I despair, I really do. I have managed to convert two aspiring teenagers from Football to Cycling with one of them moving from 4th Cat to 2nd Cat in this his first season. I am however at a loss to explain these news items about professional cyclists caught out for allegedly cheating. I think we all believed they were behind us. Why does it continue to happen. Are the tests becoming so complex in depth that they are picking up something that actually exists innocently or are the alleged culprits truly cheating: Let’s face it, if they are using illegal substances then they are cheating. But, why do we continue to find professional cyclists apparently resorting to these tactics. Is it greed or is it the sheer pressures of modern day cycle racing?
I don’t believe that it’s greed. There really isn’t enough of a reward to justify this. My guess is that the pressure and strains of the todays calendars are placing potentially unrealistic strains on the riders.
We spend absolute fortunes on taking the capabilities of our machines to the absolute extremes yet the human body remains what it has always been. Sure, we are far better educated in how we treat our bodies: we know what to eat and when to eat to maximise the benefits but they all have limitations. We have all the benefits of modern technology to maximise our training, and even our resting. But, physiologically we, mankind, have our limits: there is no SuperMan: And yet we, and the media, constantly strive to create just such a being.
I have seen suggestions that maybe the tour (Giro d’Italia, Tour-de-France, and the Vuelta A Espana) season is too arduous and that there should be just one 3-week tour with the others reduced to a maximum of two. Maybe, just maybe there’s mileage in exploring this. What I do know however, is that something has to be done to eradicate cheats. If they were isolated cases, we could deal with it the way we are today, but as we stand, we cannot just rely on Deter, Detect and Deny, we must try to analyse the Why. Why do so many people still resort to cheating, assuming they are of course, when the chances of being caught is almost guaranteed? Are they really that stupid?
I could go on but I’m just so peed off with the whole affair. I love cycling: I love the fact that my two boys have taken to cycling in such a big way (even though it’s cost me a small fortune). But, I hate cheats. I also hate witch-hunts. If somebody has cheated, deal with them (no cheat should be allowed back to professional cycling) but why do we have to have a media circus every time somebody is caught or accused of cheating? it’s screwing the image of our sport.
Whatever we do, we mustn’t just look to the cyclists, and their support team. Lets also look at the system: The testing system and the cycling system.
I apologise for any typos: They are there to test observation skills. 😀
Rant over :B
I’m off for a ride now.
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