Monday, October 15, 2012

Bike Racing Blues

I have spent the last few days and weeks reading and pondering about doping in bicycle racing. The use of banned substances is pretty obvious in many sports and I really think I have always just chosen not to see it. Look at some of the female olympians...have you ever seen arms like that on a mere mortal? that is definitely not natural. I have always wanted to be a pro bike racer but never had the influence, mentorship or drive to become one. I always thought it was for people that had real enthusiasm and the luck of friends that have the same working together or family pushing them. My family never pushed me to do anything but try and get good grades. I raced BMX bikes as a kid and raced MX for a very short time being told by my parents to stop playing these sports. Anyways, all the years of watching pro cycling and dreaming of being one would always be crashed by the idea that you had to do all kinds of drugs to be there. I am sure there was one guy that never did it and was fast as shit and others did drugs to beat him...then the real talent started doing it creating super humans that do things that are almost genetically impossible (see baseball) setting records that cannot be broken. It is sad that it has become like this. In auto racing it is simple. People always try and "bend the rules" but you do not build a human body in a shop. I always had the notion that if they just tested them and they passed, they win (as in motorsports) but through all this USADA investigation I am realizing the human damage is awful. Levi Leiphimer came out with an interview talking about his childhood dream to race in the TdF and how he had to cope with the realities of drug use in pro cycling was heartbreaking. I look back and am strangely happy I did not go down that road to try and be a pro in that sport. I hope we can figure out a way to keep the drugs out and reward clean racing. The really sad thing is that it trickles down to amateur sports and bike racing. The Cat 4-5 guys I will be racing soon may be doping and no one is even watching that. I guess it will be that much more satisfying if I win. My question is if someone does testosterone, cortizone and EPO while training to get better strength and comes off it to be clean, are they still really clean?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting read Evan.

I remember, not long after high school, a friend of a friend who was really into road racing, actually took me to a house in Lawrence/Methuen one day and I watched him get shot. I had no idea what was what back then but now I know what he was doing and trying to get an advantage when he would ride and race, and yes, he was just an amateur, we're talking mid-late 80's.

Ben