-handedly accounted for two

bottles of red wine the night before. Such rides are

the stuff of legend.

They are not necessarily to be emulated. A

hangover leaves you dehydrated, and with increased

levels of creatine kinase and lactate in your

bloodstream. You’re more likely to suffer cramps

and strains and electrolyte imbalances. You may

well have low blood glycogen levels, and consequent

lack of energy. There are even suggestions that

high-intensity exercise with a hangover can be quite

dangerous. So really, you shouldn’t do it.

On the other hand... it’s a chance to be the sort

of person who is discussed in hushed tones by

the sorts of people your mother told you that you

shouldn’t be trying to impress. It is the one way to

earn a reputation as a hardnut that doesn’t involve

getting cold and wet and riding 300km. All you have

to do is wear dark glasses and ignore a pounding

headache and make sure that everyone else notices

how strongly your sweat smells of tequila.

The upside is that the release of endorphins will

probably ease your symptoms to some extent.

You’ll burn off a few of the calories, which might

alleviate your guilt (assuming guilt is your sort of

thing). And did I mention you’ll be a legend?

All the same, don’t do it.

Cycling Weekly | February 8, 2018 | 61