Stories are many and often we hear the remark “He must be on drugs!”.
It is not too uncommon that an amateur cyclist gets done for using some kind of illegal drug to enhance his/her performance. A few years back, in Melbourne, someone who won a couple of medals on the track tested positive for an illegal drug and “got in trouble for it”.
Another man, in Sydney this time, was charged for importing certain drugs. He was well known for being part of the cycling community, at amateur level. In the US, two or three years ago, a master cyclist was also caught and lost his national championship medals.
Thus, the suggestion of a few people out there taking the “stuff” just to win the weekend club criterium is not totally unsound.
But why, as amateurs, would we do it? We are not racing for sheep stations, are we?
No, we are not but there are people out there that would advocate and apply the “win at any cost” strategy in any race, even the weekend club criterium. Based on that, what would stop them from taking something which would just bump their performance by a small percentage, just enough to keep them away in that break for half of the race… race after race?
I must own up and tell that I take some “stuff” and have been taking for years. The “stuff” I take isn’t in any pharmaceutical black list, primarily because they are natural, unprocessed products. And I take them with my breakfast, which I believe is performance enhancing and great for my taste buds.
For a few years, I have been adding Goji berries to my morning meals and for the last two years I have added Maca powder to the mix, which also contains dates, one type of cereal or rice, rice milk, a banana or an apple, some Jalna vanilla yogurt (my absolute favourite) and a few nuts (walnuts lately).
Is my mouth-watering (I think about my breakfast before I go to sleep the night before, sometimes) morning feast performance enhancing? I think so because it makes me healthier, makes me stronger, consequently making me faster on the bike.
It is not too uncommon that an amateur cyclist gets done for using some kind of illegal drug to enhance his/her performance. A few years back, in Melbourne, someone who won a couple of medals on the track tested positive for an illegal drug and “got in trouble for it”.
Another man, in Sydney this time, was charged for importing certain drugs. He was well known for being part of the cycling community, at amateur level. In the US, two or three years ago, a master cyclist was also caught and lost his national championship medals.
Thus, the suggestion of a few people out there taking the “stuff” just to win the weekend club criterium is not totally unsound.
But why, as amateurs, would we do it? We are not racing for sheep stations, are we?
No, we are not but there are people out there that would advocate and apply the “win at any cost” strategy in any race, even the weekend club criterium. Based on that, what would stop them from taking something which would just bump their performance by a small percentage, just enough to keep them away in that break for half of the race… race after race?
I must own up and tell that I take some “stuff” and have been taking for years. The “stuff” I take isn’t in any pharmaceutical black list, primarily because they are natural, unprocessed products. And I take them with my breakfast, which I believe is performance enhancing and great for my taste buds.
For a few years, I have been adding Goji berries to my morning meals and for the last two years I have added Maca powder to the mix, which also contains dates, one type of cereal or rice, rice milk, a banana or an apple, some Jalna vanilla yogurt (my absolute favourite) and a few nuts (walnuts lately).
Is my mouth-watering (I think about my breakfast before I go to sleep the night before, sometimes) morning feast performance enhancing? I think so because it makes me healthier, makes me stronger, consequently making me faster on the bike.
Have I mention the big glass of black coffee with it? Triple shot? And my intake of vitamins (1st Endurance’s Multi-V)? Now, these are performance enhancing stuff...
So, what are you taking?
Note: The timing of the post and the release of the UCI's Suspicious List is purely coincidental.
So, what are you taking?
Note: The timing of the post and the release of the UCI's Suspicious List is purely coincidental.
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3 comments:
According to former journeyman pro and admitted doper Joe Papp, who recently pleaded guilty to dealing human growth hormone and EPO acquired from China to an estimated 187 customers, older athletes comprise the bulk of amateur drug use. "Based on my experiences, in the U.S. the majority of athletes seeking doping products on the black market are amateurs, and believe it or not, they're masters athletes," says Papp. "I think that's in part because older athletes can afford these products, but it's because of ego as well. People don't want to let go of their youth. Say you're 41 years old and you want 10 percent of your threshold power back. If you can get by the ethics of doping, and don't think it's going to kill you, it's a no-brainer."
My current "performance enhancer" is vanilla Jalna with a serving of Pura Veda (www.puraveda.com). Or failing that, Lowan Swiss muesli and a banana.
And of course, coffee.
Thanks for the info, Anon. I doubt the figures would be significantly less in Australia with the cycling boom and high disposable incomes.
David, thanks for the hint on PuraVeda. We are now on a partially GF Free diet, including our muesli, breads and pasta. Good to experiment a bit.
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