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"Pretty Boy Floyd.

Jul 29, 2010
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Gotta say, I'm no fan of cheaters and liars, but it is an interesting moral dilemna.

Myerson mentions 3 dirty cyclists (Floyd, LA, Tyler) and 3 clean cyclists (Pate, Creed, TJohnson). Then he mentions that the later 3 chose not to cheat, "and now in a cleaner era, are riding at the highest level".

Ok, so what's their reward for that? Creed got caught up w/ Rock and now rides for Type 1. Johnson bumps b/w road and cyclocross. Pate is at Garmin but probably on the mid-lower end of Vaughters' payscale.

So you've got the clean guys, probably making $50-120k. And youv'e got the dirty guys, each whom I'm sure at least walked away w/ $1M (Tyler, several $M; Lance, oodles).

So that's the choice: do I play it like it's a game, or do I take the high road and keep my integrity?

It's a tough call. Not sure which I'd do in the same situation. The problem becomes when you've lied so much and can't go back. Maybe Ullrich did it right. Dope, win, make big money. Then when pinched and up against it, don't fight it, don't deny it. Just retire...
 
Jun 19, 2009
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NashbarShorts said:
Gotta say, I'm no fan of cheaters and liars, but it is an interesting moral dilemna.

Myerson mentions 3 dirty cyclists (Floyd, LA, Tyler) and 3 clean cyclists (Pate, Creed, TJohnson). Then he mentions that the later 3 chose not to cheat, "and now in a cleaner era, are riding at the highest level".

Ok, so what's their reward for that? Creed got caught up w/ Rock and now rides for Type 1. Johnson bumps b/w road and cyclocross. Pate is at Garmin but probably on the mid-lower end of Vaughters' payscale.

So you've got the clean guys, probably making $50-120k. And youv'e got the dirty guys, each whom I'm sure at least walked away w/ $1M (Tyler, several $M; Lance, oodles).

So that's the choice: do I play it like it's a game, or do I take the high road and keep my integrity?

It's a tough call. Not sure which I'd do in the same situation. The problem becomes when you've lied so much and can't go back. Maybe Ullrich did it right. Dope, win, make big money. Then when pinched and up against it, don't fight it, don't deny it. Just retire...

Again playing the Old card: your integrity it the only thing you can own 'til you die. Don't sell it cheap if you sell it at all. Anything less than a world were all of your family, friends and their generations live well and appreciate you for who you are is too cheap a price. That's priceless to those trying to count.
 
Jun 9, 2009
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Like the article or not, it is not accurate to suggest that Adam is not a bright person. He is plenty smart, and plenty funny, as well.

Adam stayed in a house with me for one winter of training in Florida. He was a lot smarter than most of the students I was in graduate school with at the time.

For one, I enjoyed the article he wrote.

Sure, he couldn't play the trumpet very well, but he is one heck of a body piercer. A pro cyclist at the entry level had to have a supplemental income. He chose to turn my home into a piercing studio. I don't think I will ever forget the look on my friend's face when he skewered her nipple with a huge needle, twice!
 
May 26, 2010
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NashbarShorts said:
Gotta say, I'm no fan of cheaters and liars, but it is an interesting moral dilemna.

Myerson mentions 3 dirty cyclists (Floyd, LA, Tyler) and 3 clean cyclists (Pate, Creed, TJohnson). Then he mentions that the later 3 chose not to cheat, "and now in a cleaner era, are riding at the highest level".

Ok, so what's their reward for that? Creed got caught up w/ Rock and now rides for Type 1. Johnson bumps b/w road and cyclocross. Pate is at Garmin but probably on the mid-lower end of Vaughters' payscale.

So you've got the clean guys, probably making $50-120k. And youv'e got the dirty guys, each whom I'm sure at least walked away w/ $1M (Tyler, several $M; Lance, oodles).

So that's the choice: do I play it like it's a game, or do I take the high road and keep my integrity?

It's a tough call. Not sure which I'd do in the same situation. The problem becomes when you've lied so much and can't go back. Maybe Ullrich did it right. Dope, win, make big money. Then when pinched and up against it, don't fight it, don't deny it. Just retire...

Not many Ullrich's out there that made his kind of money? 190 riders started this years TdF, how many on PEDs will make the money Ullrich made? 5 in the top 10 on GC, maybe!

Read about Stephen Swart, raced for USPS, from NZ, retired after a career went back to NZ and was not set for life.

Decided to tell all about his PED use, caused a storm in NZ, when asked by his wife why did he have to tell after he was finished cycling. Because he wanted too, and it made him restore some of his dignity.

Landis went the route for Ullrich and look at him now? LA is going to have his legend tarnished for ever whether he is proved to have doped or not and will it have been worth it. Deep down will he able to look inside and say i am not a cheat. I dont think so.
 
Swart rode on Motorola vs USPS, but same diff really.

I feel this whole doping thing is helping society at large by exposing the santa claus phenomena of how corrupt the status quo is at large. Things aint as they seem. We dope our athletes to smash records, we spray our crops with carcinogens, we manipulate the banking system to keep the 3rd world making our stuff for cheap..Eventually it will all collapse and we will go back to basics and feel a lot more real and satisfied..In the mean time, lets use the system to break the system.

I really enjoy reading Adam's writings, not cos he is another vegan nutter but cos he writes like Maynard Hershon and Zap. Descriptive, passionate and from the heart.
 
Jul 27, 2010
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durianrider said:
Swart rode on Motorola vs USPS, but same diff really.

I feel this whole doping thing is helping society at large by exposing the santa claus phenomena of how corrupt the status quo is at large. Things aint as they seem. We dope our athletes to smash records, we spray our crops with carcinogens, we manipulate the banking system to keep the 3rd world making our stuff for cheap..Eventually it will all collapse and we will go back to basics and feel a lot more real and satisfied..In the mean time, lets use the system to break the system.

I really enjoy reading Adam's writings, not cos he is another vegan nutter but cos he writes like Maynard Hershon and Zap. Descriptive, passionate and from the heart.

Adam Myerson certainly isn't a fool, you are correct. But do i agree with him? Well the only thing I really agree with is shaking Floyd's hand. Why? Not because I think he is the beacon who is helping to burn down babylon...but because, despite his many evident issues, and the choices he has made and what I think motivated those choices....I really cannot bring myself to treat anyone as a Pariah. I pity Floyd...I genuinely do. And i worry for his well being in the future. I would hate to see this end up as some macabre tragedy. So i would shake his hand, yes....heck i would even race with him. And i would say to him, "be honest with yourself and with other people and you will be a lot more at peace"
 
Aug 11, 2009
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durianrider said:
I feel this whole doping thing is helping society at large by exposing the santa claus phenomena of how corrupt the status quo is at large. Things aint as they seem. We dope our athletes to smash records, we spray our crops with carcinogens, we manipulate the banking system to keep the 3rd world making our stuff for cheap..Eventually it will all collapse and we will go back to basics and feel a lot more real and satisfied..In the mean time, lets use the system to break the system.

Thanks for the revolutionary idealist sentiment. I'd be proud to one day have a teenager express the same before growing wiser and hardened by the world. As for what will "eventually" happen: we will most likely find new people to lie to and exploit, just like we always have. Why? Because it's really easy to do and it works. Everybody wants to be sold the silver bullet solution, whether it's a cancer-defying superhuman warrior for good or a vegan diet to defeat all of our health and environmental problems.