Amateur doping: Tilin's new Outside magazine article

[Damiano Machiavelli]

http://outsideonline.com/adventure/travel-ta-201106-doping-cyclist-sidwcmdev_156148.html

 

[Michele]

Pointless article.

 

[JA.Tri]

conflicted

I read article...therefore at one level I have supported Mr T and for that I feel ambivalent.

So while I am inquisitive/questioning of the doping process/mechanism, I also recognise the negative impact Mr T had on his family/peloton and friends (via his shortened fuse).

As I said...confudsed

 

[tsophoto]

Outside's already covered this ground before. And they did a better job the first time around.

http://outsideonline.com/outside/bodywork/200311/200311_drug_test_1.html

 

[spalco]

Interesting experiment, seems I underestimated testosterone's effectiveness in cycling. Although, if simple "good old" testo works that well, it's scary to think about what blood-doping and stuff like hemassist and EPO can do, plus of course other hormones like HGH...
I understand why the author only did the pretty much simplest and safest form of doping, but I'm not sure it's representative of the full scope of the problem in real competitions.

 

[bhilden]

Andrew Tilin's article and soon-to-be published book are yet another sad demonstration of just how far journalists will go to make a buck.

We all know that performance enhancing drugs work. Why else would athletes take them.

But, what is really disturbing here is that, just to make a buck, Tilin decided to cheat his fellow competitors. We should be thankful that he wasn't very fast, even with the drugs. What if he had kept someone else from winning or off the podium because he was taking drugs?

When his book was published and he started to cash in, was he planning on sending some of his ill-gotten gains to his fellow competitors whom he cheated out of their moment of glory?

And as far as being busted by USADA, Tilin's performances both before and after he started taking drugs were so unremarkable that he had to call USADA (and several times at that) to convince them that he should be sanctioned for his deeds.

I guess you can't put the word "scandal" in the title of your book unless you get busted. So, after several phone calls to USADA to admit his deeds he got the "scandalous" aspect of his book.

As someone who announces many races in Northern California where Tilin raced during his "doped up" years, nobody was ever aware that he was doing something illegal. His race day performances didn't put him on anybody's radar.

As I said at the beginning, it is sad that Tilin decided to stoop to such a low level to make a buck. Journalists get a bad rap and here is a prime example why. A much better book would to have been to interview athletes who doped and try to understand their motivations for doing so.

 

[the delgados]

I received and advanced copy of the book and finished reading it last week.

To be fair, Tilin's intial goal was to interview others on the magical serum, but when no one was willing to come forward (shocking!) he decided to do it himself. I have no doubt he was consumed by guilt during the entire process.

Also, aside from one blow-up (the tendency of which was already there), doping didn't have a horrible effect on his relationship. In fact, he goes into great detail how it enhanced his, uh, bedroom life.

Overall, I thought it an interesting study of the drug's effects and the industry as a whole.

 

[bhilden]

I think it is a pretty big assumption to say Tilin was consumed by guilt during the entire time. If his original premise for the book didn't pan out then you return the advance and move on.

I stand by what I say. It is pretty low for a journalist to knowingly take drugs and potentially cheat his fellow competitors out of their glory just to write about something about which we already know the answer. Performance enhancing drugs work.

I said it in one sentence. You don't need to send me any money. Go spend your money on something worthwhile.

 

[the delgados]

Fair enough.

The guilt I was describing extended beyond robbing his cat 4 competitors of potential glory. Apparently the risk of contamination is high, and he constantly fretted about the possibility his children would spout pubic hair at an early age.

Anyhow, if your anger about the possibility of him stealing a box of powerbars (do they still make those?) from a cat 4 rider outweighs a study of the booming human growth hormone industry and its effects, then more power to ya.

 

[MarkvW]

The man is a cheat. He wrote a book about his cheating. This thread is an advertisement for that book.

Reject this thread.
Reject the book.
Reject Outside.


Amoral scum.

 

[the delgados]

The man is a cheat. He wrote a book about his cheating. This thread is an advertisement for that book.

