Sheesh...another one....

Is "everyone" really still doing this?? I was naively thinking it was going to stop I guess.......

Not to write to you specifically, but in general: If you have ANY doubts at all about how prolific it is in cycling and many, many other sports; how many very big names do it as a matter of course; how many olympians do it; how many athletes lie (to the press) and even perjure themselves about it on a regular basis, how many different and strange kinds of doping there are; how many governing bodies (including in those in the good ol' USA) actually encourage and sanction it; and how easy (clever) athletes and drug suppliers are able to circumvent 98% of all drug "testing" regimes, sadly, I think you live in a fantasy world...

Read any (or all) of these and weep. Each one was written by an insider who had the guts to lay it on the line:

A rough ride--paul kimmage (cycling from a pro cyclist's perspective)

Breaking the chain--will voet (cycling from a "supplier's" perspective)

Drugs, sport, and politics--robert voy, MD (olympic and pro sports from a USOC insider's perspective)

You will never look at any professional athletics again with the same innocent eyes.

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Where would you want to swim ?

I'm going to pick-up "Breaking the Chain" this weekend. I've been meaning to for a while.

What I'm being most naive (and most hopeful) about is that, however rampant it was, the increase and veracity of testing would result in a decline in abuse.

Ummm....I guess I was wrong......

I wish I could agree with you.

But when one reads these 3 particular books, it is very difficult not to come to the conclusion that taking PEDs has, in a strange way, become almost institutionalized ...

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Where would you want to swim ?

I don't care too much about the pro's. They really don't affect my life much but what really gets to me is thinking about all of the AGers that are probably on the same stuff. It's so easy to get, and probably makes a bigger difference to "mortals" than it does to the genetic freaks in the pro peleton.

Lehmkuhler

Yes, mr. kimmage may have a thousand axes to grind, but he writes very well, he writes from his heart, he was a passable pro rider who rose through the ranks (he friggin' finished the Tour, for god sakes), and he has seen a thousand things that I have never seen.

To all that want the inside scoop, read it and decide for yourselves. Usually, if someone has an axe to grind, you can sense it in the first paragraph.

I would venture that some of the people he wrote about are the ones with the real axes to grind: they don't want to world to see the dirty truth: pay-offs, corruption, and drugs run the euro pro cycling world (and in other countries as well).

Ain't reality hell... ?

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Where would you want to swim ?

Ya know I was wonder-in the same thing. I'd bet that with all the money in this sport that more than a fair number of AG'ers use PEDS. I have no clue what kind of bucks it takes to get your hands on the stuff, but if a guy is willing to drop $5K on a complete Tri set-up (Bike, Wet Suit, Shoes and the other crap we think we need) then why wouldn't he spend a chunk on some PEDS? I'd like to think that the biggest deterrent is personal pride and health. I can't imagine doing a race and knowing that some portion of your finish time wasn't you, but drugs doing the work. And why anyone would put their health on the line for a hobby is beyond me, but I bet it happens.

I have a Dr friend who casually brought up the fact that he could get PEDS any time he wanted- it really made me wonder about him.

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I'm just a 10 cent rider on a $2,500.00 Bike

I know of a few people who went to thier doctor after seeing an advertisement on TV (and Radio) for "Anti Aging treatment" -- they did not know they were taking HGH - which is banned by athletic governing bodies as a PED. (FINA, USA Swimming, USA Triathlon etc. etc. has it listed as banned.

Just because it is banned by a athletic governing body as a PED - does not mean it is illegal -- you can get it pretty easy -- just surf the web a while.

Sucks that I am poor and can't even afford Hammer Gel.

I've read Kimmage's book. What I found interesting was he didn't talk about anyone doing EPO or blood doping (this probably became available after his 'time'). I probably should read it again, but from what I took from it, he was ashamed to take a vitamin injection.

I would like to know what was in the injections he spoke about the riders took while in the race. Overall, my opinion after reading Kimmage's book was that what the riders are taking aren't so called illegal drugs, but taking things to help them recover and ride again.

