My experince with drugs and blood doping

memphiscyclist

First of all, don't claim to know that Armstrong doped simply because you did and your buddies did. Bottom line is, Armstrong has been tested thousands of times and has never tested positive for anything. He was the number one most tested pro cyclist in the world and was under constant scrutiny and doping has never been proven for him...this while countless racers around him tested positive for all kinds of things. Even with so many other pros testing positive, Armstrong's performance still shined through, so even if he did dope, it only shows that he was still better overall than most of the other pros out there. As for his late entry into good tour performances, some people are just late bloomers.
You also say that losing 10 pounds doesn't make that much of a difference in the tour?? You are crazy. 10 pounds makes a huge difference in the mountains my friend, especially when most of the weight loss occurs in your upper body, as it did with Armstrong, and if you are the experienced racer you claim to be, you should know this.
You sound like the typical conspiracy theorist...we never landed on the moon, there are aliens in area 51, Kennedy was not simply shot by Oswald, etc. The simplest explanation is that Armstrong has incredible genetics, he has the perfect racer's mentality, much of which resulted from what he went through with cancer, he is very intelligent with tactics, he was lucky enough to discover and contour a training program that matched and improved his abilities perfectly for the tour, and he trained ONLY for the tour, which most other pros do not. He also did more research and improvements regarding equipment, body positioning, pedal stroke, etc. than any other team out there. He did extensive wind tunnel testing, power testing, weight reductions across the board, and even experimented with and designed dimpled wind-slicing uniforms. The guy has always been a few steps ahead of everyone else when it comes to this stuff. It is this attention to detail that made him the best. It is much more practical to believe that all of these little variables were improved upon by him, and that they all added up to one huge improvement in the form of performance than it is to believe that he doped for years but somehow eluded detection. Oh, and look at the countless wrecks he has either avoided or come out unscathed in the tour alone while other top riders have gone down right and left! Are you going to tell me that doping was the reason for his excellent bike handling skills?? Bring together all of this attention to detail, great genetics, his intelligence, his handling skills, his passion, his history, and his commitment to training right for only one important race of the year, and it makes sense. I have recently begun to try and follow his example which is don't focus on improving one thing, focus on improving everything, no matter how small, and it will add up...I have seen drastic improvements in my performance. Furthermore I have a cousin who is a Cat1 and a soon to be cousin-in-law who raced in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and also raced in the world RR last year. Both have had outstanding performances in their "careers" and I know for a fact the neither doped.
I don't know what your history is, but maybe you just couldn't hack it as a pro without doping...doesn't mean others can't.

mac_220

there are multiple types of conspiracy, those for and those against. How do you know that the above is true?

Surely you yourself are just another conspiracy theorist, just with your opinion alligned with the opersite side to the original poster. i.e the conspiracy to make out that lance trains harder does more research, tries harder etc than any other cyclist. All created by the Armstrong PR machine


just a thought

TiMan

Armstong has good skills and is talented for sure.

Armstrong has been caught ....he had a corticostroid in his body bro......and you and many others bought the coverup story. Riders do not use corticosteroid based creams because as Flyer said it thins the skin, we all know that, and "they" know exactly what is in every single "medicine" bro....do you really think they missed reading that a CORTICOSTEROID! was in a product Lance was using!!!




Dr. Ferarri was/is a master at "beating the tests" bro. Riders go to him for doping advice plain and simple bro....that ALL they go to him for...not a damn thing else.

You are a young man I think......Armstrong has no training secrets nor does his coach Carmichael. No new scientific training or wind tunnel tesing, bike positioning, pedal stroke etc etc etc advantages at all. All has been done before...nothing new. As far as REAL training goes all exercise physiologists have done in the last 25 years is to CONFIRM what was already know and done years ago. In fact the guy Carmichael has copied is Cyrille Guimard, the coach of Benard Hinualt, Lemond, fignon etc....he did all this stuff 25 years ago at least. Trianing in cycling has also been the same for at least 25 years...... periodization, block training etc etc nothing new under the sun here.

10 pounds does make a difference in the mountains, of course it does,but it doesn't transform you from a poor tour rider to the best......but Armstrong's camp has convinced the public and riders that have no high level experience that this is the main reason he came back from cancer to win the tour. What a joke that it.
Bro Armstrongs sustainable power went from the low 400's at a time when he should have had PEAK power or very close to it , age 25, to about 500 watts in two years and after being VERY weak with cancer for a long time....that's the reason he won the tours.....HUGE sustainable power increases! What happens after age 25 to make a rider great is not so much physiological bro, although your lactate threshold will climb.....it's "paying your dues" on a team, and experience.



