carleton

Yeah, there isn't an easy answer.

Did you guys also read the "guilt and punishment by association" clauses? I've never heard of such a rule by a sporting body.

I think it's very difficult to prove that rider A *knows* that rider B is doping. Rider A could (and should) claim that even though they saw Rider B taking pills or injecting that they did not *know* the chemical contents.

There's assuming and there is knowing. The gap between can be very big. I wonder if the UCI will ever prosecute anyone saying that "You saw him take the pills...you should have assumed it was a banned substance and reported him. Therefore, you are banned too."

I think it's unenforceable.

Baby Puke

Yeah. This.

gtrob

It could also scare people into reporting others. Really that might be the only way some people get caught anyway. Someone trying to save oneself but blowing the whistle early, instead of letting them get caught and worried they will go down with them simply for knowing about it.

carleton

Yeah, but do we want an environment like that?

I don't know of another realm where such a system really works. I've heard of wives/girlfriends going to prison because they may have known of their significant other's illegal activities.

I don't know what the right answer is.

The problem is that these guys pretty much have nothing to lose. The same for US Football, Baseball, etc...

2 stories:

1) As one ex road pro explain to me: Cycling is sort of a "blue collar" sport. "These guys would be digging ditches" (his words) if they weren't racing their bikes. So they don't have anything to lose and everything to gain. He went on to say that if Rider A is the fastest guy in town and Rider B 2nd fastest. Rider B dopes to become faster, Rider A is sort of forced to dope to regain his rightful place in the pecking order. It's "keeping up with the Jones'".

2) Let's say you are a 35 year old NFL or Premier League player and your strength and speed are starting to wane. You know that the new 25 year olds want your job and are as strong and as fast as you. As soon as you lose a step against them, they'll take your spot on the roster and you'll be out of a job. So, your options are:

A: Let nature take it's course and lose your spot on the team. Result: $0/year salary
B: Dope to keep your spot on the team and make millions with a *small* risk of getting caught and then making $0/year.

So, you see, from that perspective there really isn't a down side to doping. I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying that's what going on in their heads. I think Floyd Landis mentions something similar during interviews.

Velocirapture

I'm putting this into this thread, as its not strictly track related; but i think its nevertheless very track relevant.
Having read this article - https://www.bicycling.com/sites/defau...-13-Helmet.pdf - mid 2013, its sort of nagged at me since.
As i'm currently in the process of organising a crash replacement helmet through Bell (thanks Bell), i've been looking at replacement options and discovered that a whole bunch of big brands are now bringing out models with the MIPS technology. If you haven't read the article, in summary its technology that protects you against concussion (guess what - you get concussed when your neurons stretch and snap!), rather than just a crushed skull type of trauma.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like what i'm getting has MIPS, but at the speeds attained on the track, i reckon its worth er'body being aware of whats out there.
In the first week of January last year, one of our best local sprinters died after crashing in the local league-racing keirin, from traumatic brain injury. I was there, and i'll never ever forget seeing him lying there as they tried to resuscitate him. A helmet with mips probably would not have helped, but its the reminder that its worth thinking about the bigger picture.

But on a positive note, i'm going to get a Bell Star Pro, and will give feedback

carleton

So, @theblackbullet and I are now teammates!

Hey, man, I'll help you break that Team Sprint Track Record now


(for those who don't know, I was on the team that set the current track record back in 2010 and still currently hold the record )

Velocirapture

who's racing which position?

gtrob

I hear carl is a top

ba-dum


Its only 16 days into the new year and Im already trying to find a way to burn my vacation time. I did this last year, completely used up by April haha.

theblackbullet

haha! should be interesting to see what happens this year! I'm expecting a couple of records to be broken this year!

carleton

:-|

On a 333, I can hold down man 1 or 2.

Awesome!

Minion1

Sorry to drag this back but those clauses are going to be CAS fodder - I agree its unenforceable, impossible to prove and wide open to appeal. It probably fails any test of proportionality to be banned for knowing someone was doping and not reporting them.

I do like the stronger deterrents, though.

Oldan Slo

TMI.

What happens at the velodrome should stay at the velodrome.

wens

I'm watching the Cali world cup, and man does Kirsten Wild get sketchy near the end of the elimination race. Comes down almost into a rider, then looks like she gets sketchy holding the bike down in a turn just a bit later and almost takes out the wheel behind her. Pretty sure I would've given her an earful if I'd been in that race.

TurtleRacer

This is @zaktrak's motor-pacing bike. There is some interesting geometry and construction here

carleton

Those derny racer bikes are nuts. The races themselves are nuts. Very exciting to watch.

carleton

Tonight I rode the track for the first time since July. Felt remarkably good. I rode a modest 47/15 and it felt like I had a 18t on the rear. Felt really soft. I guess that's a good thing That's not usually the case for me in the winter.

carleton

....annnnd I got bronchitis for my efforts

This is why I'm an indoor cat during the winter months.

slindell

There seems to be the one really good day just before coming down with a cold. Not sure if it the effort that brings on the cold or just the bodies reaction to the virus starting to react.

gtrob

Thats why god invented indoor tracks

wens

I had a great day in the weight room a few weeks back, and a cold developed middle of the next day. I'm guessing the effort weakens the immune system, but that's pure speculation.

carleton

I've had issues with asthma and bronchitis since I was a kid. Exercising in cold air seems to trigger bronchitis in my lungs at some point almost every year.

+1

taras0000

You got it backwards with your logic. You have a great day before your sickness because of the antibodies that are flooding your bloodstream. Everything in your body goes into overdrive in an effort to defeat the pathogen. This only works in regards to short, high intensity workouts before you get sick. It's not like you'll be able to predict when these workouts will happen, but you can be sure as **** that there is a good probability of being sick after one of these breakthrough workouts.

T NATION | Sick? Go Train!

TurtleRacer

There's also the fact that gyms are kinda nasty for germs. Overtraining does weaken your immune system - the last two times I went to the gym overtrained, I got a cold the next (or second) day (and I was pretty careful to not touch my face/and wash my hands after).

taras0000

Gyms are gross. Overtraining is and incubating an organism are completely different beasts, and if you are immunosupressed from overtraining, you won't have the breakthrough workout that I mentioned above. You'll already have been in decline. A cold also takes a few days to incubate before your sickness actually kicks in. Bug gets in your body, antibodies kick in over two or three days, and then your symptoms begin to wreak havoc

queerpunk

hey you guys are describing last week for me.