Am I a doper?

[JeffreyPerry]

I raced less than 15 races a few years ago but quit because, well, I was just dang slow-LOL- Now, I ride my bike as often as I can, usually 3-4 times a week. Occasionally, I get a sinus headache or stuffy nose and I buy sinus meds over the counter at walmart or whatever. I take them, I ride, does this make me a doper? Or do I have to compete? I realize if I take these and compete, that would be against the rules.
I'm curious as to the Clinic views on this subject because I read through these threads daily and am sometimes amazed at the zeal that some posters display towards the dopers. Believe me, I am not so naive to believe professional cycling is clean. I do not like cheating and think there are far too many out there that have cheated or are cheating.
I find it extremely difficult to believe that all these posters (some seem very intelligent indeed) or riders have never taken any kind of meds for a cold or stuffy head and not went for a ride.
What I want to know is do you believe someone like me, who just doesn't want to feel all crappy, is a doper or not , and why?
This is a legit question, not a gasoline log to flame on.

 

[Zweistein]

I raced less than 15 races a few years ago but quit because, well, I was just dang slow-LOL- Now, I ride my bike as often as I can, usually 3-4 times a week. Occasionally, I get a sinus headache or stuffy nose and I buy sinus meds over the counter at walmart or whatever. I take them, I ride, does this make me a doper? Or do I have to compete? I realize if I take these and compete, that would be against the rules.
I'm curious as to the Clinic views on this subject because I read through these threads daily and am sometimes amazed at the zeal that some posters display towards the dopers. Believe me, I am not so naive to believe professional cycling is clean. I do not like cheating and think there are far too many out there that have cheated or are cheating.
I find it extremely difficult to believe that all these posters (some seem very intelligent indeed) or riders have never taken any kind of meds for a cold or stuffy head and not went for a ride.
What I want to know is do you believe someone like me, who just doesn't want to feel all crappy, is a doper or not , and why?
This is a legit question, not a gasoline log to flame on.

Wow a strawman argument if there ever was one. Nice try

 

[the big ring]

No.

As a non-member of any WADA-affiliated sport, you are governed by the laws of the country in which you reside.

There are no doping laws in the US.

Your medication is not illegal. You are not a doper.

The end.

 

[Fatclimber]

Don't worry, in the eyes of your fans, I'm sure you're a champion no matter what. Have you ever failed a test?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Don't worry Jeff. "Everybody else is doing it too." You're on your bike busting your a$$ six hours a day. Everyone else is on cold medicine.

 

[Bosco10]

Hey, truck drivers drop pure ephedrine hcl like it's candy. Don't ya worry bro. Even LA would approve.

 

[silverrocket]

No.

As a non-member of any WADA-affiliated sport, you are governed by the laws of the country in which you reside.

There are no doping laws in the US.

Your medication is not illegal. You are not a doper.

The end.

This pretty much covers it, but I'd add that "doper" is someone who cheats by taking banned drugs. If you are not competing at a level regulated by anti-doping rules, you cannot be cheating, even if you were filling up with Lance Armstrong's leftover blood bags.

You can go ahead and use the "superman" position on your TT bike too, since that is also not cheating for someone who is not competing.

 

[ElChingon]

Yes you are a doper. Just look at the 10's or maybe 20's of avid cyclist who see you beat them to the next stop sign, they reach for answers when they know they're riding twice as much as you and still can't beat you to the next city limits sign. Some say you are hurting no one but some of them stop riding due to the humiliation of not getting to the next stop sign before you, some are now even breaking the law and not stopping at the stop signs to keep up with you, to what ends will they go to keep up and put their lives on the line just because you are doping! Then the kids who see you dropping everyone in sight, they wonder, "how does he do it?", "is my dad right, they're all on dope... including this guy?". When will it stop? Will it stop? You are fessing up now so its a start. Now who got you started on this? Who advised you, the pharmacist? The cashier? The box boy shelving the goods? We need to know it all...