Reject this thread.
Reject the book.
Reject Outside.


Amoral scum.

Sorry for bumping a thread no one wants to talk about. I promise not to do it again.

But I can't help but note the reasons used to quash this discussion are eerily similar to those used by Armstrong and his team of lawyers.

He has no credibility.
He's a journalist out to make a buck (as if an unknown writer is going to make money off this book).

Why are people so afraid to speak about this? Because he may have cheated a cat 4 rider of untold riches?

Really?

 

[epo1999]

What an a-hole. I won Ward's Ferry against him that day. It was the Elite 4 category and I wasn't on "T." In ya face!

 

[Berzin]

What hasn't been mentioned is the ease with which the author received his rocket sauce from an anti-aging clinic.

Testosterone is now being advertised as a "medical condition" among men in the exact age group where the amateur cycling is at it's most competitive.

I don't need anyone to tell me that in a book. It's patently obvious how these gentlemen get faster as they age.

The possibility the author was racing against and beaten by guys who were on more advanced chemical programs is pretty high given how easy it is for yuppies with deep pockets to score what they want legally.

So I don't see the hypocrisy there. The hypocrisy is the contrived moral outrage that somehow he was taking potential victories away from riders who were more than likely doing the same thing.

 

[bhilden]

I think it is a huge stretch to say the guys he was racing against were also taking PED's. Tilin was racing in the Masters 35+ 4/5 category which is the bottom level of the sport in the US for Masters racers. The more accomplished racers are racing in the Masters 35+ 1/2/3.

I am also a journalist and frankly appalled at what a low level some journalists will stoop to make a buck. That is why I am angry. There is nothing new here and the "scandal" part of the title is a complete fabrication just to sell the book.
He wasn't busted. He had to call USADA several times just to get them to take notice because his results on PED's were so mediocre and then sanction him. This just stinks of a sham.

 

[Cloxxki]

Well, since we are getting more confirmations of T use among pro's, it's nice to hear from a journalist what effect it has on the body and mind.
Without any other cyclist sneakily using it, and proof thereof, it has little value.

 

[patricknd]

Sorry for bumping a thread no one wants to talk about. I promise not to do it again.

But I can't help but note the reasons used to quash this discussion are eerily similar to those used by Armstrong and his team of lawyers.

He has no credibility.
He's a journalist out to make a buck (as if an unknown writer is going to make money off this book).

Why are people so afraid to speak about this? Because he may have cheated a cat 4 rider of untold riches?

Really?

oppression is okay when you're the oppressor

 

[cat6cx]

I remember reading the Outside story back in 2003, fantiastic article. It gave me a ton of insite into the world of doping because it did a great job debunking the arguments around why PED's "don't work" for a certain sport. Your heard that about baseball for years. "Why would more power help? It's all hand eye coordination." Read the 2003 Outside article and you realize how much BS those arguments are.

I can't find any moral outrage in myself about cheating in Cat 4 if the intent was to right a story and expose some truth about the nature of PED's.

I'm a Cat 4 (bottom dweller) CX'er and wouldn't get too worked up if I knew people were cheating to beat me. Heck, it'd actually make me feel a lot better about my results. I'm being honest about that too. I race for a bunch of reasons, getting results is just a small part of it. I also believe think this is a totally different situation from cheating at higher levels of the sport.

 

[NedBraden]

I think it is a huge stretch to say the guys he was racing against were also taking PED's. Tilin was racing in the Masters 35+ 4/5 category which is the bottom level of the sport in the US for Masters racers. The more accomplished racers are racing in the Masters 35+ 1/2/3.

I am also a journalist and frankly appalled at what a low level some journalists will stoop to make a buck. That is why I am angry. There is nothing new here and the "scandal" part of the title is a complete fabrication just to sell the book.
He wasn't busted. He had to call USADA several times just to get them to take notice because his results on PED's were so mediocre and then sanction him. This just stinks of a sham.

Seriously? Kids take steroids simply to look good on the beach. College students take stuff like Ritalin to do well on tests. The huge stretch is thinking that lower Cat. racers would not dope.