vic32amg

I was thinking about it today. As far as i'm concern, let'm dope. I figure they are all doing it so they are all on the same playing field. perhaps it would even be more fun to watch. Perhaps even give bonus points or minutes if they are on methamphetamines or hallucinogens. please discuss.

Or change the rules to where doping includes more mainstream drugs.. cocaine, pills, etc.. only

please discuss.

squeakywheel

I don't know of any dope detroying the sport.

Chucklehead

if it's all distributed and administered by a UCI-approved drug tech, then fine. otherwise it's cheating. because, like with F1, the wealthier teams/drivers have access to better resources and thus have improved chances of winning.

Cypress

It takes hope away from guys like me. All I want to do is train hard and have it pay off. I absolutely HATE needles!

iab

Why stop at doping? A little genetic engineering goes a long way.

Flak

It's an unfair advantage and undermines the spirit of cycling; hell any sport for that matter. Im against it because i want to see the best, not the best after artifical enhancement.

If i cant have that though (and i dont think i can unless there is a massive breakthrough in testing) then make it mandatory....it would be an artifical playing feild....but atleast it would be an even one.

DrPete 

Yeah, you're right. Bring back coke and amphetamines. Not enough 30-year-olds dropping dead from heart attacks at bike races these days.

-VELOCITY-

I don't care. They don't pay me, and I don't pay them

grahny

I say allow each rider 1 doping stage in a stage race. Then teams could use that as strategy

In all honesty though, I could care less.

DrPete 

So if you have kids who want to be pro cyclists someday and everyone's on the juice, would you support them?

Cypress

It makes me feel like crap. If I don't inject harmful chemicals into my body, I will never be the best. Or even a contender for that matter.

-VELOCITY-

I would always support my kids in whatever they do. Hopefully my good parenting will enlighten them to why those things are wrong. And they would learn better. But I can't worry about what pro's do with their lives. And by the way I do have kids.

TheKillerPenguin

Yes, yes I do care.

Snicklefritz

The guys I really feel sorry for are the ones earning minimal salaries who feel they have to dope to keep up with the others. They probably don't have access to or can't afford to see people like fuentes who at least knows how to administer stuff without doing too much physical damage. What about riders who are seeing less than super competant people they maybe don't know how to administer the stuff properly? As I understand it, if you give someone too much EPO they can end up with a heart attack because they are basically pumping mud through their system. (ie blood is too thick)

vic32amg

this guy cares

-VELOCITY-

I mean in a perfect world none of these guys would be doping. But I don't let it bother me. that's what I mean that I don't care. I just do my thing.

2Tired2Shift

As long as the drugs they are using are legal, either over-the-counter or by prescription, I don't care.

DrPete 

I was just curious, because honestly that's why I care. I don't have kids yet, but I think the longer sports look the other way on this, the more we'll be hearing about little league coaches giving out steroids, USCF juniors hitting EPO, and all kinds of stuff like that.

Like it or not, the pros are the role models of the sport, such as it is. To condone doping at the highest levels of the sport and celebrating tainted victories is ultimately to condone doping at the lowest levels of the sport.

akatsuki

Totally against it. It destroys any sense of fair play, destroys people's sense of approachability, that they could achieve something without "cheating", and would eventually destroy the sport. Just look at running and people with those special prosthetic running feet. They can actually run faster than people with normal legs, and if they let them into the Olympics, I guarantee you every single competitor will cut off their own feet to win. Plus it makes it that much harder to make historical comparisons.

@Velocity- so you tell them something is wrong, but you don't think that they will look at people who are supposed to be their inspiration and good examples and not follow them. What are you going to say, that since Merckx and Armstrong, there are no heroes in sports?

-VELOCITY-

If I have to rely on my kids looking anywhere other than across the dinner table for a good role model and a hero, then I'm not doing my job. I don't consider anyone who is good at sports any kind of hero. A mom who goes to work all day to feed her kids because she has no husband, that's a hero.

With that said I am not going to derail this thread anymore than it already is.

Flak

But the point is, they either do the right thing and ultimately fail and have to give up thier dream....or succumb to cheating themselves.

Awesome choices.

vic32amg

[QUOTE=-VELOCITY-. A mom who goes to work all day to feed her kids because she has no husband, that's a hero.[/QUOTE]

damn, this is getting really deep.

Bakemono

IMO, doping is destroying the sport. I think that anyone who is caught doping should be banned from the sport for life the first time they are caught. No second chances, no excuses, no BS.

ed073

it's not just professionals.

mr handy

The problem, as i see it, is when high school kids begin using in order to be the best. The idea that only the pro's do it is false.

it makes you wonder when you see new world records being set in different sports, did He/She dope to be able to break the record, or did he do it himself. it would be nice to know that its a person competing not a chemical.