Monday, May 3, 2010

doping and cycling

The racing at Liege-Bastogne-Liege this year took away from the racing at Liege-Bastogne-Liege this year...... The fact that an ex doper won after his retribution made an obvious stir. Fans actually boded Vinokourov's technically soild as well as grit solid win this year. And fans at the finish line of Liege-Bastogne-Liege are by any definition serious fans! First of all...... damn good ride. Textbook to winning a one day classic... dude pedaled his ass off. Dude made solid " I've been to this rodeo before" decisive moves...thought things out ..made the proper attacks ....had the conviction,the legs, and the patience to find himself alone at the finish line. Well earned win. But along comes the bullshit. Dude got popped years back for using the magic juice ..the inside iggy... the booster.. the fire... the dope, the drugs. It's an unfair advantage. Vino tested guilty got the sentence and served the punishment and now is back to kill finish lines across Europe. Vino never hung his head at the conviction..never said "sorry.. my bad" never apologized. Dude just asked "How much time?" said "O K cool..I'll be back in a few". Vino serves the numbers ,shows back and rips open Liege-Bastogne-Liege epic style...Fans Boo. And it is at this point that things go tricky. Sides of topics get taken. Arguments are waged over wine and pasta... people fucking booooo the winner of god damn Liege-Bastogne-Liege!!!!! Drug doping in cycling has always been an odd topic for me. The downside argument seems to always drift towards the "It's an unfair advantage" and "These poor bastards are victims of greedy coaches" back to the other end of "It's just not safe to take these drugs" "These poor bastards should suffer naturally" side of things. I can see see these sides. I understand there logic somewhat. Hypocritical as they are to me. The pageantry, the glory, that is bicycle racing is to give all no holds bared. To see these poor fuckers give all they have.... to sacrifice everything.... to pursue.... the drive to be at the front ...to be the first,,,,the best today ... the win .. To give up everything. They give up rainy days. They give up home for eight hours a day of pain. They give up complaining about anything. They give up comfort ...in general. They give up a good paycheck. In this sacrifice some riders are given advantages. A better pair of cycling shoes. Mabey a better set of wheels. The structure of a dedicated couching staff. A sick ass time trial frameset that can shave 20 seconds from a 40 kilometer time trial. Mabey they are granted a nutritionalist that sorts out the exact best diet for this exact rider. Something like that could be the difference between being still able to still bang out a sprint after 200 kilometers of balls out racing. Mabey the benifit of a gifted masseuse can give this team the ability to train super tits hard the three weeks before the classics....compaired to another team that can't afford a full time mechanic. Of course it is a definite advantage to not have to stop to fix your flats! In short.... why should one advantage be more morally acceptable than another. Why is a performance enhancing drug not acceptable but a three million dollar budget O K? A mega budget is defiantly an advantage over a small flow yet mega talented squad... any day of the Tour. But then..." Really..It's a health concern..It's the riders health ...it's not safe". Racing balls out 200 days a year is'nt good for you either.... sacrificing EVERYTHING is'nt healthy... bombing over cobblestones in the ass end of France is'nt a healthy move. Giving up family and friends .. suffering all day in, all day out... blasting down mountains at 60mph is a risk. A risk we all love to see unfold. This is cycling at it's finest. Seeing these hard ass fucks give it all.....every bit of it... like we wish we could. All except ..... "but ya can't take that". Take every advantage all you can,,,except THIS ONE. Take every risk ... make every sacrafice...surrender not one advantage........ except the moral ones....... just sayin

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