Human Doping Guinea Pig

I came across a pretty cool article in Outside Magazine the other day about doping in amateur ranks of cycling. The author decided to be the guinea pig in an experiment to see how Testosterone would affect his cycling. It is a ballsy move by the author and I don’t think anything like this has ever been done before. Give it a read…

A few years back, I had an idea for a magazine article: I’d profile an ordinary weekend athlete who cheats by taking performance-enhancing drugs. Although I found evidence of what I call citizen doping, I could never pin down someone who both fit the bill and would cooperate, so I decided to cut out the middleman and do the cheating myself. Under medical supervision, I took testosterone for about a year, even as I continued to train and compete as an amateur bike racer. I chose T, as it’s sometimes called, in part because it was the same stuff Landis apparently used to win the 2006 Tour de France.

…continue reading the entire article here.

About Dirty biker

I am a fan of singletrack, singlespeeds, single women and single malt. Bisbee, AZ - Follow on Instagram @dirty_biker

15 Replies to “Human Doping Guinea Pig”

  1. It’s ridiculously easy to get dope. The author went to a sympathetic Doc, but that’s not even necessary. A simple Google search for T-patches or T-paste will give you links to myriad Canadian pharmacies that will ship the stuff right to your door.
    Look at that douchebubble Joe Papp. He set up an entire doping business, and he’s a fucking moron.
    Guys ARE doping in the amateur ranks, period!

  2. Outside had another article like this, maybe 2002 or so. Similar story about a local 40’s guy who started doping and was then able to hang with all the climbers. I don’t think he actually raced, tho.

    I hope nobody buys this asshole’s book.

    Doping in masters and amateur racing = unbelievably pathetic.

  3. I’m cool with it. The author, and his tactics, I mean. This guy cheated in order to better expose a situation. It’s investigative journalism. If he kept some pencil pusher off of the podium in the Cat 3 race at the Cascade Classic, who freaking cares? Doping in amateur racing IS pathetic. But this guy had journalistic intent, not just a hard-on for winning the weekly parking lot crit. He got in, got his story, and got out. Doping in all of it’s forms is pathetic. All the story does is illustrate the fact that the assholes willing to do it run the spectrum, from gifted assholes at the top of the sport, to not-gifted, weekend warriors. I’m not as concerned about the integrity of the races that he or other amateur category dopers participate in as I am disturbed about the importance of winning that this group of pansy-ass half-men (and half-women) put on amateur bike races.

  4. I thought there was an article in Bicycle. That author went the steroidal/hgh route other than T. Yeah the stuff works. I think if you end up trying it as an ameteur you might find it hard to put down. Just like lots of drugs.

  5. So if the guy ends up permanently hooked on the juice just to get a story, is that funny or not ?

  6. …so the author wanted to prove what, exactly ???…that drugs are easily available & that they work ???…isn’t that kinda old news at this point ???…

    …i’d suggest that this guy was banking on raising interest through the sensationalism of his actions rather than actually providing any valid information…

    …& jeez, triplef…that new avatar of yours works like a testosterone patch…

    …just sayin’…

  7. Triple F Avatar gives me a performance enhancement. Gonna have to rub one out at work now.
    Own your victory or your result. Dopers suck, Pro or otherwise.

  8. …@gildas…you purists are all the same with your judgement calls…

    …& that just means that sleazy, i mean scientific guys like humpty n’ me need to get our hands on ’em for research purposes…

  9. Pingback: Link roundup: May 12 | Tucson Velo

  10. @frank

    Thanks for that link. Great story. I especially like this part about legalizing all drugs for sports.

    “Like a lot of powerfully bad ideas, that one has a certain mad logic. But it would turn every sport into a test of how much damage an athlete was willing to risk to improve performance, and would basically force every serious athlete to cheat and risk his or her health. Athletic contests would have a strange life-or-death quality. If we don’t keep drugs out of these events, they become freak shows, the athletes like gladiators—with us playing the role of decadent Romans, urging them on.”

  11. Nice article indeed… I, for one am in support of legalizing all drugs… bring on the gladiator events! At least this way we’ll see the hilarious culture merge of elite racers and drunk Bike Kill punks:
    http://vimeo.com/2735954
    Hell, at least the punks already do bike propelled chariot races and jousting!