Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Weekly rant

All this doping news is starting to really push my buttons. Normally, this is one of my favorite times of the year. I can open up pezcyclingnews.com and see tons of articles and pictures of the many pro teams and their spring training camps in wonderful places. My imagination can wonder while I sit either on the trainer or while freezing my "expletive deletive" off riding outside. As a bit of a bike dork, I can browse through hundreds of pictures of the cool new gear and interesting setups of the new bikes. It is awesome. It gives me some focus in my personal quest for the season to come. Instead, nearly every day it is more doping news. Now, its some blood bank in Austria which allegedly stored and performed blood transfusions for hundreds of elite athletes, mostly nordic skiers may I add. But do we read about doped up skiers in the news... no. Only cycling has this problem. Not to mention these baseball jackasses. "We test all the time." What test??? "Here, pee in the cup and my poodle will now sniff it. If she doesn't try to hump your leg, you are not clean."
What about the many of us who don't find ourselves taking blood transfusions to make that next step? Where's the articles on some anonymous rider trying to make it clean? That is what I want to read about. The guy/girl who suffers 364 days a year in hopes of coming up with that elusive pro contract. I know many guys/girls like this. So do you. I think the time is near to simply accept the fact that for a period of time, doping ran rampant. Many did it, and got away with it. To simply keep chasing after retired riders on near retiring riders in ridiculous. Why not spend that money on new methods, such as the biological passports or simply on education for the next generation of riders. Team High Road (even with their ridiculously ugly kits) are an excellent example. Its time for a new generation of riders to step up. Time to show we have learned the lessons of doping and are committed to riding clean. Its a matter of mindset. Some will still dope, but I like to think that if you make it unacceptable to yourself to cheat, others will follow. Like the idea if everyone tells 2 people an idea, eventually everyone knows. It'll take time, but hell. I've got time. Why is everyone in such a witch hunt of a rush? It's time to simply let your legs talk, not the extra red blood cells.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

like everything else in life - getting to the top is tough. Once up there... ya'll find out how scuzzy the sht gets...
sht bubbles to the surface in many areas.

Its that push factor I guess. People at the top are highly competitive creatures. So, they will do what ever it takes to win. That includes cheating. Mindya, I bet most don't realize they are cheating for at the top it may just be the "norm".
Many criminals in society believe they are doing the right thing... its the culture that breads it. Once in such a culture, it is pretty much lived it. Like a frog in hot water - take a frog and put it in a pot of hot water and increase the heat. It will sit there until it dies. Take another frog and just plop it in the hot water it will jump out. Same goes for things at the top I take it.

Best to never loose the love of the sport. The passion for it!
Thats why I don't do trainers that often and go out and ride. Outside! I started the sport for the love of it. For the savior and pure love it provides. I started in the forest as a mountain biker. Its true passion for it all.
When it becomes a numbers game, the passion is gone.

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