Riders on a Storm
Tyler Hamilton’s win in La Doyenne in 2003 was one of the highlights in what was generally a fantastic season. A great Spring campaign, a great Giro, a great Tour, a great Fall; unpredictable races, and closely-fought battles littered the events. But, with the luxury of 20-20 hindsight and a quick cross-reference of results listings to doping scandals, it’s safe to assume that season landed smack in the middle of an era of jet-fueled racing that rivals the 1990’s in their indulgence.
It’s a tough time to be a cyclist. Death, doping scandals, corruption in the organizing bodies of the sport. We test our athletes more than any other sport, but the tests are flawed and incomplete, and rumors persist that teams and riders pay off not just the labs to surpress positive tests, but also the UCI. Hamilton’s confession on 60 Minutes this week is the latest in an unsettling chain of events that keep peeling back more layers of the onion. I was a big fan of Tyler’s and part of me even believed in his innocence. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy – much too nice a guy to get involved in cheating. But there he was on television, talking openly about the magnitude of drugs-taking within the USPS team.
On the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of Armstrong’s. I find him to be arrogent, controlling, manipulative. His Tour wins were too formulaic; in sharp contrast to his fight with cancer, his racing showed no element of humanism. I have taken it for granted that his wins came with considerable assistance from a carefully planned and executed doping regimen. But these beliefs were woven together by a thread of doubt, and the possibility always existed that his were clean wins.
Hearing Hamilton talk of the seemingly nonchalant attitude towards doping at USPS and, in particular, by Armstrong, is surprising not in the content of the message, but in how hard the message hit. I expected the words. I had read them. I have even written many of them myself. But there was always a tangible element of speculation about them. For me, that element is now gone, and it feels strange to say the least.
Even as someone who generally accepts that doping is commonplace in the peloton, it hurts me every time another allegation of doping comes out. It takes me days to recover from it. But even if the worst happens, if Professional Cycling as we know it today falls apart, cycling will continue. Because cycling is more than watching others race bikes. It’s about racing or riding the bike yourself. It’s about overcoming your own limitations. It’s about the rider and the machine working together. It’s about cleaning, caring for, thinking about your bike. It’s about taking photos of it so you can look at it when you’re away.
Cycling rides through a storm today, but we will always have the bike. We will always have la Vie Velominatus.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Wait, what?
Finally made my way through all the comments. TONS of intelligent opinions and words written here. Like many of you, I’m up in the air here. I like watching the PROS race, I know they are often doped up, I hope they aren’t, but when we find out they are, I can’t say I didn’t expect it. I’d love to know the entire peloton is clean, but I’ll continue watching either way. They are already on another planet than me in terms of ability, so it’s not like I’m suddenly pissed they’re cheating to be so good. Then again, we too ride a ton and it sucks that their talents are enhanced and we don’t know what is talent + V and what is talent + drugs.
Marko:
What does inspire me on rides? At the risk of sounding trite, it’s knowing there’s a bunch of other OCD dickheads (read Velominati) out there in all corners of the globe doing the same thing I’m doing. Trying to have fun, stay fit, talk shit, obsess, and balance cycling with life and knowing all the while that cycling is life.
A-Merckx. I ride because it’s fucking awesome & half of my best friends are cyclists. And because I’m about to buy a really slick CX bike and have the fall to look forward to. Been out of competitive sports since I graduated college, think it’s time to jump back in, especially now that I’m in my thirties. And roadies tend to be too wacky, even for me.
A lot of us will keep on pushing the pedals no matter what the PROS are doing…like shoving another guy out of your way as you reach the line!
