Did you ever dope?

[kielbasa]

Is it only me or does it seem like the regulars who haven't posted here have something to hide? All the anti-doping anger could be the result of a lot of guilt.

 

[bridgeman]

Never doped, but I have had many dreams where I could ride away at will, and my wife would wake me up because I was gasping for air.

There was a guy a while back that doped and wrote about his sensations.

 

[Berzin]

Is it only me or does it seem like the regulars who haven't posted here have something to hide? All the anti-doping anger could be the result of a lot of guilt.

With all the duplicitous, hypocritical and dishonest crap going on in the world, I don't think a little doping to enjoy a group ride or a CAT-3 race is a big deal, but it would depend on the substances being used.

It's when it's taken too far and used as a barometer to gauge one's dishonest effort against others who ride without doping and who don't know you dope that it annoys me.

 

[Animal]

Never doped, but I have had many dreams where I could ride away at will, and my wife would wake me up because I was gasping for air.

Dreaming about being a god in your chosen sport! I get that too.

My original sport was rock climbing, and I have this recurring dream that I'm cranking off one arm pull-ups with ease. So disappointing to wake up to being average!

 

[sars1981]

Had a spliff about 45 mins ago.

 

[ianfra]

Yes, not for competition, and for a very short time.

Also experimented and obtained valuable information.

Put it to you this way. Anyone who has doped for competition can't be trusted to be clean now PERIOD.

If you're a coffee drinker and a morning rider, go for a day without your joe and ride, and you'll understand completely.

Anyone who isn't middle aged and thinks a late 30's pro can compete with a mid 20's pro who both have the same capacities, forget it.

The wheels of justice are the only factors which can halt this silliness.

Absolute bunkum. Many people from all walks of life have done things that were wrong, then faced genuine remorse and changed. I know one person who was a junkie: Now he is clean (and has been for 20 years) and works with junkies. His past experience is invaluable now. My mother was an alcoholic but has not drunk any alcohol for 35 years. I met one person who served jail time as an 18 year old for theft. He is now a professional carer and as honest as the day is long. What arrogance to say that people cannot reform! Are you Mr Perfect or what!

 

[Alpechraxler]

Well i don't race and i'm astmatic so i use Symbicort which is not allowed. Sometimes also Ventolin on top of it. Sometimes i think it also boost my performance a bit, espacially in times when i'm symptom free. But there are also times where the asthma symptoms hit me during or post ride even with medication. I could swear that i bulk up faster in the gym since i take it..

Honestly i'm interested in trying EPO once. Think i'm going to train some more ride up a nice mountain taking the time, then shoot up Epo stick to some Fragmin for a week and then go for the mountain again.

 

[craig1985]

I would say no myself, or at least that I've knowingly have done so. TBH I don't have the means ATM to go order it online and even if I did, it wouldn't look believable as too many people around here know me in some capacity, and who I consider friends, so I doubt I could look them in the eye. It says on my licence form that I can be tested anytime by Cycling Australia, but at the level I ride and race at, it would be pointless for CA to go and test me (although if it could get me out of work for a little bit, then I won't mind).

At the level I race it would be pointless for me to dope as I know I won't make any serious money out the sport. Maybe it would be different if I was racing for Barbot-Efapel at the Volta a Portugal on 1,000 euros a month and I've been dropped on the Alto da Sra. da Graça on a 38 degree day.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Absolute bunkum. Many people from all walks of life have done things that were wrong, then faced genuine remorse and changed. I know one person who was a junkie: Now he is clean (and has been for 20 years) and works with junkies. His past experience is invaluable now. My mother was an alcoholic but has not drunk any alcohol for 35 years. I met one person who served jail time as an 18 year old for theft. He is now a professional carer and as honest as the day is long. What arrogance to say that people cannot reform! Are you Mr Perfect or what!

Yes.

I don't mind the odd refill from time to time to help me get through 25km ride on the weekend.

 

[Benotti69]

Yes....

Liar! everyone knows Cadel Evans is mr perfect

I don't mind the odd refill from time to time to help me get through 25km ride on the weekend.....

....as Evans said to the BMC soigneur

 

[jamiephillips]

I try to dope as often as possible. It's always recreational though!!

 

[LarryBudMelman]

Absolute bunkum. Many people from all walks of life have done things that were wrong, then faced genuine remorse and changed. I know one person who was a junkie: Now he is clean (and has been for 20 years) and works with junkies. His past experience is invaluable now. My mother was an alcoholic but has not drunk any alcohol for 35 years. I met one person who served jail time as an 18 year old for theft. He is now a professional carer and as honest as the day is long. What arrogance to say that people cannot reform! Are you Mr Perfect or what!

Where did I say this?

"People" here very specifically are Pro cyclists who get paid to be competitive.

You think Levi can be competitive with TJ? Ok, whatever...

 

[Martin318is]

If you knew you were one of the strong ones and had a shot at winning the race, would you do it?

while that sick? If I thought I had a chance while that sick then that would be an interesting situation. I'll give you the first instinctive honest answer: If it was 'just another race' then no, I wouldn't. If however it was a goal race for my season then... I .... dont.... know....

the reality is that I would NEVER want to win a race or even place in a race that way. I think I would only ever take decongestants for an illness that way so I could still participate in an event I had been looking forward to.

