Did you ever dope?

[Wallace]

I used to get stoned with my cycling buddies before winter rides in New England--somehow riding fixed-gear miles on in icy roads with totally numb fingers, ears and toes was actually fun after a few bong-hits.

Does that count?

 

[nighttrain]

I have. I played football on scholarship and "doing a cycle" was more like punching in on the time clock.

After graduating college, I started cycling for healthier living and fell in love with the sport. Took up racing for fun, joined a great local team where I made lifelong friends, and never contemplated taking anything that would ruin the lifestyle for me.

 

[usedtobefast]

Hey, let's start a club.

the club "Test Beaters"? or the club "NeverPos"

 

[usedtobefast]

I used to get stoned with my cycling buddies before winter rides in New England--somehow riding fixed-gear miles on in icy roads with totally numb fingers, ears and toes was actually fun after a few bong-hits.

Does that count?

counts as fun,imho

 

[Midnightfright]

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."

Bob Dylan is the most tested musician of all time. He's never tested positive! His success is down working harder than everyone else and scouting out all the venues before hand. It's a beautiful business I just wish you could believe.

 

[danjo007]

now we've established that nearly all of you have not doped, yet all seem to be experts when it comes to know who has doped?
LOL at you all!

 

[Anonymous]

I did cocaine once for two and a half years.

 

[Animal]

now we've established that nearly all of you have not doped, yet all seem to be experts when it comes to know who has doped?
LOL at you all!

Translation:

Shut up! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shaddap! Shhhhhhh.. Shhhhhhh.. tra la la la la la.

 

[Benotti69]

now we've established that nearly all of you have not doped, yet all seem to be experts when it comes to know who has doped?
LOL at you all!

So that theory also works for the police and judiciaries who are not eminently qualified experts to judge those who have broken the law unless they themselves have also broken the law.

 

[compete_clean]

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.

What disturbs me about this post is it shows just how much the needle has moved since I raced. There was time when we thought that a guy was a complete tool/degenerate if he had to dope to be provincial road race champ. And that was stimulants - not hormones. We could understand someone who was riding full time or going to Europe to race but doping for anything short of national/pro races seemed laughable.

 

[Krebs cycle]

Is this study published? I would be interested to see what the results were. What form of consent was involved. Just curious because of the health risks associated with EPO.

see
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=ashenden parisotto

Informed consent was given of course, and a requirement of the study was that hct stayed below 50%.

 

[Krebs cycle]

If it was the same EPO detection study that I am personally aware of all competing cyclists (who signed an undertaking not to compete during the trial) that were in the blind EPO group, like yourself, became very much aware from their much improved performances. Placebo effects do not work to temporarily trash personal best TT times by huge margins.

In these clinical studies hct was kept at 50% or below for safety as the object was to prove the efficacy and reliability of the EPO detection test not to prove EPO provides ergogenic benefits.

Beats 6 hours on a bike every day when you can be out partying!

haha what do you think the main topic of conversation was amongst the participants?....

Are you on it? Oh I'm definitely on it.... nah I'm not sure.... what about you? etc etc

Anyway, you're right the main aim of the study was to investigate the detection method, however, VO2max (and PPO) was measured on numerous occasions and this data was published. Ashenden has also written about the comparison with altitude training here...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11695504

So whilst the main aim was not to examine performance, it most certainly was a variable of interest.

 

[doperhopper]

Bob Dylan is the most tested musician of all time. He's never tested positive! His success is down working harder than everyone else and scouting out all the venues before hand. It's a beautiful business I just wish you could believe.

though he should have gone for higher-cadence beat to become 7-time woodstock winner

 

[Berzin]

What disturbs me about this post is it shows just how much the needle has moved since I raced. There was time when we thought that a guy was a complete tool/degenerate if he had to dope to be provincial road race champ. And that was stimulants - not hormones.

Times have changed. People with disposable income are driving the PED market in the states, fueled by vanity, a monumental sense of entitlement and the desire to turn back the hands of time.

This is a societal issue, and not just relegated to the ranks of no-talent amateur cyclists who want to accomplish feats they cannot attain naturally.

What I find abhorrent is the attitudes of dopers who throw their accomplishments in others' faces as if they had any kind of natural talent, or as if their feats during the last group ride were the results of "hard work" and nothing else. This happens on the micro level in CAT-whatever races all over the US.

And the fact of the matter is, there are many cyclists who don't dope only because they cannot access the drugs, not out of some contrived sporting element of fair play that only exists in some people's minds.