@sgt :
>>>> true dat, sgt. <<<< I've been wanting to say, in multiple comment threads on multiple articles here, exactly what sgt said (plus some). I haven't had the chance to read through all the comments; I suspect what I'm going to write has already been written above by more than one person, so apologies for redundancies. Riders are condemned far out of proportion for doping. They are at the bottom of the food chain... all those hopes and invested dollars are weighing on THEIR backs, talk about pressure. It's easy to blame just them. Black and white worlds are easier to live in. But it's an extraordinairly complex situation. Which means it's not easy to think about, it's not easy to find real workable fixes, and it is tempting (because it's easy) but certainly inaccurate to try and place blame, or the vast burden of blame, on a single group of players. I long ago acceded to the fact that at this level of cycling EVERYBODY DOPES. Even my personal nice guy hero Eric Zabel. Once somebody starts, everybody practically has to... because, ultimately, of the money. I mentioned somewhere else I have two friends, US Pro or Semi Pros, who got job offers from European teams (some years ago). More or less with the offers came the list (not necessarily in writing) showing the NON OPTIONAL juicing regime. You want to ride for us, this is what you do. Otherwise you don't ride for us. This was just an underscore to what I'd already decided was likely the real story. I don't like it, as sgt said. But I don't throw up my hands and naievly say oh my god i never saw this coming when someone is "caught." One aspect I'm not sure has been hit as hard and with as much emphasis as I would expect it to be around here - and everywhere in the published cycling world (though it's very, very possible I just haven't read enough V; it's been mentioned, including in franks article, but I think somewhere along the line the deleterious and long term effects deserve more than a mention in a comma deliniated list of "why there's doping in pro cycling") is the absolutely horrific and incredibly inequitable job of policing and enforcement (laughable, really). I would say that it is only in the last few years that anything close to reasonable has begun to be implemented... and still, the wrong people (the riders) are the ones that are getting punished out of proportion. Yes, they should suffer consequences. But the punishment - real, consequential punishment - needs to go way further up the food chain. @frank :
I think I ran over a post of yours above that addresses some of this. I’ve been raise-one-eyebrow-then-move-on surprised at your vehemence against “caught” riders, considering your obvious experience and intelligence, throughout some of your articles. But if I skimmed correctly, it looks like you’re seeing/accepting the light. Or dark. No, wait. Grey. It’s all grey. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, the whole world is grey; it means it’s a complex thing. Life would be boring in black and white.
Excellent writing, as always. How the hell do you find the time??? Ride on.
@mcsqueak
Nihilists! Fu** me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.
@Karolinka
I think you’ve misinterpreted my comments regarding Contador here as reflecting my views on doping. Read through the archives for my and the other Keeper’s views on Doping.
I have openly and regularly stated that one of the great privileges of being a fan is the fact that we get to be biased and use double-standards to judge riders. I hate watching Bertie race, and with his positive test, he should be banned. But I loved Ullrich (favorite rider ever) and Pantani and if they could race today I would fully love to see it, doping or not.
It comes down to this: I liked those guys and I don’t like Bertie. Nothing more scientific going on there than that simple fact.
As for Bertie, I hate that fucking guy and resent the fact that the governing bodies are too incompetent to keep him out of the races after a positive doping test. I don’t hold it against him, by the way, that he is racing. He’s been allowed by the governing bodies. He’s allowed to race, so why not? It’s the governing bodies who should have done their job and kept him out of the races. More for the fact that if he gets suspended it casts into doubt what the race would be like, and he’s taking the opportunity to stand in Milano in Pink away from a rider who hasn’t failed a test. (Not that they’re not doping.)
Like I said earlier, what I’ve come to realize in the last weeks is that what bothers me is the lying – not the doping. I’ve advocated, in fact, for legalizing doping in the past. It’s the lying and deception that ends up bothering me, and the changed results. It doesn’t for me, take anything away from the spectacle either way. I’d like to see a clean sport because I believe it’s possible and I think don’t like the idea that they’re being pressured into doping. But, if it’s proven that they need to dope in order to make cycling healthy, I’d have no issue whatsoever with it.
