Bobridge - ugh...

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Australian cycling champion Jack Bobridge charged with drug dealing

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Jack Heisenberg breaking bad

 

[Benotti69]

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

 

[ExRower]

Shame. He had huge talent.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Alle tieners zeggen ja tegen MDMA

 

[thehog]

Re:

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

Agreed. Once retired many pro cyclist keep up old habits.

 

[Catwhoorg]

Idiot, and clearly the powers have a lot of evidence against him based on the length of the investigation.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

Just goes to show that these guys waste some of the best years of their lives chasing after a dream that doesn't pay off for most of them. They have nothing to fall back on because the vast majority don't attend university and they have no trade that they were taught other than cycling. Some of them are bound to take the easy way to earn a few bucks...

 

[bigcog]

Re: Re:

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

Just goes to show that these guys waste some of the best years of their lives chasing after a dream that doesn't pay off for most of them. They have nothing to fall back on because the vast majority don't attend university and they have no trade that they were taught other than cycling. Some of them are bound to take the easy way to earn a few bucks...

Don't worry once automation / machine learning really takes hold there will be no point going to university for the vast majority, unless you are a high end math/comp science nerd, so they won't be alone :lol:

 

[absolutely_not]

real sad story...

and well said irondan

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

Just goes to show that these guys waste some of the best years of their lives chasing after a dream that doesn't pay off for most of them. They have nothing to fall back on because the vast majority don't attend university and they have no trade that they were taught other than cycling. Some of them are bound to take the easy way to earn a few bucks...

All to true and just goes to show what a sad state of affairs pro sport is in, once it's done with you then you're on the scrap heap with basically no skills. All more the reason why bodies like the UCI should be advocating education of it's athletes, the Drapac Pat's Veg team is the type of thing I'm talking about as an example of something that could work http://drapacpatsveg.com/education/

 

[thehog]

Re:

real sad story...

and well said irondan

Reminds me of Gary Neiwand and Scott Millar and most of the male 2000's Australian swim team. All went the same way. So many drugs and sleeping pills they never get off the gear.

 

[Bolder]

I'm going to make an assumption that may not have any basis in truth...but if he did in fact retire because of rheumatoid arthritis, he was probably in a lot of pain and may have self-medicated with various substances. True molly isn't really a painkiller but once you start with illegal or off-label use, there are many people out there enabling you. Sad story -- I don't think any of us rejoice in reading something like this.

 

[Tonton]

MDMA is ecstasy...nothing to do with his condition. But a lot to do with what Irondan stated: the guy had enough saved to open a gym, probably not much more, started selling dope...sad. Time to face the music.

 

[pmcg76]

Bobridge had a rep as a wild child even when he was a pro. Word was he was more interested in partying than training, he was viewed as a massive talent who was sadly wasting that talent. Based on that, I am not exactly shocked to find that he is involved in selling party drugs. This seems more related to his personality than anything cycling might have done to him.

 

[spetsa]

MDMA is ecstasy...nothing to do with his condition. But a lot to do with what Irondan stated: the guy had enough saved to open a gym, probably not much more, started selling dope...sad. Time to face the music.

I think that most people would be shocked at how little money a pro cyclist, even of his success level, actually makes. While racing, costs of life are low relative to the level of glamour and fame. When retired, that reverses itself quickly. It also takes some level of OCD to maintain the life necessary to race at that level, and racing makes it easier to manage the condition. When the bike is gone, it can be tough to manage. This is not just cycling, but much of high level sport. Sad to hear that he ended up where he is. Hope he keeps his thoughts positive. He is plenty young enough to get things straightened out. Good luck to him.

 

[the delgados]

Yet another example of why pro riders need to form a union.
There should be a structure in place that not only serves the needs of active riders, but those who have left the sport.
I'm not going to come down on someone who sells/uses drugs. Pretty much everyone uses drugs of some kind, and I hate that people like Bobridge are seen as an outcast. Nothing wrong with using the droogs.
All best to Bobridge.

 

[Jspear]

Yet another example of why pro riders need to form a union.
There should be a structure in place that not only serves the needs of active riders, but those who have left the sport.
I'm not going to come down on someone who sells/uses drugs. Pretty much everyone uses drugs of some kind, and I hate that people like Bobridge are seen as an outcast. Nothing wrong with using the droogs.
All best to Bobridge.

lol that's a pretty blanket statement. You sure about that? I'm thinking of someone who was run over by a car after he attacked a man (who he didn't know and for no reason) because of....drugs.

 

[hrotha]

The vast majority of riders manage not to become drug dealers when they retire.

 

[Benotti69]

Re: Re:

Seems a logical career path after sport if you ask me...............

Just goes to show that these guys waste some of the best years of their lives chasing after a dream that doesn't pay off for most of them. They have nothing to fall back on because the vast majority don't attend university and they have no trade that they were taught other than cycling. Some of them are bound to take the easy way to earn a few bucks...

6 hours training a day ( i think that's what Armstrong said) leaves plenty of time to do a sports science degree if you ask me or other courses.

He aint the 1st rider or last to end up on the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[Benotti69]

Re:

The vast majority of riders manage not to become drug dealers when they retire.

Some manage to produce their own line of bikes too..........aint that right Eddy.

 

[May0maniac]

Pretty sad, the guy was always a bit of a troublemaker and had problems with alcohol and his mental health, his rheumatoid arthritis didn't help either.
It looked like he had actually changed after becoming a father, but apparently that was not the chase and now he'll probably spend some time in prison instead of being a somewhat decent father for his daughter, I feel sorry for his family.

 

[the delgados]

Yet another example of why pro riders need to form a union.
There should be a structure in place that not only serves the needs of active riders, but those who have left the sport.
I'm not going to come down on someone who sells/uses drugs. Pretty much everyone uses drugs of some kind, and I hate that people like Bobridge are seen as an outcast. Nothing wrong with using the droogs.
All best to Bobridge.

lol that's a pretty blanket statement. You sure about that? I'm thinking of someone who was run over by a car after he attacked a man (who he didn't know and for no reason) because of....drugs.

Yeah, I'm sure about that.
Drugs should be used in moderation. I do drugs all the time, but I don't run people over or hurt anyone in any way. Key word is moderation. Adults should know what they can and cannot handle. All else is pure bliss.

Also, we're all aware that most riders "manage not to become drug dealers when they retire."
That's not the point I was trying to make.
The point is that pro cyclists do not have a union to protect their interests, both on and off the bike.
Just because Bobridge allegedly sold drugs doesn't mean his colleagues haven't fallen into hard times after being unceremoniously dismissed from their former team.

 

[Tonton]

I disagree. We're not talking about being busted for a few grams of weed here.

It seems like it was a long investigation, that he's no small fish. We all make choices in life. Now Bobrige has to live with the consequences.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

But a lot of riders have been hit by hard times, and the number of riders who fall by the wayside compared to the number of riders who end up like Aitor González, Thierry Claveyrolat, Luca Benedetti or Alfonso Flórez Ortiz are very few, and there's usually some circumstance or explanation specific to that rider's situation or personality that makes them more susceptible to the situation they found themselves in.

Without knowing more about how we got from "Jack Bobridge, pro bike rider" to "Jack Bobridge, drug dealer" it's hard to say what those reasons could be in his case, but while he sure isn't the first and won't be the last, the number of riders who fall on hard times is so massive compared to the number of riders who get into this kind of situation that it's hard to argue that it's a systemic issue with bike racing and how the riders are organized, rather than an issue with Bobridge himself that we obviously don't know the details of at this point.