My group used to ride with a couple of top level riders, not even pros. One of these guys would come out towing his lab. And better not challenge him on a hill, because he'd drop you like rock, lab and all. He didn't like having to do that to people, he just wanted to ride his bike. Only in winter, just to get out and ride a little. In summer they did serious stuff.
A couple years ago, I came down with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). My rheumatologist put me on a declining dose of predisone for a year. Except for the pain being gone and having my athletic ability restored, I didn't feel any different.
I was about the same as normal.. All went well, it hasn't come back. My case was a little different, because I needed that hormone to be normal. It was exogenous, but I wasn't like I was doping. PMR is essentially the absence of that endogenous hormone, no one knows what causes it, they only know how to treat it. Weird. Sometimes I'm glad to be a part of my generation.
When I started treatment with a high dose, I commented to my doctor that I felt better immediately. He said, "Yeah, I could prescribe that dose to a bone cancer patient and they'd feel fine."