It also needs to be said that some of my favorite races in the past have been during the jet-fueled days. The duel between Contador and Rassmussen on the Peyresourde in 2007 was quite possibly the most intense and exciting climb I’ve ever watched in a bike race. I was physically exhausted, just watching it. Probably my favorite climb ever, and it was almost certainly jet-fueled beyond comprehension. I don’t care – still a great race and it doesn’t change for me knowing that.
I don’t think is all that difficult. Doping is cheating. I dislike cheating. The worse the cheating the more I dislike it. Flirting with grey areas or being a bit once or twice is very different to a deliberate, sustained, calculated and concealed attempt to regularly and materially influence results by means which are prohibited. So CERA, EPO, and all the riders, doctors, soigneurs and others complicit in their use and the concealment of their use really piss me off. Does that mean I hate all dopers? No. They are human, and I am human. Sometimes I like them. Sometimes I grow to like, or at least have a grading admiration for, them. That depends on lots of things. As Frank notes, being a fan involves a heavy element of subjectivity. But their cheating still posses me off. And I find it much harder to feel the same about someone who has cheated and is relatively unrepentant than if they hadn’t doped (or been caught!). What if PEDs were legal? Well, it wouldn’t be cheating, would it. But would I be ok with that? No, probably not. I don’t know enough the biology to make an informed decision, but the ‘donkeys into racehorses’ thing worries me, as do the potential for long term adverse effects on the riders concerned – including the thousands of others (including kids) who would follow them. And while it is easy to suggest it would be no different than nutritional supplements, etc, the fact that there might be no obvious bright line to distinguish ok from not does not mean we shouldn’t draw one, even if it can appear a little arbitrary, if the consequences of not doing so are unpalatable. Which I think they would be.
Believe it or not, I recently had a beer with Andy Hampsten. We met through some mutual friends at the NAHBS. Andy is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and was surprisingly honest after I bought a few rounds of Stella. I can tell you that he cut his prolific professional career short because he was not willing to use EPO. On that same note, he felt like some of the banned substances are ridiculous and forced the riders into using other illegal substances that were more effective performance enhancers, but not as easy to detect. His take is that the entire system including the list of banned substances should be over-hauled. It’s unrealistic to expect these guys to complete a Grand Tour without the benefit common pharmaceuticals such as Cortisone and common pain relievers.
On other note about the state of drugs in professional cycling…get over the past. Why is this Fuck Tard prosecuting actions that happened in the 1990s in a sport that few North Americans give a chit about. Take a look at the professional Basketball, Football or Baseball in the States and apply the same testing rules as in cycling. I’m guessing you would eliminate 50% of the athletes from competition. Fuck em. I’ll still be playing hooky from work every morning there is a mountain stage on Versus when the TDF starts.
BTW-Hampsten can still bring the V.
@Netraam
I hadn’t been to Livestrong dot com before. I started to freely associate about Lance. So I put in sociopath. Lo and behold. Then I started thinking along the lines of Huevo Ranchero. Surprise!
Livestrong is a fucking gold mine of weirdness as applied to LA. I thought they only provided money for research to kill cancer and to support cancer victims and their families. Obviously, they provide so very much more.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Suuuuuurrrre. I now have a mental picture of a JiPM head to toe in Mellow Johhny (ewwwwww!) livestrong bracelets wrist to elbow tapping away furiously at the livestrong website ;)
@Tibbaustin
Fucking awesome. Hampsten was one of my all-time favorites. His V-ictory in the Giro was so tough and so classic. What a cool guy.
As for why Novitsky is chasing down LA so hard is because USPS was funded with gubment dollahs. He wants to prosecute both the use of federal dollars to purchase illegal drugs, and to find the suppliers and prosecute them, too. That’s why he’s doing this from the FDA. It’s about the manufacture and distribution of drugs for illicit purposes.
From what I understand, this isn’t really about Lance all that much. It’s really about getting at the suppliers. As an example, regarding baseball, Novitsky was after BALCO. Some baseball players just happened to lie to grand juries and Congress and get their nuts caught in a wringer. They didn’t have to lie. Hell, MLB didn’t really have much of a banned substances list. At first, the players weren’t explicitly cheating as long as they used stuff that wasn’t on MLB’s list.
