Hopefully this is cool for the general Q&A thread... Any other bike racers on the forums? Calling all disciplines; road, mtb, cross, tri- although maybe not tri, I can't stand your ankle socks! How does weed affect the racing side of your life? Now I don't mean do you do it and still race, but more how exactly does your body respond? I have read countless forum posts looking for the answer to this question, but every thread just turns into an argument between the toking roadies and the non toking roadies. I want to find out how/if weed affects your recovery, threshold etc. Oh, one thing I should make clear, I'm not as interested in how being high while on the bike affects you; as I do not intend to smoke before a hard session of vo2 intervals or a race (though smoking before a leisurely ride on the trail is awesome if you haven't tried that before!). I race pretty competitively on the road, and although I have been consuming cannabis for 3 years now, only in the past 2-3 months have I developed a regular routine of vaping everyday. I usually enjoy a pretty sizable session during my morning walk to class, possibly another at around 12, sometimes another with some friends at 3ish (though I usually pass on this one unless i don't have to ride for some reason), and then a nice big session at 9pm. Racing has just picked up for me, and I really want to make sure that I don't end up squandering my racing season because of my new lifestyle. I really need the community's input/experience because I battled illness and other issues this winter which have caused me to start the 2015 season already at a disadvantage. Because of this disadvantage, I don't know if the decline in performance on the bike is due to the rough winter, the weed, or both.
I have no real good experience in hard exercise and smoking weed on top of it all apart from leisurely rides and being baked lol but I would say you would be alright if you didn't over do it when it comes to your vaping sessions. It shouldn't really affect how fast your body recovers if you are eating all the right things and doing whatever you do when you recover. Weed can make illnesses a bit worse and you will feel a cough or a cold a lot more. I don't see why you shouldn't be able to enjoy a nice smoke session after a hard bit of exercising, I would probably fall asleep lol
I don't race, but I regularly do 20+ mile rides cross country and mountain. Weed really hasn't affected my riding performance at all, although I do believe my lung capacity has increased since I started vaping daily.
I'm pretty new at mountain biking (2 /12 years) and started to do these 60min spin classes with this chick at my gym atleast 3-4 times a week. Holy shit dude...shit is intense!! This is my 6th-7th week doing them and I'm making great progress. I don't get winded as quick anymore, more power, stamina, ect.. I always smoke a fat ass joint of chemdawg on the way to every spin class or gym session and wouldn't workout any other way.