My experience with drugs and blood doping

[Lister Farrar]

This is very discouraging to hear if it is an accurate depiction of racing at the Cat 1 level in the US. My son is a very talented 15 year old junior, who has aspirations of perhaps making it some day to Cat 1. Based on what I've seen in his riding, I've told him that he could probably make it to Cat 1 if he was sufficiently dedicated and determined, but if he is competing with riders who are doping and they are actually boosting their FTPs by 20% through doping then I'm guessing he would probably not be able to get the results (riding cleanly) to make it to Cat 1 unless his talent is truly exceptional.

As the parent of 13 and 9 year old athletes, I have the same fears.

Two thoughts: there are still lots of benefits of sport without having to 'make it'. So I'm keeping my kids in it until the doping stops them, and hope that they simply love physical activity enough that it stays in their lives. It worked that way for me, and sport has been good for them so far.

The second is, what the hell are the leaders in sport doing, (or not doing) to allow it to get this way? The UCI is starting to react, but it's two steps forward, one back. (eg. the missed out of competiton tests that have been happening) I think we as parents should make a lot more noise about what they are doing that allows doping to take place. Even they must have kids and share the worry about their health and hopes.

I'm convinced it's their attitude that has allowed it to get this way. There are too many decent people in high level sport who have been forced to dope.

 

[tonyzackery]

As the parent of 13 and 9 year old athletes, I have the same fears.

Two thoughts: there are still lots of benefits of sport without having to 'make it'. So I'm keeping my kids in it until the doping stops them, and hope that they simply love physical activity enough that it stays in their lives. It worked that way for me, and sport has been good for them so far.

The second is, what the hell are the leaders in sport doing, (or not doing) to allow it to get this way? The UCI is starting to react, but it's two steps forward, one back. (eg. the missed out of competiton tests that have been happening) I think we as parents should make a lot more noise about what they are doing that allows doping to take place. Even they must have kids and share the worry about their health and hopes.

I'm convinced it's their attitude that has allowed it to get this way. There are too many decent people in high level sport who have been forced to dope.[/QUOTE]

"Forced to dope"??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Give me a bleepin' break! Nobody, I repeat NOBODY is FORCED to dope! Each individual rider is making a conscious choice to do whatever doping practice they choose to do. So you're calling the dopers "victims", eh? It's just that very attitude which perpetuates this ridiculousness of dopers, when caught, getting proverbial slaps on the wrist. IMO, one conviction and you're banned for life. There needs to be a deterrent in place; there is none as it stands now.

"Decent people" my eye! They're all frauds and fakes! What is "decent" about that - unless you're also a fraud and a fake. I don't care what their excuse is. Because you see one guy jump off a bridge, does that mean you have to do it too??

I'm sick of the lame excuses people give for obtaining things they don't rightfully deserve..."By any means necessary"..."The ends justify the means"...all that B.S.!!!

 

[iliveonnitro]

Don't worry about him "needing" to dope to be a solid cat1. I have a few friends who are strong riders and do not dope.

First one started at ~17/18yrs old, is 23 now, and is consistently battling it out with domestic pros. He's a cat1 and trains maybe 12hrs/wk most of the year, and a little more in spring/summer. He has no intentions of going pro and just does it for the fun of the sport. His palmares is impressive for the amount he trains -- always podium at collegiate nationals, numerous top 10 and top 5 finishes in SuperWeek, Tour of Ohio, and other quality races.

I have another 25yr old friend who is a domestic pro for a popular US team. He's not the team leader, but he's fast. Finished the Tour of California, Tour of Virginia, most aggressive rider in one of the ToC stages, and some good results at other races.

The third one is 21yrs old and takes spring semesters off to train in the south. He's won some collegiate nationals events, best young rider at tour of virginia, upcoming Tour of PA, Kelley Cup NRC race, and won Cross Country Cycling Classic in Belize.

You don't need to dope to be a strong domestic pro. I'm not so sure after you cross the Professional Continental area, though.

 

[-ick3nin.vend3t]

The OP in this link; (TiMan), Is that Greg Lemond??? & his jealous excuse rabble for Armstrong being far more superior???. Wouldn't suprise me.

I also happen to believe that Greg doped, just not with EPO. As did Merckx, Ullrich & every other rider under the sun.

My sustainable power output went from 350 to 420 in three months!!! That's a 20% gain!!!

I know for a fact... Greg loves that 20%. Thats the % he always related to Armstrong & his Tour performance gains over guys of yesteryear.

TiMan is full of BS & isn't a Cat 1 rider.

 

[mattp1975]

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!!!

Being a cat 1 rider how did you afford it?

 

[-ick3nin.vend3t]

Being a cat 1 rider how did you afford it?

He couldn't. Hes talking absolute BS. He never took EPO nor HGH & never saw a 20% improvement.

 

[baker3]

Great posts TiMan, cycling really is a joke of a sport. Basically consists of lies and deceit.

 

[fincycle]

Great posts TiMan, cycling really is a joke of a sport. Basically consists of lies and deceit.

Yep, sports like football, basketball, baseball are really pure and dope free sports

 

[fincycle]

Every professional sports in US is doped. Why don´t they test in baseball, NHL, NBA, etc.? Money talks and testers walk. People want to see hard fighting trough out the whole season, they don´t want to see tired players playing hockey after round 100 in NHL. Doping is here, it´s never gonna go away even outside pro sports.

 

[davereo]

Originally Posted by fincycle .

Every professional sports in US is doped. Why don´t they test in baseball, NHL, NBA, etc.? Money talks and testers walk. People want to see hard fighting trough out the whole season, they don´t want to see tired players playing hockey after round 100 in NHL. Doping is here, it´s never gonna go away even outside pro sports.

People cheat on their spouse's, taxes, expense reports ect............. How about that chick we are all fantasizing about willing to bet she has breast implants..... Maybe your boss think he's using Viagra.........Could be the kid across the street is roiding looks like he packed on a few pounds since high school.......Maybe we should look in the mirror......
Doping is here to stay and it's not only in sports.

 

[tonyzackery]

While I'll agree that cheating will never be eliminated in sports, or any other human endeavor for that matter, that doesn't mean that cheaters should get free passes when caught because 'everybody else is doing it', or because a significant number of the competition is also engaged in nefarious behavior. Cheating should never be condoned, accepted, or allowed to be explained away.

IMO, punishment need to be in place that serve as a deterrent to the cheating mindset. At present, this remedy just doesn't exist...

I'll step off my soapbox now.../img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif

 

[davereo]

Im not condoning cheating.

I was just trying to make a point of what a sorry state of affairs we live in. The same thing that drives some to take the plunge into something that is accepted is a form of cheating.

I agree that disicpilanary action should take place when uncovered. The problem is huge and there is no easy way of solving it so punishment appears to be the easiest of solutions. So it would be great if someone in charge would just have enough testosterone to do it./img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif