Todays idiot masters fattie doper

[Cookster15]

People with normal size egos don't keep racing compulsively and obsessively so far past their youth

No doubt this is true of a small minority. But most keep racing because they enjoy it and it’s good for your health as you age (assuming you don’t crash). At least that’s why I did - not because I had an oversized ego?

But point taken with a large enough sample size no doubt you would get some willing to dope to win masters races.

 

[smaryka]

I stopped about 2007 due to family commitments. But I never really suspected the top guys at our club of doping and certainly not blood doping like we know the pros dabble in.

This was my point. That's nearly 20 years ago you stopped, and right before road racing (in the UK where I am) went mainstream. Have you taken a look at the scene in recent years when forming your opinion that it's both crazy and difficult to dope to win master's races? The Overton window has shifted considerably.

 

[red_flanders]

Masters racers, especially at the pointy end, have the biggest egos of anyone. People with normal size egos don't keep racing compulsively and obsessively so far past their youth. So yes of course the egotistical types are willing to enhance. I'm pretty sure the risk from the drug is less than the inherent risk of crit racing anyway.

They also tend to have the financial resources.

 

[ColonelKidneyBeans]

EPO in prefilled syringes is often the brand name Eprex, but in the U.S. that isn't used as much in medical settings (which perhaps makes it less available) because most insurance doesn't cover it. But if someone is going to bother to dope with EPO, it makes much more sense to buy the ampules and learn to inject themselves, which any diabetic can show them how to do. That way they can do smaller dose more often, as you would expect a rider to do. The ampules come in 10,000, 20,000, 40,000 units. I believe the same would be true for the pre-filled auto syringes so likely too big a one-time dose for doping.

I'm unfamiliar with US healtcare, in the country i live and work the various brands of EPO and its derivative are mostly available in prefilled syringe/autopen for ambulatory purpose (with the smallest dosage being 500 UI), vials are seldom seen outside of the hospital. Everything is covered by state sponsored healtcare for a small out of pocket fee.

But yes while it requires a bit more "technique" than IM subcutaneous injections are not that hard. The vials are good for 7 days after the first use, so they might end up being pretty wasteful for a microdosing regimen, unless multpile athletes are sharing.

 

[Sciatic]

I'm unfamiliar with US healtcare, in the country i live and work the various brands of EPO and its derivative are mostly available in prefilled syringe/autopen for ambulatory purpose (with the smallest dosage being 500 UI), vials are seldom seen outside of the hospital. Everything is covered by state sponsored healtcare for a small out of pocket fee.

It would seem to be easier to resell prefilled syringes on black market --or to sell any prescription drug that is picked up at a pharmacy. But in the U.S., patients get EPO injections in their doc's office. Standard Insurance almost never covers pharmacy prescriptions of EPO, but it does cover in-office injections. The same goes for Medicare, the national insurance coverage for over 65. So I have to drive to the clinic once a week to get it. So even if, let's say, I needed some extra $ and decided to skip a week and sell my dose to someone, I couldn't. I don't know if that changes the availability of EPO for doping here--as it probably just comes from abroad.

 

[Sciatic]

And . . . another one (apologies if this is a retread): https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FvnXvsRdU/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[ColonelKidneyBeans]

It would seem to be easier to resell prefilled syringes on black market --or to sell any prescription drug that is picked up at a pharmacy. But in the U.S., patients get EPO injections in their doc's office. Standard Insurance almost never covers pharmacy prescriptions of EPO, but it does cover in-office injections. The same goes for Medicare, the national insurance coverage for over 65. So I have to drive to the clinic once a week to get it. So even if, let's say, I needed some extra $ and decided to skip a week and sell my dose to someone, I couldn't. I don't know if that changes the availability of EPO for doping here--as it probably just comes from abroad.

Funny how the different systems works, here the doctor would ask you "are you comfortable injecting the product yourself?" if he thinks you're capable of it, and show you how it's done if the answer is "yes", if it's "no" he would write a prescription for a nurse to come to your home when needed, with the state healthcare paying the majority of the bill.

It's on the doctor and the pharmacist to make sure you're taking the medication as directed, which is in their best interest because when it comes to medications that are relatively expensive and/or prone to misuse like EPO the state insurance might come to them asking "why is your patient taking twice as much as needed? That doesn't seems right"

But they are ways to game the system, for instance a doctor could write "not to be paid by the state insurance" on the prescription and it will (mostly) go under the radar, it then falls on the pharmacist to asses if there's something nefarious going on and to refuse to deliver the product if he thinks so.