42 year-Old Cat 3 popped for 5 banned substances

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

Good point. If you are racing as an amateur for fun and personal challenge and racers fall into tiers of performance then it does not matter how others made it into the tier. You might as well complain about the unmarried dude with no kids who is able to train more than everyone else.

To extend this idea further, it sounds like you think that racers should only be divided up by performance level. So, no more gender and age divisions, performance would be the only criteria for dividing up racer groups.

Of course, that idea would never fly. Afterall, many racers (such as women and juniors and masters) quite rightly want to start with at least some pre-set limits on those they have to compete against, and that seems perfectly fair. And in that vain, many racers who don't dope quite rightly would prefer not to have to compete against doping riders. So maybe in addition to having separate races for gender and age groups, we should also have separate races for doping and non-doping riders. Since USAC has already defined itself to be the non-doping bicycling racing association, someone needs to step up to create the all doping bicycle racing association - would you like to volunteer?

[simonov]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

Good point. If you are racing as an amateur for fun and personal challenge and racers fall into tiers of performance then it does not matter how others made it into the tier. You might as well complain about the unmarried dude with no kids who is able to train more than everyone else.

Testing is a total waste of money.

Well, being unmarried with no kids isn't against the rules, doping is and since there needs to be a line somewhere, they may as well enforce it. And since much (or all) of the money for testing comes from license fees, which are paid by the people racing who don't want cheaters and who signed an agreement that they wouldn't cheat, it's not a waste of money...it's what that money was paid for. Lastly, to move up a category, with the exception of 5 to 4, you need results of some form. So those dopers who made it to a tier had to win or place ahead of non-dopers in the lower tier to get there, so it's a false premise that doping pack fodder doesn't or didn't impact anyone with their deceit.

[CunegoFan]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

To extend this idea further, it sounds like you think that racers should only be divided up by performance level. So, no more gender and age divisions, performance would be the only criteria for dividing up racer groups.

Of course, that idea would never fly. Afterall, many racers (such as women and juniors and masters) quite rightly want to start with at least some pre-set limits on those they have to compete against, and that seems perfectly fair. And in that vain, many racers who don't dope quite rightly would prefer not to have to compete against doping riders. So maybe in addition to having separate races for gender and age groups, we should also have separate races for doping and non-doping riders. Since USAC has already defined itself to be the non-doping bicycling racing association, someone needs to step up to create the all doping bicycle racing association - would you like to volunteer?

There is no fair in amateur racing, especially as you get into masters. The pathetic forty-year-old bachelor with the crap job and no responsibilities who is still pursuing the 12K dream has a huge advantage. The well off dude who does two week training camps in Arizona during winter has a huge advantage over those hoping the weather is decent enough to get out for a few hours on the weekend. As long as people are paired up by rough performance then it doesn't really matter how they got there.

You are not making a living doing this. It's a hobby. The only meaning that can be found in it is racing against yourself and being satisfied you got the most out of yourself given your particular life situation. Bigging yourself up because you beat someone who trained half as much as you did is a narcissistic delusion.

What is more amateurs getting busted for an effective drug like EPO is pretty damned rare. USADA's horn tooting is usually based on drugs with effects ranging from dubious to negligible that can be found in OTC supplements and common medications. While that may make sense for pros, testing amateurs for this stuff in a society where the average middle aged bloke has multiple prescriptions is idiotic. Check out the recent 90-year-old case: Publicly shamed because he ate a bad cut of meat. What was he supposed to do? Have everything he consumes tested before eating it?

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by CunegoFan

There is no fair in amateur racing, especially as you get into masters. The pathetic forty-year-old bachelor with the crap job and no responsibilities who is still pursuing the 12K dream has a huge advantage. The well off dude who does two week training camps in Arizona during winter has a huge advantage over those hoping the weather is decent enough to get out for a few hours on the weekend. As long as people are paired up by rough performance then it doesn't really matter how they got there.

You are not making a living doing this. It's a hobby. The only meaning that can be found in it is racing against yourself and being satisfied you got the most out of yourself given your particular life situation. Bigging yourself up because you beat someone who trained half as much as you did is a narcissistic delusion.

What is more amateurs getting busted for an effective drug like EPO is pretty damned rare. USADA's horn tooting is usually based on drugs with effects ranging from dubious to negligible that can be found in OTC supplements and common medications. While that may make sense for pros, testing amateurs for this stuff in a society where the average middle aged bloke has multiple prescriptions is idiotic. Check out the recent 90-year-old case: Publicly shamed because he ate a bad cut of meat. What was he supposed to do? Have everything he consumes tested before eating it?

I agree with this for the most part, I've raced against dudes who were on much more than over the counter stuff who got busted for it later. None that I know of were EPO. Some performances are unbelievable for a reason.

Another unfair thing about amateur masters racing, talent and natural ability.

[m4rk540]

Paceline, the kind of place where no one likes race bikes but everyone gets mad at performance enhancement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eXcPKdarLQ

[pasadena]

[QUOTE=CunegoFan;2488657] As long as people are paired up by rough performance then it doesn't really matter how they got there.[quote]

That is the premise of category racing, from cat 4 to elite

The only meaning that can be found in it is racing against yourself and being satisfied you got the most out of yourself given your particular life situation.

That goes for any race from cat 4 to elite

What is more amateurs getting busted for an effective drug like EPO is pretty damned rare.

There are a bunch of masters popped specifically for EPO or HGH, Testosterone
including the ones mentioned in this thread.

If you look at all the socal master-bators banned, they all are EPO, HGH, testosterone, and other directly related common cheater cocktails.

Road racing in the US is dead anyway but the "let the cheats have it" is not the way to go.

[54ny77]

If you're in a race lasting longer than 4 hours, seek medical help right away.

[TMD]

its very sad, I have a feeling it will only get worse...

[echappist]

Originally Posted by pasadena

That is the premise of category racing, from cat 4 to elite



That goes for any race from cat 4 to elite



There are a bunch of masters popped specifically for EPO or HGH, Testosterone
including the ones mentioned in this thread.

If you look at all the socal master-bators banned, they all are EPO, HGH, testosterone, and other directly related common cheater cocktails.

Road racing in the US is dead anyway but the "let the cheats have it" is not the way to go.

that's just his general outlook in life, cynicism with just the right amount of nihilism, so his general attitude is that of don't care and eff it. someone rightfully called him out in another thread where he made a similarly cynical and nihilistic post

[Mark McM]

The number of people banned for positive drug tests at this year's Vuelta a Miami is now up to 4:

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-n...clists-doping/


The results page for the 2018 Vuelta a Miami shows 103 finishers. At this point, I'm wondering how many entrants were drug tested, and how many didn't come back positive?

[azrider]

Originally Posted by m4rk540

Paceline, the kind of place where no one likes race bikes but everyone gets mad at performance enhancement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eXcPKdarLQ

You had me right up to the point you posted a Doug DeMuro video.....I find that guys vernacular or dialect to be as appealing as nails on a chalkboard

[unterhausen]

that article was confusing. They may be counting past year participants.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

that article was confusing. They may be counting past year participants.

they werent. 3 DQs in the results last updated in November 2018. One more to come

https://legacy.usacycling.org/result...ar=2018&id=614

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

that article was confusing. They may be counting past year participants.

From the sanctions announcements on the USADA.org web site, all four had positive tests from samples taken on July 29, 2018, at the Vuelta a Miami. 3 of the athletes tested positive for EPO.

[earlfoss]

The dude is a loser, he was caught cheating, and is banned.

Moving on...