 

[Paco_P]

The rationale for banning over the counter medications is usually that they contain some component which is present in some other agent used for doping purposes, and that they therefore cause problems for testing, because he who tests positive for the latter agent can protest that he was simply taking legal medication. In fact, this used to happen a lot. Taking a normal amount of over the counter medication in and of itself won't generally make much difference.

Also the premise of the question is fallacious since the problem with doping in competitions is precisely the advantage it gives in the competition. Without competition the only problem with doping is the health damage the doper does to himself, and that's his problem for the most part (it's still banned sometime, by the law, because of the cost to society of caring for the damaged doper, but that's obviously irrelevant in the case of a legal over the counter medication).

 

[The Cobra]

Hmmm good question. After doping up, did you break any Strava KOM's? Personally everyone who has Strava should sign the WADA code and submit to random durg testing in my eyes.

 

[Flux Capacity]

I'd be amazed if the fake pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, was banned because IT DOES NOTHIN' TO NOTHIN'

 

[peterst6906]

It would seem to me that if you drop the 'r', you probably have it nailed.

 

[Rockets160]

It would seem to me that if you drop the 'r', you probably have it nailed.

It would also seem that you are a straight up a$$hole. Do you even know the OP? Look at his posting history and you will see he appears to be a normal person wanting an opinion on over the counter medications and being classified as a doper. What a jacka$$.

 

[JeffreyPerry]

Wow a strawman argument if there ever was one. Nice try

Why strawman? It's not an argument promoting cold medicine use to improve my cycling. I never stated I take cold meds every day. As a matter of fact, I haven't taken any meds for quite some time (haven't been sick). My point in bringing up the question was to try and create some "clinic type" conversation without everyone comparing it to the latest doped up pro. Like I said in the OP, I wanted to see how the clinic regulars felt about medicine use by people that don't race. I'm not a freaking moron. I know that if i take sinus meds everyday and expect some kind of improvement in my riding, I should just give up now. I also know if I do that and compete, it's doping. If your miniscule brain could not comprehend what my point was, go back to the 3rd grade. They teach reading comprehension there.

 

[JeffreyPerry]

Don't worry, in the eyes of your fans, I'm sure you're a champion no matter what. Have you ever failed a test?

No fans, but in my mind, I sometimes imagine I DO have the fastest tricycle on the block. For drug test pass /fail ratio, I've been serving on active duty in the military for 14 years (averaged 2-3 yearly). No drugs allowed. I haven't made it this far to start either. So all passed.

Don't worry Jeff. "Everybody else is doing it too." You're on your bike busting your a$$ six hours a day. Everyone else is on cold medicine.

6 hours a day would make my **** break, literally.

Hmmm good question. After doping up, did you break any Strava KOM's? Personally everyone who has Strava should sign the WADA code and submit to random durg testing in my eyes.

Well, this strava thing is pretty neat, but since I signed up, I haven't tested the cold medicine improvement thing yet. Maybe I'll snort some tomorrow and hit that hill again, I'll keep in touch.

 

[JeffreyPerry]

Well now that everyone has had some good old fashioned fun at my expense. Maybe someone can answer this one?
When you go to a race and purchase a one day license, how long does that bind you to the rules for testing. If you buy a one day on 1 Jan, obviously they can test that day, but is there a time frame they are allowed to come and random test you afterwards? Like I said in my OP, it's been a few years since I've raced anything and I don't recall what the fine print on the paperwork said.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

'...' What I want to know is do you believe someone like me, who just doesn't want to feel all crappy, is a doper or not , and why? '...'

No. Why? Medication taken for its intended use, which provides no competitive advantage, isn't sports doping. You are taking it because you have a cold. You get no competitive advantage because you aren't competing. If the clinic 12 issued OOC TUE's, you would get one

 

[barn yard]

you would get a real answer if you aimed these exact questions to your national federation

they will be happy to provide you with answers