EPO as a recreational cyclist

[tombeej]

OK....I'll bite.

And yes, I am naive in general, still believing that most people are good.

 

I am 35. Race as much as I can. Avg of 25 races a year, thus every 2nd weekend about.

I have done plenty stage races.

Plenty one days.

MTB and road

 

I train 15-20 hours a week. Ride every day.

3 weeks of intervals. 1 week rest.

I can keep up with most pro's in this country in a bunch. Does it mean I dope?

 

 

 

Really? You really think it is? Last I heard it was like R2000 a pop. I train hard and kick the sizable chunk's ass without dope. So from my point of view.....no........it is not sizable.....as long as I can still wipp ass out there every now and again, I KNOW that most of them also ride clean. And I do NOT push out watts like the pros.

 

 

 

Hahahhahaha.......BAHHAhHAHAHAHHA..

Stage racing is about conditioning your body. Preperation. If you have ever competed in them, cleanly, you would know what your body does and do and can do and can't do. Going flat box for 9 days without dope has been done. Plenty times. You just have to train hard and get your head around the pain barrier.

 

So an EPIDEMIC?

BHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

 

So you're clean, good for you, I'm happy for you. And you're still in the majority.

 

And just in case you think I condone this ***, think again. I'm just like you, and I train about as much as you do. Yesterday evening I was out doing climbing intervals on my own in the rain. That's besides swimming a mile to 2km every second day and gym 3 times a week.

 

Of course you can train hard and enjoy multi-stage races just like most people do - duh.

 

But this has been discussed at length in other posts about what motivates people to decide they'd like to start using a bit of growth hormone or test. Go back to those other posts to get an idea as to what exactly is happening these days. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with people thinking they can't complete races without help. It's about egos and access. It's where society is these days. Walk into any gym these days and take a guess how many people 'supplement' their gym work. How many people take little short cuts in their golf handicaps (as posted before). People now jump not only the orange light at an intersection, but a bit of the red too. It's a slow, subversive creep in terms of where peoples moral boundaries lie.

 

I'm not necessarily talking about the pros/elites. I'm talking about wealthy business people in the mid pack, the ones who can afford a couple grand a month on HGH. This is a growing market and there are doctors/specialists servicing that market in the suburbs - whether you like it or not. The waiting list to get an appointment with them is long and they don't have to advertise - their business cards get exchanged between mates. And that's not even including having your gear delivered to your front door from the connection at the gym or buying it online.

[Topwine]

So you're clean, good for you, I'm happy for you. And you're still in the majority.

 

And just in case you think I condone this ***, think again. I'm just like you, and I train about as much as you do. Yesterday evening I was out doing climbing intervals on my own in the rain. That's besides swimming a mile to 2km every second day and gym 3 times a week.

 

Of course you can train hard and enjoy multi-stage races just like most people do - duh.

 

But this has been discussed at length in other posts about what motivates people to decide they'd like to start using a bit of growth hormone or test. Go back to those other posts to get an idea as to what exactly is happening these days. It's got nothing whatsoever to do with people thinking they can't complete races without help. It's about egos and access. It's where society is these days. Walk into any gym these days and take a guess how many people 'supplement' their gym work. How many people take little short cuts in their golf handicaps (as posted before). People now jump not only the orange light at an intersection, but a bit of the red too. It's a slow, subversive creep in terms of where peoples moral boundaries lie.

 

I'm not necessarily talking about the pros/elites. I'm talking about wealthy business people in the mid pack, the ones who can afford a couple grand a month on HGH. This is a growing market and there are doctors/specialists servicing that market in the suburbs - whether you like it or not. The waiting list to get an appointment with them is long and they don't have to advertise - their business cards get exchanged between mates. And that's not even including having your gear delivered to your front door from the connection at the gym or buying it online.

 

Very well said !

[andydude]

Some harsh posts on here...

 

Listen, it's a grey area. Do I look at a funrider using his asthma pump for real in the same light as a pro using EPO? No. The latter is worse for me, although both are against the rules. That's my opinion.

 

It's the same principle in law. For some things, e.g. going slightly over the speed limit, you can pay a fine for admitting your guilt and then you don't end up with a criminal record. Drag racing could be worse with a possible jail sentence and so forth you can move up the punishment matching the crime.

[Topwine]

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.

 

The problem with you is, you keep on proving that you don't know what you are talking about, and don't know how to comprehend what you read.

 

I have never said that I don't eat carbs. I limit my intake, big difference !

You have still not provided proof that EPO is bad for you when taken responsibly.

[Spinnekop]

I'm not necessarily talking about the pros/elites. I'm talking about wealthy business people in the mid pack, the ones who can afford a couple grand a month on HGH. This is a growing market and there are doctors/specialists servicing that market in the suburbs - whether you like it or not. The waiting list to get an appointment with them is long and they don't have to advertise - their business cards get exchanged between mates. And that's not even including having your gear delivered to your front door from the connection at the gym or buying it online.