The current LA Circus is kinda the same. And you’re absolutely right. The U.S. couldn’t give a rat’s ass about cheating in professional cycling. It’s about the use of federal dollars and the hunting down of the supply chain.
@minion
Hey. I’m keeping my hands on the table where everyone can see them.
+1. What I really don’t like about Clenbutador is that he always races with glasses on. You never see his eyes when he’s riding. Mix that in with the fast he’s a shifty looking bugger when you can see his eyes, and his toy chucking when he got busted for clen AND plasticisers, and that he put 34 seconds into the competition over a 12 km course where 2nd, 3rd, fourth all came in within a few seconds of each other. If yo apply a bit of common sense to all this you start having to be willfully ignorant to beleive that this guy is clean, and I hope CASA whacks him hard before the tour.
@minion
Let’s not forget. While riding for Bruyneel, Contador cut short a beach vacation. With 10 days notice, he rode and won the Giro. Was he fit? Sure. Was he talented? One of the world’s most talented. Driven? Absolutely mad with drive. Loaded on jet fuel and instructed by those most adept at fueling jets? Yep.
Cynics!
@G’phant
This. I’m possed, too.
@Steampunk
O sometomes have doffoculty typong on my oPad.
I thought this was very good – until my mind inadvertently linked your “taste better” link and your “applied to LA” phrase. Now I feel not really so very good.
Well that kinda leaps off the page, don’t it? Wow.
Funny it didn’t mention frozen sperm. Uh oh, is this going to have to be redacted?
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Who the hell does the testing for that sort of thing, oh and more importantly WHO THE HELL THINKS TO DO THIS. Bunch of weirdos on that site for sure. @JiPM I don’t know why you found this, but I’m glad you live a Loooooonnngggg way away from me….:P
I thought you were mocking the dulcet vowels us Kiwis are known to caress on their way out of our mouths.
These two statements are MUCH too close to each other on this thread…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA
Don’t you guys call it an “oiPad” down there? OH SNAP.
Sorry if I’m behind the times on this heated subject, but I want some input anyway. Doping sucks, but it’s human nature, whether it’s driven by greed or by the simple need to put food on the family table. And this behaviour isn’t limited to cycling, or even to sport. How many business people bend the rules to make more cash/avert failure/increase status/whatever???
I know we are a passionate bunch on this topic. I for one hope that COTHO goes down big time, and takes as many of his cronies as possible with him. It will be interesting to see if he sings like a canary when his balls (sorry, ball) are/is on the line!!
But I won’t stop riding my bike or watching pro cycling if he doesn’t. And I won’t start doping to win club races. It’s all my choice, and I still love cycling.
Viva Velominati!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Like Rasmussen went on holiday in Mexico?
I’m increaingly aware of how I select information from that available to suit my already formed point of view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA
@mcsqueak
In a thread that went from way to serious to fucking hilarious (the second I shut up, noted) this stands out as the one that finally had me laughing out loud.
Now I can’t see an iPad without thinking oi!Pad.
@Bianchi Denti
I was wondering about that, too. I think he’s too fucking stubborn. And he’s got his cause. Interesting.
@mcsqueak
@frank
Oi! Dear North American morons, “oi” is an orstralian expression mate.
As far as I am aware, Gphant is one of those weasel-fuckers from across the pond in NZ.
Defrent kuttle o fesh bros.
@Marcus
sorry across the detch
@minion
Well, that was cool. Except I didn’t understand about half of it. For me, that par for the course.
Heh heh. Heh heh. Marcus said weasel-fucker. Do they even have weasels in Orstralia?
Whilst the commentators here are clearly wisened types, I am amazed no one has mentioned JV in all this.
