My experience with drugs and blood doping

TiMan

I took 175 mg of testosterone per week by injection for one season.The ability to recover after repeated hard days was unreal. This dose of testosterone put my testosterone level above 1000ng/dl...about twice what a normal male puts out.
This is what the test does....it helps you recover. You can also get down below 6% body fat without loosing any muscle mass. On the down side test, and all steroids, will make you hold water weight and I was holding about 5 pounds I think. The water, however, is mainly intramuscular and it helps with strength a lot.

Sides.....acne, lost a bit of hair, and of course even a small dose of testosterone will shut down your natural testosterone production completely. When you stop it takes a while before your natural testosterone level comes back and you feel tired and with no sex drive at all.
Testosterone and all steroids will make your good cholesterol(hdl) basically disappear as well while "on" the stuff.




I also used EPO for 4 months 4000 iu's injected sub Q in the lower belly fat once a week to build, and then 1000 a week to hold. 4000iu's will bring your hematocrit up 1% a week.
I went up to 54% but even at 50%, the legal limit in the pro ranks , my performance was unreal.
My sustainable power output went from 350 to 420 in three months!!! That's a 20% gain!!!

Sides.....none because I checked my crit every three days with a portable crit tester.
I also NEVER got dehydrated and never went above 54%.
If anyone does not test their hematocrit at least weekly then they are idiots plain and simple.

Anyone that goes above 55% is an idiot because at night when your heart rate and blood pressure drops you can DIE simply because the heart is not getting enough oxygen.
By the way Riis and Pantani were well above 55% when they won "the tour".

At the time I was racing Cat 1 and I can tell you that most of the guys that were really good riders were on EPO or at least blood doping.

Now for the VERY COMMON way to blood dope.
Our team doctor would take about a liter of blood out of each of us a couple months before a big race. Then he would spin it in a centrifuge to rid the blood of plasma...what was left was pure red blood cells(packed cells). He would then drain the blood into blood bags, put preservative in it and put the whole nine yards in a frige at 33 degrees F. The day of the race we would infuse our own blood back. Each unit of packed cells(about 300cc) would increase our hematocrit about by 3!!! so if you infused 3 units you jumped 9 points....like from 45 to 54%!!!

Now I don't think that anyone should use drugs. I for one didn't like myself while I was "on". I always wondered about the guys in the back of the pack...what if they took drugs...maybe they would kick my ass. What about the pro's that don't use drugs ....maybe they would kick Armstrongs ass too.

SO...anyone who believes that Armstrong or any other top pro or even any top Cat 1 national level rider is clean simply lacks high level racing experince. Armstrong is an asshole for saying he has is clean......Greg Lemond know better. I do NOT wear the yellow wrist band!!!

BomoSammo

At last, someone posts their own personal experiences rather than quoting blah, or something that blah de blah is meant to have said to a friend of a friend, or an overheard one sided mobile phone conversation . . . and yet nobody has replied with any of their own thoughts.
Seems everyone is far too interested in discussing half-truths, fantasies and unknown details.

frenchcycling

wow, that's intense

Ullefan

Wait till Flyer responds...

TiMan

Flyer...I like that guy because he tells it like it is. Because of guys like him the "average" reader on these forums no longer thinks guys like Armstrong are truthful.

Ullefan

There's no proof in your pudding!

3_days

Timan: Why'd you stop using/infusing? And after you quit, how far off did your training regimen fall?

TiMan

I quit because I didn't like myself for doping.....I always wondered about the guys in the back of the pack....if they doped would they be kicking my ass.

I only fully doped for one season in an attempt to get a pro contract....it never happened so I decided to stop. I did blood dope with my own blood prior to that season though.

As I mentioned.... on the epo my sustainable power output went from 350 to 420 in three months and it peaked at around 440 watts....in other words I could do a 40 K tt at near 440 watts!!!