We could understand someone who was riding full time or going to Europe to race but doping for anything short of national/pro races seemed laughable.

Laughable to you but true. By the way, you'd have a better chance of finding Bigfoot than knowing which one of your riding buddies is riding with a testosterone patch on his arm. The veil of secrecy can only be revealed if you are one of the insiders, and that is a hermetically sealed group for sure, for a variety of reasons.

 

[Hors-Catégorie]

I cannot fathom to any degree what so ever, why an amateur cyclist at club level would dope. I know it occurs though. As I have heard many stories. Mostly about steroid use.

 

[Berzin]

I cannot fathom to any degree what so ever, why an amateur cyclist at club level would dope. I know it occurs though. As I have heard many stories. Mostly about steroid use.

Because cycling isn't like other sports. In team sports, you win AND you lose.

In cycling, it's mostly about losing. For many riders, it's ALWAYS about losing.

And cycling has the tendency to expose one's weaknesses in a manner that is about as glaring as walking the aisles of a supermarket completely naked. Some riders cannot take the fact that they are not gifted at anything, so the leap to artificially enhance one's performance is an easy one to make. Especially if the person has self-esteem issues.

There is also the desire to see what it feels like to be fit and fast, to feel what it's like when other riders talk about you at the bike shop about how well you're going on those ego-boosting group rides/hammerfests.

 

[Martin318is]

Look, the thing is that there is more than one type of 'doping'. Obviously there is outright doping for performance (steroids, EPO, etc, etc) but there is also just plain taking banned substances (be they masking agents or mild analgesics or whatever).

When looking at whether a lower level amatuer rider dopes, don't just focus on whether they are motivated to dope for outright sporting performance. The reality is that many people walking around the city near you would regularly take stuff that is prohibited for athletes.

The really interesting question - I think - is how ethical is it for those people to then enter races knowing that they have taken a substance that would be on the prohibited list.

It really breaks down into "Have you ever taken PEDS?" but also, "Have you ever knowingly taken banned substances?"

My answer to the first question is 'No chance' but my earlier answer to the second question was 'Yes, I have'

 

[riobonito92]

Some time ago I rode clean as a domestique on an amateur team whose leaders doped. So, I paced, fetched water for and generally protected guys I knew for a fact were doped (and quite heavily). Of course, when they won I shared in the glory and the money.

Was this cheating on my part?

 

[jordan5000]

Some time ago I rode clean as a domestique on an amateur team whose leaders doped. So, I paced, fetched water for and generally protected guys I knew for a fact were doped (and quite heavily). Of course, when they won I shared in the glory and the money.

Was this cheating on my part?

It may be cheating, but you didn't dope.

 

[Sciatic]

<<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.>>

Actually, except for the student posters, almost all of us have been in the same situation as the pro peloton...in that THEY DOPED FOR WORK.

So how many of you have doped for your job?

Taken enought Nyquil that you could get through a day at the office even though you should have been home in bed, and risked infecting co-workers by your actions?

Me. Taken 5 mg of valium before a few professional conference presentations when my anxiety was off the charts...taken sudafed when I wasn't sure if I needed it because couldn't afford to have a sinus headache (I have chronic sinus issues) on a day with tonloads of work to finish...and of course, coffee when I wasn't thirsty for it (l love the taste of coffee) but needed it to stay awake through the afternoon

 

[auscyclefan94]

I did cocaine once for two and a half years.

Experimentation? Got into wrong crowd? Just interested?

Did you feel the need to try it again?

 

[ElChingon]

Team/Club The Non-Negatives

 

[Krebs cycle]

I did cocaine once for two and a half years.

Ok just clarifying something here, are you saying that you did ONE continuous cocaine bender that lasted 2 and half years, or you did cocaine many times on and off for a period of 2 and half years? Impressed that you are still able to write a single coherent sentence if it was the former lol!!!

 

[Deagol]

In cycling, it's mostly about losing. For many riders, it's ALWAYS about losing.

Best quote I've seen in a long time


Edit: I've never doped, but I have never been pro- only raced as collegiate and amatuer.

Also, I hate needles. So that's one of several reasons I would never make it as a pro cyclist.

 

[rickshaw]

Right now, as I write

There's a bottle of HCTZ on the desk in front of me, which I have started taking daily. Its a diuretic for treating high blood pressure. Also used as a masking agent and a banned substance ( so I've read). If I was 35 years younger, AND a licensed bike racer I could be in trouble.