even if I have been up all night for a night shift?

It's only wrong if you're drinking before going to work apparently. That is one of the strongest telltale sign of a problem alcoholic.

Not of you've performed a risk assessment and consulted the latest peer reviewed papers…..

I work shifts and nothing beats a can of stella and a bacon butty in the morning before bed.

Graham

Brandy is fine, but coffee before bed is very silly.

Aren't you some sort of medical professional? I shouldn't have to tell you these things.

its fine but only if adequate head protection is worn.

When working nightshift it's adviseable to avoid caffiene for the last 6 hours of your shift. Brandy however……

make sure the coffee is freetrade………..

If you wear a helmet whilst drinking it, then all good to go!

Tootall beat me to it… 😀

🙂

The coffee is fair trade of course and I ain't going to bed for a good while – going for a short bike ride shortly – its puffer training 🙂

Perhaps a helmet when I go out on the bike would be sensible. I only wear the tinfoil helmet indoors

Alcohol and riding a bike?
You should know you can be prosecuted in the same way you can for alcohol + driving a car.
Alcohol reduces reaction times which can't be sound move surely if you're planning a XC ride.
Not sure why you'd want to consume alcohol and then go out on the public roads / bridleways etc.
Does alcohol help your performance on the bike? After a night shift, I'd have thought it'd make you drowsy and less alert.
Perhaps have it on your return instead?

Does alcohol help your performance on the bike?

Riding a bike while drunk is the nearest a human can get to flying.

Ti29r.

Thank you for your concern. actually being drunk in charge of a bike is a very different offence to doing so in charge of a car.

I'm only going to go for a short ride down a traffic free cyclepath. Brandy coffee after an night shift means reaction time of minutes – I ain't gonna mess with cars. Just need to test a couple of things on the bike.

I am being facetious really.

no, but use a fullface and armour on the drinking arm. 🙂

A £200 fine is set for furious cycling.

The Licensing Act 1872 makes it an offence to be drunk in charge of a bicycle (or any other vehicle or carriage) on a highway or in a public place.

You could lose your car license.

Not sure alcohol is a very sensible addition to riding a bike in public; your call, but ensure you wear the helmet and make a good risk assessment which I'll expect in triplicate on my desk before you leave.

In theory Ti29er, in practice (and I speak from personal experience here) they struggle to keep a straight face, suggest you get off and push it home… (ahem… 😳 )

You can't lose your licence for being drunk on a bike anymore than you can for being a drunk pedestrian.

This is common practice in Spain. Was sat in a railway station cafe in Toledo early one morning they were all necking brandy coffees. Sincerely hoped none of them was the driver !

You cannot lose your licence for riding a bike pished. Furious cycling is obsolete and no longer exists. You can be done for drunk on a bike tho – its just a straight fine and very very rare. They have to be able to prove you were unfit to ride – much harder than a breath test but a breath test only shows how much alcohol you have in your system not if you are unfit to ride.

However – I am back safely and now heading for bed. Bike is fully pufferised and tested

Many years ago my pal was done for being drunk in charge of his bike.
It effectively cost him his job and he left the Army.
Harsh but since I witnessed first hand the fallout and how things spiraled out of control from this little episode and knowing you work within the NHS I would still question the perceived wisdom of drink-riding & continue to ask why you'd want to consume any alcohol before a bike ride 7 then ask for the forum's opinions on (your) alcohol consumption followed by a ride in these conditions.

He's had one drink and been out on his push bike.

Get some perspective!

burn the witch!

Riding a bike while drunk is the nearest a human can get to flying.
What, other than using a plane… 😉

He's had one drink and been out on his push bike.

Get some perspective!

Spot on there.

I took this post to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. I don't think TJ is actually asking permission to drink his coffee.

Lets not argue, pleeeaaaasse.

Solo

You might want to read this before telling us the law no longer is in force.

Unless any part of 1872 Licensing Act has been superseded since August 2009, some of it remains in force.
The law still creates an offence of being drunk in public and of being drunk in charge of a carriage – since reinterpreted to include bicycles.
The crime has a maximum penalty of £200 or 51 weeks.

