Another Canadian Cyclist dopes

[D-Queued]

Dave,

What have we done?!?!

https://twitter.com/willthespill102/...95587726716929

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What have we done?

We have helped the young lad gain fame beyond what misguided Tweets accomplished.

I'm glad you captured those Tweets, though, as they are a great example of the pot calling the kettle black. Yet another spin on the Carl Lewis doping strategy.

Dave.

 

[Random Direction]

What have we done?

We have helped the young lad gain fame beyond what misguided Tweets could

Dave.

This could be fun. Dude seems just the sort to tell CCES who supplied him, who enabled him and perhaps finally the seedy underbelly of cycling here will be exposed. It was there in the 80s when I was a junior and the same guys are still sitting behind the scenes pulling the puppet strings.

 

[DirtyWorks]

This could be fun. Dude seems just the sort to tell CCES who supplied him, who enabled him and perhaps finally the seedy underbelly of cycling here will be exposed. It was there in the 80s when I was a junior and the same guys are still sitting behind the scenes pulling the puppet strings.

I am part way through the long-form report from Canadian Cycling released earlier this year. The summary published has almost nothing to do with the long-form report.

http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races14/LBB-Report-doping-activity-cycling-FINAL.pdf

"Another interviewee mentioned that riders learned doping practices from other riders, especially in Europe, and from directors of North American teams.

 

[D-Queued]

I am part way through the long-form report from Canadian Cycling released earlier this year. The summary published has almost nothing to do with the long-form report.

http://www.canadiancyclist.com/races14/LBB-Report-doping-activity-cycling-FINAL.pdf

"Another interviewee mentioned that riders learned doping practices from other riders, especially in Europe, and from directors of North American teams.

Thanks for the link.

Interesting reading.

To summarize: 'Doping in Canadian cycling is pervasive with considerable awareness and access, but not highly organized or systematic and lacks an underlying doping culture; small circle (i.e. isolated groups of a few people) rather than large circle (comprehensive supply chain)'

Would you agree with that summary?

It is our view that the level of suspicion revealed in the interviews suffices to convince sporting authorities to investigate when strong suspicion arises or is reported. The number of interviewees reporting stories about doping situations should also convince the sporting authorities that some level of practice, even if isolated, exist in Canadian cycling.

Dave.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Thanks for the link.

Interesting reading.

To summarize: 'Doping in Canadian cycling is pervasive with considerable awareness and access, but not highly organized or systematic and lacks an underlying doping culture; small circle (i.e. isolated groups of a few people) rather than large circle (comprehensive supply chain)'

Would you agree with that summary?



Dave.

That's a good question. If I had a job at the federation, I would have probably written the summary as-is. They should be commended for at least producing the report. But, I'm way outside the system, so I'm reserving the ridiculous right to make all kinds of criticisms.

The supply of PED's is almost omnipresent with numerous incentives to dope still present. There's an anecdote in there about a cycling team living and doping together. That's not the same as apparently Europe, California bike shop, and South/Central America races.

Hopefully, the Canadian federation uses the report as a starting point to change some policies and practices. If not, we'll see more Canadian dopers.

 

[sniper]

good read indeed!

LOL, we have a new year challenging the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 as the year in which the culture of cycling finally changed!

interviewees also noticed that there has been a cultural shift since
1998. Whereas doping in cycling was a lot more
frequent in the past, the culture shifted and as a result, doping cases are more limited as doping is better regulated and controlled and cyclists are more aware of the risks associated with doping

 

[D-Queued]

That's a good question. If I had a job at the federation, I would have probably written the summary as-is. They should be commended for at least producing the report. But, I'm way outside the system, so I'm reserving the ridiculous right to make all kinds of criticisms.

The supply of PED's is almost omnipresent with numerous incentives to dope still present. There's an anecdote in there about a cycling team living and doping together. That's not the same as apparently Europe, California bike shop, and South/Central America races.

Hopefully, the Canadian federation uses the report as a starting point to change some policies and practices. If not, we'll see more Canadian dopers.

I was actually struggling to figure out what the simple action steps were. What policies and practices? How should they change? How would these changes flow directly from the report?

good read indeed!