He shares parallels with LA in that he now has a just cause, Garmin is without doubt going about Pro racing the way it should be (with the exception of treatment of Trent Lowe, but I think that was a case of judging without checking). But…
Remember JV rode as a loyal lieutenant to LA on USPS, and spoke strangely to Cycling News once (only) about his one great win at Alpe d’Huez in Dauphine Libere (I think). He was stranegly circumspect, not proud at all. That ‘bee sting’ episode does not mean he was Mr Clean when racing. He’s not spoken a word about his career since, just like Big George he’s been a loyal domestique to the ‘end’ as it were.
There is no precedent with ASO stripping a Tour win despite not having a positive test, unfortunately. Bjarne Riis never tested positive but admitted ten years later he was a cheat. The official website record still has him as the 1996 winner.
Whether we like it or not, the Pro side of the sport is essentially like Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula 1. ASO run it, and being a private family business, they run it how they want to. UCI is a toothless tiger, and usually acts like a stir crazy 50 year old zoo tiger at that. It’s true that the Feds only care about their agenda, they are not responsible for cleaning up the sport. With virtually every Pro team DS or Team Management including an ex doper anyway (check Sky, Leo-tard, Saxo Bank, etc.), things are unlikely to change quickly either.
This too will pass.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
No weasels in Oz – they got eaten by the drop bears
Don’t try and fuck these weasels!
@Marcus
At least when they eat your face off, you can enjoy their delightful eucalyptus breath.
@pakrat
What, no Frank Zappa reference?
Here ya go JiPM
@Marcus
Showing my age here, but The Dropbears were also a brilliant indie group in the late 80’s doing the pub rounds. Had a minor hit as well “fun loving”. Ah, those were the days….
That is some scary statistics as well! Didn’t realise thay had a preference for the tourists either? Thanks Marcus
Bollocks. “Oi” is originally English. Like “bollocks”. My father used to regularly start his many admonishments of his kids with “oi”. We would often reply “bollocks”. But generally very quietly.
And they’re sheep, Mate, not weasels. (Though you’d pronounce them “shoip”, as you dragged them throough to the pewel room.)
Back to the doping…..just stumbled on this little gem at The Science of Sport.
These are the highest recorded VAMs ever in the TDF. Thought it was pretty interesting knowing what we know now about who has been doping. If you want know how you stack up against these guys on your favorite climb, take the altitude gain (in meters of course) multiply by 60 and divide by the number of minutes it takes to complete the climb (altitude gain X 60/time = VAM).
G’phant :
Interestingly, my in-law’s, who are all from a beautiful little Japanese village in Northern Japan, use “Oiii” the same way we do here in Oz/NZ/UK etc. Just a little more of a prolonged “ii” sound at the end but still used to get someone’s attention. Don’t think it has any ye olde English background over that way?
@pakrat
Mate, that reads like a who’s who of this very topic!
@G’phant
@minion
On a completely unrelated topic, any of you blokes responsible for the WellyWood idea?
Welly wouldn’t but Auck could.
It all makes sense now G’phant. A Kiwi with an English father – who could blame you for having a chip on your shoulder about Australians. You still pissed off with the old man for not paying the full fare to get to Oz?
It’s FUSH bro, duffrunt kuttle uf fush. Just like I’m gunna take my zupp 404s to the shop to buy some mulk!
And we’ve got much nicer animals to have sex with that Australians. Women, for instance. Not saying there aren’t any in Oz, but there are a lot of blokes in the FNQ
@minion
It’s kinda weird but other than your indigenous people (respect to Jake the Muss) there isn’t an equivalent stereotypical NZ bloke to the Aussie above. I guess it must be that people don’t give a fuck about you.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
And oh, if you get caught in the dragnet, don’t try telling white lies to the US Attorney’s office and/or FBI. They hate that shit. Especially when they don’t have anything else to prosecute.
@mcsqueak
Very well played.
@Marcus
I googled stereotypical New Zealander and, well, I give you the handsomest man in world cricket, and almost any room with an absence of light, Scott Styris.