The thing about the Hondo testing positive is that he tested OK on the first day and was a 'positive' on the 2nd day of racing. I'm betting he took some kind of medicine that contained a banned substance that tested positive and he didn't know it. I just wish the powers that be would wait until his b sample was tested before going public.

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TheBikeRacer.com

Money is no object for many people in this sport. After all, it's a very expensive sport to begin with and generally attracts people with some $$$.

And as far as health... People use some bad stuff recreationally so why wouldn't people use it for performance gains. And as far as side effects/health problems, HGH and EPO (the most likely PED's I'm guessing) are on the pretty safe side.

It really comes down to ethics. And seeing what goes on in business, politics, etc. on a daily basis. I've got very little faith that ethical restrictions pose much of a problem for people.

I realize that this is a pretty bad way to look at sport, but it really makes me wonder.

Lehmkuhler

I can assure everyone that anorexia is much more of a problem in pro cycling than PEDs......

When the stepped up testing was first announced a few years ago all I saw was a PR disaster in the making and it has certainly played out that way. When other sports are not playing by the same rules all it could do was make cycling look bad.

If David Stern was head of the UCI it never would have happened - he knows better than to test for things he doesn't want to find, and when someone tests positive for the few things they do test for it is kept a closely guarded secret.

Speaking of that whatever happened to the furor over "American" sports not following the same drug testing rules as other sports in the Olympics? Perhaps the Olympics just didn't want to lose the ratings and money.

You believe that, and I got a bridge I wanna sell you ...

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Where would you want to swim ?

You may want to re-read the book. Kimmage did talk about PEDs and many likely PEDs, such as riders carrying syringes in their jerseys during races (as if a vitamin injection will help a rider much during a race). And he wrote about riders putting drug suppositories up their anuses during races. Simply delightful. And enough detail for me ...

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Where would you want to swim ?

Did you even watch the video floating around here of Lance winning that sprint Triathlon? Let's attack this from a different angle:

A guy pulls away from the pro's in a Triathlon. That's pretty damn good.

A guy pulls away from the pro's in a short sprint? That's just amazing.

This 'guy' is only 18 year's old?!?! Unheard of.

If some kid did a sprint with Peter Reid and Tim Deboom and dropped them on the bike to go on and win, wouldn't you say he's an out of this world talent? If he went on to beat cancer that should've killed him, drop 20 extra pounds, and win the Tour de France, why should I assume he's on drugs? Was he on drugs when he was dropping the pro's in a SPRINT when he was 18?

Idiots.

Lance hasn't gotten caught because he's the smartest man in the world, and Tyler is the dumbest. Not because one's clean and one isn't. Is that right?

[reply]Did you even watch the video floating around here of Lance winning that sprint Triathlon? Let's attack this from a different angle:

A guy pulls away from the pro's in a Triathlon. That's pretty damn good.

A guy pulls away from the pro's in a short sprint? That's just amazing.

This 'guy' is only 18 year's old?!?! Unheard of.

[/reply]
Heard of.

Greg LeMond was beating pros when he was 15. He and Andy Hampsten stopped being competitive when EPO use became rampant.

Drop by any bodybuilding website and you'll usually find a portion devoted to endurance sports. Sounds weird but considering that steroids aid in recovery its not so strange. On some of the threads, in between training tips and people bragging about how much they bench, you can find AGers swapping doping techniques. You can read about Cat 4 cyclists who do full-on cycles of three or four different drugs. To race cat 4!!!

While I don't condone it, I can understand professionals who feel like they need them to compete. And maybe everyone's on drugs and they do. I don't know. But AGers? Who're you trying to impress except themselves and why dope to do that. Strange mentality.

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"I learned from the example of my father that the manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured"

http://myfirstironman.blogspot.com

Lemond and Andy stopped being competitive when they got OLD. Period.

- although Lemond's hunting accident probably had a lot to do with his fade.

Drugs had absolutely nothing to do with it...





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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Has anyone seen the news that Pound, head of WADA, is taking over the UCI? That should put a twist in the tails of the peleton's dopers.

You got April-fooled.