LOL, we have a new year challenging the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 as the year in which the culture of cycling finally changed!

interviewees also noticed that there has been a cultural shift since 1998. Whereas doping in cycling was a lot more frequent in the past, the culture shifted and as a result, doping cases are more limited as doping is better regulated and controlled and cyclists are more aware of the risks associated with doping

I missed that. Very funny, indeed!

I suppose they are/were referring to Festina. Though, as we know, Festina simply led to an escalation in the sophistication of the arms race led by USPS/Armstrong, with the move to the masses by Fuentes and now Ferrari.

Switching subjects, I did have a minor question about consistent/inconsistent performances that they describe. (It would have been nice if they had asked the interviewees to explain this)

This is an area we often discuss or where the conventional wisdom is that doping is evidenced by one or the other - without reconciliation of the obvious dichotomy.

Personally, I often have unexplained variations in performance. Sometimes my power output isn't there, where it was even a week earlier, or I struggle to maintain or even contain HR's, etc. Is that normal, or does it suggest health (e.g. illness, overtraining, etc.) issues? If that is normal, then what is doped?

Oh, and what is it about all the red eye observations? What causes that? And, why don't these dopers just use Visine to mask it?

Dave.

 

[DirtyWorks]

I was actually struggling to figure out what the simple action steps were. What policies and practices? How should they change? How would these changes flow directly from the report?

Something the federation can control is to make anonymized testing stats available. It will give anyone that reads it an idea of what's happening in testing.
-How many missed tests are there?
-How many positives result in sanction?
-How many suspicious values?
-How many non-suspicious values?

IMO, it would serve as a proxy for integrity in the sport. But, try to tell that to any federation.

The federation needs a mechanism to at least identify these outside bad actors. I have no clue how that would work. The new WADA standards have a framework for this. But, lots of work would be required to make it fit in Canada's legal environment.

The outsize rewards of doping need to be addressed. Maybe at elite level the cyclist needs to do 'regular job' training. Something to take away the urgency of imagining only one choice.

 

[Master50]

Reaction in the Ottawa racing community (well connected on FB) on the day the new broke was swift, extensive, very critical of Will - Probably because there are a couple of talented riders from here that race with Silber. Will's stupidity puts their positions and the team's at risk.

I believe the reaction in the Montreal and Toronto communities was equally as strong.

Glad to hear someone is paying attention. Maybe it is just a BC thing about an Ontario thing? Since the sanction was announced I have not heard a word of discussion on the weekend rides and only 1 of my cycling friends has spoken of it. I should not be surprised this garnered more attention there. any press outside of the cycling press? Certainly no Globe and Mail?

Here in Victoria, Ryder and Seamus got real news time when Rasmussen let it out but domestic racers don't get any attention in the news when they are bad. Pretty much need international profile beyond their sport to get much press.
Unless it is pro sport or Hockey, nada.

 

[Oldman]

I was actually struggling to figure out what the simple action steps were. What policies and practices? How should they change? How would these changes flow directly from the report?



I missed that. Very funny, indeed!

I suppose they are/were referring to Festina. Though, as we know, Festina simply led to an escalation in the sophistication of the arms race led by USPS/Armstrong, with the move to the masses by Fuentes and now Ferrari.

Switching subjects, I did have a minor question about consistent/inconsistent performances that they describe. (It would have been nice if they had asked the interviewees to explain this)

This is an area we often discuss or where the conventional wisdom is that doping is evidenced by one or the other - without reconciliation of the obvious dichotomy.

Personally, I often have unexplained variations in performance. Sometimes my power output isn't there, where it was even a week earlier, or I struggle to maintain or even contain HR's, etc. Is that normal, or does it suggest health (e.g. illness, overtraining, etc.) issues? If that is normal, then what is doped?

Oh, and what is it about all the red eye observations? What causes that? And, why don't these dopers just use Visine to mask it?

Dave.

There were some visible BC cyclists that prospered quite suddenly in that association.
One rider dominated mountain biking and did some road work with Postal...then retired quietly. There were others including some Masters riders that friends from BC were suspicious of. That lasted into the 2000s...