 

Good reply in general.

 

But I have to say......you have som DODGY suburbs dude!!! 17 years and no one ever gave me a business card.....

 

[Spinnekop]

You have still not provided proof that EPO is bad for you when taken responsibly.

 

It is only BAD for you if you are a cyclist competing in races. You will get your ass thrown out of the sport.

Sleeping with the neighbours wife is also not BAD for your health.....illigal maybe....not bad.

 

What was the point again?

[tombeej]

Now that you've got me going, let's look at the future of sports in our country. Let's think forward to the year 2015, or even 2020. What will things look like then?

 

I matriculated from boarding school in '92. Back then someone who smoked zol was big news for us. We were so innocent. By the time my little sister matriculated 5 years later - from one of the top private girls schools in JHB she said that about 50% of her matric class were actively taking E on weekends, and she watched on of her mates shooting up H in the school toilet at 10h00 break. In my time school rugby was also innocent. I played 1st team from Std 9 and as flank I was around 80kg. Nowdays, school rugby is sponsored by large corporates. The pressure to succeed and win is huge. The kids are now twice the size of what we were in my day (not too long ago). You think they're 100kg and still running the 100m in 11.5 sec because they eat more fruit these days? We're talking about good schools here, not inner city gangland. And who makes sure young Johnny gets the 'supplements' he needs to make the craven week squad? Daddy, that's who.

 

 

Every year the subversive creep extends that bit further.

 

 

Now, let's go back to my earlier question - what do you think it's going to look like in 2020? Take some time.

Edited November 7, 2012 by tombeej

[mavrick]

Have a Zol before the race , it is safe and cheap .

 

Oh yeah and you cruise..... eeeeee......

[EZRider]

 

 

The problem with you is, you keep on proving that you don't know what you are talking about, and don't know how to comprehend what you read.

 

I have never said that I don't eat carbs. I limit my intake, big difference !

You have still not provided proof that EPO is bad for you when taken responsibly.

 

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.

[Benjamin]

You ous are boxing now. My take. If you want to dope as an amateur, then go ride yourself on your favorite route or trail to see how fast you can go, knock yourself out. If you dope and ride in an amateur race with me and tell me over a beer afterwards how well you did, and smile politely when I say well done, then I'm sad for you.

[tombeej]

Good reply in general.

 

But I have to say......you have som DODGY suburbs dude!!! 17 years and no one ever gave me a business card.....

 

 

You and your mates would be the type of people I'd like to hang with, I'm sure.

 

I can't stand smoking. I do not touch alcohol. Prefer getting my own freshly caught fish out of the ocean and I grow my own veggies in my garden (seriously ).

 

I left Gauteng in 2008 and came to live in little Ballito to get away from that world - needed to go back to how life is supposed to be lived. This place is cycling nirvana - endless miles of gods country all to myself. I also stopped competing in about 2008. I just ride for the love of it. When I go up to see the folks in JHB in December I'll ride there on my bike.

 

Maybe I'm very disillusioned about where things are going at the moment. Some of what I've written has come from past 1st hand experience and what I've witnessed (not just from cycling but in other endurance sporting codes too). But it's also plain to see what's happening - like what's happening in kids school sports and in our society in general. The moral fibre of society is a little tatty round the edges and not getting any better. That is what I meant about fertile ground for a possible future epidemic.

Edited November 7, 2012 by tombeej

[Pants Boy]

what do you think it's going to look like in 2020? Take some time.

Legalized doping.

[Eldron]

Whoa. Damn people are good at making a black and white area grey.

 

This is how simple it is - if it's on this list: http://www.wada-ama.org/documents/world_anti-doping_program/wadp-prohibited-list/2012/wada_prohibited_list_2012_en.pdf it's illegal - if it's not on the lsit it aint.

 

The injured/sick so I can take drugs to make me as good as I was before the injury/illness is complete BS.

[manbearpig]

My Spearfish made me faster than EPO ever would

[Cheese]

I have not really followed the topic, but why would you want to do it in any event if you are recreational rider?

Or I guess same reason as Lance, Ego to big.

 

I must say I choose to believe that most in SA are clean. The Pro riders can not afford it unless they have rich parents to susidise them in any case.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Cheese

[Pants Boy]

Legalized doping.

Let me add to that, after some more thinking.

 

I hope they legalize doping - that way, the nutters (aka dopers) can carry on with their crazy mission, and us guys that 'race' for the hell of it (clean, as it were) can carry on like always. Clean, and not (too) worried about places. Because, in the end, for 'us normal okes' it's about completing a race, or a hard ride, and going "damn that was fun" and then boasting to our, admittedly non-cycling, friends about how tough it was, and how fast you were etc etc ad nauseum.