How do you know your brother-in-law hasn't doped...really? Just because he said so or because he appears to be clean....truth of the mater is you don't know.
I know Armstrong has doped because he has been CAUGHT! Corticosteroid work very well bro.

ives

So are you saying that the UCI would actually sanction Armstrong taking shots of testosterone simply becasue he only has one testicle?

TiMan

If his free testosterone level is lowish ie: below about 350ng/dl, then ABSOLUTELY YES. His natural testosterone levels may indeed be low as he only has one testes and the other one was also affected by the cancer.

This would mean that he could take shots under the direction of a doctor and then tweek his level up to the upper limits of normal, which as I said is about 1000ng/dl, which almost nobody has and especially not a hard training cyclist.
Most ahtletes see a drop in testosterone level with hard training and ALL see a drop when racing a lot. SO Armstrong would NEVER be even mid average if he took injections. His ability to train hard and recover quickly for another session would be great....a real advantage.

ives

.....interesting stuff.
Incidently, what made you decide to post here and at this time?

Alex B

Felony criminal offense. Any person who uses a drug which is a prescription only pharmacutical and does so without that drug being prescribed lawfully by a licensed physician is committing a felony. I myself ride for enjoyment of the sport, pushing my personal limits, the rush of being shoulder to shoulder at 30 miles an hour. I don't ride so I can commit felonies and jeopardize my health and career.

Dopers are criminals.

frenchcycling

yes dopers are criminals, but in this case Alex B, you are calling them criminals to take away from TiMan's credibility. Just because someone is a criminal does not mean that it is impossible and or very difficlut for them to tell the truth. You are simply using an "appeal to authority" argument. IN other words, you believe that since criminals have no authority, then they can not be credible. I'm sorry, but if Scott Peterson said 2+2 equals 4, i would believe him, even tho he is a criminal.

i for one, think that we should applude TiMan for his candidness and for giving us his insights into elite level racing.

__________________
it never get easier, you just get faster.

txags92

What has he really told us about "elite level racing" besides the fact that even as a doper he couldn't get a contract to do it? If this is part of the dopers 12 step program to admit his problem here, thats fine, but I really don't know what it says about Lance Armstrong of "elite level racing" as a whole...

memphiscyclist

Are you kidding me?? Cortisteroid, that's all you could come up with? That finding never developed into a charge and therefore his record is still clean. As far as the UCI is concerned, he has a spotless record. I choose to believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty. I'm not one to attack someone else based upon unproven and preemptive accusations. That would be no different than Bush and his attack on Iraq. You probably voted for him too. And I never said Carmichael has training secrets, I said Armstrong was lucky enough to come across the perfect training program to contour his own personal strengths. You are right, many of these aspects of racing have been around and tested for years, and are common knowledge...but none of them have gone through the fine-tuning that Armstrong has put them through, and that's what separates him from the crowd.
As for who I am, don't presume to know how old I am or what I am about either. I have been racing for years, I ride with Cat 1 racers every week, and I am related to two pros. I know these guys very well. They are family men and women. They have children, and full time jobs, and they are dedicated to that aspect of their lives. Cycling to them comes in a very close second, but second nonetheless. They have high moral standards and excellent work ethics. These are the things that are important to them, and therefore doping is not even in the equation. Achieveing something on the bike without drugs and on their own is what is most important as it mirrors the more important aspects of their lives. And despite not doping, they still have achieved amazing wins. They also have gone through terrible losses, and know how to lose with dignity. So your other accusation that top Cat 1 riders dope (although I am sure many do) is simply unfounded, and I might add that you should be ashamed of yourself for ever doping in the first place. That simply goes to show a lack of character on your part, and detracts from any credibility you think you have when it comes to making such accusations about Armstrong, or others you know nothing about.

hombredesubaru

You just lost your house.
This has been said over and over again.
Men who have lost one testis from cancer, trauma or whatever do NOT need or receive testosterone shots. Their other testis makes plenty to compensate.

Lance's cancer doctors have been asked this over and over: he does not receive any medication whatsoever, including testosterone. They were asked this by the French media in 1999 and because of the doubts Lance gave his doctors permission to discuss the details of his medical treatment. I don't think these internationally renowned doctors have much vested interest in lying for Lance, their careers and livelihoods depend on being honest.

In addition, Lance has repeatedly stated that his medical forms submitted to the UCI and to race officials have no medication on them, and that his is one of the few that doesnt have prescription medication on them--like Beloki and Galdeano taking inhaled medication for asthma.

TiMan

It says that a person can increase they sustainable powr output by over 20% in 4 months with the epo...and recover very quickly with testosterone.