 

[180mmCrank]

Not quite the topic but...

Unless you have actually been in the situation it is difficult if not impossible to predict how you would behave. I am not sure many if any of us are really qualified to speculate, if we were put inthe situation that many of these professional riders are in, would we dope or not? Fun to speculate.

And back on topic...

Ibuprofen (advil) is about close as I ever got to doping. So no.

T

 

[Nearly]

Does 4 weeks climbing in the Himalayas count? Untouchable at sea level on the bike for 2-3 weeks immediately after that.

Mind you there may also have been a fitness spike in the mix

 

[kielbasa]

Does 4 weeks climbing in the Himalayas count? Untouchable at sea level on the bike for 2-3 weeks immediately after that.

Mind you there may also have been a fitness spike in the mix

Well, sounds like doing a taper in the Himalayas is just what the doctor ordered. Which brings us to a discussion of using hypobaric chambers to dope.

 

[Swede1]

Does 4 weeks climbing in the Himalayas count? Untouchable at sea level on the bike for 2-3 weeks immediately after that.

Mind you there may also have been a fitness spike in the mix

I want to do that some day! Does "climbing" mean on the bike or hiking? or both?

 

[ianfra]

Pro Cyclists are people. Miller Doped and now he is clean. And having gone through his experience he is a great voice to have in the peloton as it cleans itself up. I guess he is not the only one. You can do something wrong and then be full of remorse and go to extraordinary lengths to undo the damage. Off course, as in all walks of life, there are those that never learn but you cannot make these types of blanket statements unless you have solid evidence!

 

[ultimobici]

Where did I say this?

"People" here very specifically are Pro cyclists who get paid to be competitive.

You think Levi can be competitive with TJ? Ok, whatever...

Problem is you cannot compare two riders' road performances in a clinical way. They may have differing conditions to contend with, one may be in a better frame of mind so can concentrate better, etc, etc....

I have a friend who can out climb me but, over the overall course I will catch him 9 times out of 10 due to better handling & descending skills. If we're on narrow roads and I am ahead of him he can be physically blocked from passing me quite easily. He's the fitter rider by far, but as long as I don't gift him too much time on the climbs I can match him.

 

[Anonymous]

Absolute bunkum. Many people from all walks of life have done things that were wrong, then faced genuine remorse and changed. I know one person who was a junkie: Now he is clean (and has been for 20 years) and works with junkies. His past experience is invaluable now. My mother was an alcoholic but has not drunk any alcohol for 35 years. I met one person who served jail time as an 18 year old for theft. He is now a professional carer and as honest as the day is long. What arrogance to say that people cannot reform! Are you Mr Perfect or what!

Bob Dylan said "people don’t do what they believe in, they just do what’s most convenient, then they repent"

 

[Midnightfright]

Bob Dylan said "people don’t do what they believe in, they just do what’s most convenient, then they repent"

And if Bob Dylan says it then it is true

 

[WillemS]

That's what I've thought when I read that. I guess some take the genius artist as some kind of guru

As to the possibility if people may change, I think they may. Not all will change, but we know from research that the frontal parts of the brain are late to develop, full maturation may take until the age of 25 (there are, however, huge individual differences and some indication of gender differences). Those frontal parts are exactly the parts used for (long-term) planning, are implicated to have a roll in ethical considerations and evaluating possible future consequences. Thus, at young age, people might not make the same decisions as later on, when they contemplate things differently.

This is what plays a role in the lack of future consideration of adolescents and the inability to see possible negative consequences of behavior in childhood.

I think most parents will recognize this situation: Your child is running around wildly through a room and you're warning them over and over again to stop running as some vase may fall down because of their running. As they ignore you, they indeed knock down the vase and you get mad at them. Then they say: I didn't do it on purpose! Really! I didn't. And they seem genuinely surprised by the fact they knocked down the vase. And you know what, they may really be. They do not fully recognize the possible danger, are neurally unable to do that fully. (Of course you can learn children the fact that running around in a room with vases may cause problems, but that's learning an instance, a rule, not learning the ability or tendency to contemplate over future consequences of action.)

The same holds for adolescents/young adults in sports. They may do something stupid, because they're young (their brain didn't mature fully). And they may never do that again when they're older or learned the consequences the hard way. As cyclists become under pressure when, on average, their brain isn't fully matured, we should have a professional support system to guide them and help them make good decisions. (For some people this maturing can last until around age 28, that also holds for cyclists).

(I am not saying they shouldn't be responsible for the choices they made, I am just saying that when they are older, they may make different choices. Something that some people will call a personality change (which I don't think it is).)

 

[Fausto's Schnauzer]

And if Bob Dylan says it then it is true

Ah, but did Dylan ever dope? Based on his performance at the Greek Theater in 1977 (or was it '78?) my guess is "Yeah, prodigiously."

 

[Kwibus]

Every sport or game I've done I never used doping and I never cheated. I hate it.

 

[Irish2009]

Never doped, Never cheated.