EZRider

My son and I and two others from Tzaneen will be joining for a go at it.

Gave up my carbon bike for one and @ 7,1 kg including pedals it's nearly 1 kg lighter and stiffer. Plus it looks good!

Hahahaha. Thanks for making me smile!

I'm with you in G.

You mention one Internet source which I found as per you request and ignored the other two. I have no medical degree and don't claim to be a pharmacological expert so no I don't know what I am talking about. You, on the other hand are rude and opinionated and I will no longer discourse with you.

You are arguing for the sake of it. You don't eat carbs but ask me to prove EPO is bad for you? I don't care enough about this to continue. Have fun.

I am adding comment because I want to not to enlighten, convince or entertain you. Don't need to justify anything to you actually, you are someone who has spent vast amounts of time convincing yourself that bread is bad for you and now you want me to waste my time convincing you why taking EPO responsibly is bad for you? How about taking cocaine responsibly? Emphasis on responsibly? Okay, if you insist or are too lazy: This from Wiki: The simple act of increasing the number of red blood cells in blood raises its viscosity, which can cause it to clot or coagulate more readily.[20] This increases the chances of heart attack, stroke, and pulmonary embolism, which has been seen in cases where there is too much blood reintroduced into the blood stream. Because blood doping increases the volume of red blood cells, it effectively introduces a condition called polycythemia, a blood disorder that has known adverse outcomes. This from sportsmedicine.about.com: Is Erythropoietin (EPO) Dangerous? Yes, EPO has its dangers. EPO injections thicken the blood, which increases the strain on the heart. This is particularly dangerous when the heart rate slows down, such as during sleep. The increased thickness, or viscosity, of the blood increases the risk of blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. According to the book "The death of Marco Pantani" by Matt Rendell, some cyclists reportedly set an alarm each night to wake up and cycle on a trainer for ten minutes to jump-start their circulation and reduce the possible health risks of using EPO. This from medicalconsumers.org: This is the true story of an expensive anti-anemia drug that came on the market for one purpose; was heavily promoted for several unproven uses; and how the drive for profits led two drug companies to commit fraud. Kathleen Sharp, a veteran investigative reporter, describes what happened from the perspective of a drug salesman whose company pressured him into achieving higher and higher sales targets. The drug maker provided a playbook of tactics known to manipulate physicians into writing more prescriptions and at higher, more dangerous, doses. Eventually, the drug salesman-turned-whistleblower comes to the horrifying conclusion that over a half a million people have died as a result of this drug. Its benefits, if any, remain unclear; its safety never established. It is still on the market. Central to the story is one of the first biotech drugs to go on the market. Erythropoietin is the man-made version of human erythropoietin, which is produced naturally in the body and stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells. Epo, as it is called, became known as a “blood booster,” sold by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson under the brand names: Procrit, Epogen, Aranesp, and Eprex (Europe). Sorry, cop out or not, I am not going to read it all out loud for you. Use it, don't use it, half million deaths is more than heroin killed last year, even when used responsibly...

Slow, you have hit the nail on the head, what matters is what matters to you. If you feel like a cheat you are one.

Not trying to be in.

Do the research yourself, google is your friend.

If you need the pump I won't be telling. Up to you really. I have a mate who runs comrades so high on pain pills I think he does it for the trip. Never breaks 9 hours so who cares.

Do as much research as you have into your diet. You obviously care about your health. For starters: it's unhealthy, bottom line. Potentially fatal. And uneducated or misinformed people need to be told: don't drink 2 bottles of vodka then drive. No that extra vial of EPO won't make you even younger, faster or better looking, just deader. Secondly it's unfair to other amateurs who get a kick out if beating you. Why bother timing yourself publicly if you did so unfairly. You are not getting paid either way. For goodness sake read up on the law suits against Amgen for deaths resulting from legal EPO use. Train, eat right, be healthy. Those are the parameters, use them. Or not. It's one of those: if you have to ask do what you smaak things. No one really cares.

It's almost a downhill race...

You ride under license you are bound by them. You will never be tested so its up to you if you cheat or not, frankly nobody cares. Just like nobody really cares if you get that sub three or not. The rules are there for your own protection as well as the integrity of the sport. Use them or don't use them, the authorities, such as they are, have made them available for all to read, so don't you only have yourself to blame if you end up in trouble. I don't know why this is so hard to swallow? You may not drink and drive, murder, rape or steal yet these far more severe infringements happen every day. If you are idiot enough to need an ego boost by using EPO or roids then by all means do so.

True Slowbee but, imperfect or not, the law (or rules as Goya points out) are all we have and by reading some of the posts above it is clear that imperfect rules trump non existent common sense any day.

Exactly. I don't do EPO alcohol or sugar st all. Still on the water.

The wrong amount of it can be fatal.

If you really can't answer that yourself then go online and read which are banned. A whole lot of clever folk in white coats have done all the hard work for you. And don't get caught by the "it's natural" thing. Opium, nicotine, zol, cocaine, are all natural and catastrophic for your health. Take what you want but don't equate vitamins and concentrated foods with EPO or drugs. It's not a slippery slope. Laws are there to help confused or otherwise incompetent people in making what amounts to very simple choices.

As long as no one is testing the pee...

Do I have to use a hose?

Dangle is probably sitting behind his desk right now! According to Brandon that's crime and everyone should be privileged enough to be paid to ride a bike! I'm a farmer, wonder where watching trees grow come in to it?

Dude, you just made me snort milk out my nose!

Ha Ha yeah the risks of peeking.

Nothing better than chasing Lycra boude!

Forgot to mention the Giordana bib shorts and sidi shoes, oh crap, no wonder the MTBers hate us...