When I stopped my crit went down slowly over the weeks to my normal, which is about 43%. After stopping the testosterone it took about a month before my natural test levels returned to my normal, and a typical normal of 550nd/dl. I took clomid, an estrogen blocker, after stopping the testosterone, and this helped "kick start" the testes. I learned this form a bodybuilder. So my testosterone levels rebounded pretty quickly. But I did feel a little fatigued and my sex drive wasn't good for a few weeks while I waited for my natural testosterone level to return. I felt crappy on the bike at this time.

I was able to keep some of the power gain that I got from the epo and testosterone. I slowly dropped down to a sustainable power output close to 400 watts, which I then held with proper lactate threshold work on the bike. So the drug use did have some lasting effects on my body.

The testosterone allowed me to recover from repeated HARD workouts....four a week on a steady long term basis.

Some guys that do only testosterone or a steroid like Equipoise(EQ) see an increase in their hematocrit up to 50% or so but it takes a long time and this gain isn't seen in all men using these drugs. EPO works fast and in all men and you can take your crit WAY UP ...like Riis did for his tour win (almost 60%) a-la his name "Mr. 60%".

But as I said epo use is tricky and done wihtout strict monitoring it can kill you. NEVER ever go above 54-55% and 52 would be best. Check your crit weekly, drink all the time, never ever get even slightly dehydrated on the bike, never squat down for long, never cross your legs while sitting and take an aspirin a day to help prevent blood cell clumping.
I have to yell this bro's NEVER USE EPO UNLESS YOU CAN TEST YOUR HEMATOCRIT WEEKLY AT LEAST.....and twice a week is better. Portable testers can be bought for $300 US.
You also have to take iron supps while on epo....as the increased red cell production will reduce your iron stores(ferritin) .

BY THE WAY.....in my opinion their is nothing differnet between using an altilude tent to get your crit up to 48-50% and using epo to do the same thing. BOTH methods offer an unfair advantage. Not everyone can afford an altitude tent...so it's unfair.
ALSO, altitude tents have MORE side effects than epo use so long as you don't push your crit too high with the epo use. Alitude tents make you feel tired all the time as you are sleeping in a hypoxic environment mimicing 12,000 plus feet in order to push your crit high enough to do anything.

Also, I don't think most men can get their crits up to even 50% with an altitude tent. Most men have a crit of about 41-44% and they would be lucky to get to 47-48% with a tent.

Ullefan

Why are you telling this story now? Surely there must be a reason? Is this your first confession over the internet? Go over to the grand tour forum, i'm sure they'd love to hear this cyclist's testimony, they are skeptical that doping goes on.

TiMan

I am speaking up now because I am sick of hearing from so many bro's that think guys like "Lance" are actually clean.

House

A) You say your post proves that all pros and Cat1's dope, yet all I see is your supposed experiences. Which leads to more questions: What team did you ride for? What kind of results were you getting? Where is the proof that you claim?

B)Because of Flyer the average reader sees: a handfull of articles repeated over and over. Someone run away from the tough questions. Someone lie a lot and get them thrown back in his face. The only thing he accomplishes here is pissing off a lot of people with his antics and turning off newbies from the sport. I finally grew weary of making him look like the fool he is and have put him on ignore, now veloflash has been tearing him apart. He is a joke...period.

frenchcycling

TiMan, where did you learn how to do all of this?

TiMan

I learned most of it from fellow riders when I raced Cat 1. Some I learned from one of our team doctors. I learned some from a recently retired pro triathlete that was a great cyclist....he retired very late and did very well even in his last year (age 40). In fact he would still be going if he hadn't had a kid. It's actually commonly known out there bro once you make it to the upper levels in Cat 1 racing in the USA. In europe it is even more commonly know and at lower levels. Doping is far more accepted in europe and has been for 50 years, unless an American starts to win the tour he he he.

kennf

Umm, okay, how 'bout this: NEVER USE EPO (UNLESS PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR FOR ANEMIA.)