Personally, consuming alcohol (and who said just one drink?) and venturing out onto the public highways is just plain stupid. Who are we to say that, on the back of a 8-12hr night shift, he's not consumed 1/4 of a bottle in one measure. Perspective, please!
I'm fervently anti drink driving, so being asked if it's OK to have a drink before a bike ride, I'd be inclined to say "No".
Employees and the general public in general are very intolerant of alcohol and being in control of a moving vehicle. Period.

Hels – when we go to Spain there's nothing to beat La Mumbas. Brandy + hot chocolate – an excellent warmer for mind, body and soul. 🙂

Ti29er – a tot of brandy in a coffee is unlikely to affect him. You should be concentrating on the fact he went out when he was TIRED. That's far more likely to cause accidents.

EDIT – I'm assuming it was a tot – if it was a pint of brandy the analysis would chance :

And let's not forget, TJ works in the NHS.
You'd have thought that particular working environment would have alerted him to the likely pitfalls and errors of other people's misadventures especially where fatigue and alcohol and driving / riding were all added together.
Evidence from this post seems to suggests otherwise, plus his knowledge of the law seems sadly in error judging by that linked article.

Great logic Ti29er 😕

How many doctors drink, smoke, self medicate? Working in the NHS doesn't automatically mean you avoid anything that's bad for you, probably quite the opposite!

Get a grip man, seriously.

Am I the only one here that thought TJ's comments were tongue in cheek?

Alcohol lowers body temperature thus increasing the risk of hypothermia when you slip on the ice and concuss youself / disbale your self through rotational injuries / split your head open

You can be done for being drunk in charge of a carriage for riding a bike while drunk (or for riding a mobility scooter when drunk).

Not sure you can be done for it for riding a bike after drinking one brandy coffee though…

The question:
"Is (consuming alcohol) even if I have been up all night for a night shift?"

The answer is a resounding NO.
You might think it's OK.
I can tell you it's not.
The law can tell it's not.
Public opinion would not be favourable and his employer nor would the courts were anything untoward happen.

So, in principle I'd still tell him No, it's not acceptable nor wise to drink alcohol especially if he has been up all night for a night shift.

One thing I have always wondered when adding spirits to hot drinks is that as alcohol boils at 78.5C, does this mean that some or all of the alcohol will boil away before you drink it?

One thing I have always wondered when adding spirits to hot drinks is that as alcohol boils at 78.5C, does this mean that some or all of the alcohol will boil away before you drink it?

Yes, that's exactly what happens.

Ti29er, can you let us know exactly when the law does permit the consumption of alcohol? I've clearly been operating under the deluded impression that there was no such law so I'd appreciate being set straight on the matter.

I'm just impressed that TJ can keep an arguement going even when he's asleep/ lying in a drunken stupor 🙂

The law appears to tell you being DRUNK in charge of a carriage is an offence. Extrapolating that to mean you should never drink is a bit extreme isn't it?

The law appears to tell you being DRUNK in charge of a carriage is an offence. Extrapolating that to mean you should never drink is a bit extreme isn't it?

I believe that 'drunk' means you could well be above the legal drink-drive limit without being done.

Riding a bike while drunk is the nearest a human can get to flying.

Mike, you are a genius. 🙂

And I completely fail to understand the problem with Jeremy's suggestion.

Mike, you are a genius

I am, but I think I nicked that from someone else.

Google tells me it was Alexie Sayle last year (http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/26/cycling-alan-bennett-boris-johnson), but I must have heard it here.

hip flasks filled all ready for the night ride anyone?

Thank you for your inquiry Ti29er

I am afraid that you could be prosecuted for cycling whilst drunk as it is a criminal offense to cycle under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the cycle and s30 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It is also an offense to be drunk and in charge of a carriage (including a bicycle) under the Licensing Act 1872.

In short – not a smart move TJ all things considered.