OK, here’s a thorny and complicated issue, one just perfect for internet comment sideswipes. Thanks to a suggestion from a reader (we really would like you all to do all of our work, really), we have today’s subject – performance enhancers. We’re not talking about the pro stuff here, because if you are taking those to be able to place in local races, well, that’s sad really.
What we’re talking about here is the over the counter stuff: energy drink, liquid vitamins, Sudafed, asthma medication, Excedrin, coffee, even nicotine gum has been rumored to give people an edge. What have heard of people using or have you used yourself that you believe you couldn’t live without?
Just remember that you can rat yourself out, but not others – that’s called “libelâ€. And now with our sin-in option we can track you via the fake email address you submitted. Let me just retire to my oxygen tent as I have some breathing exercises to do before I have a B12 shot.
I drink six shots of espresso each morning.
I really do
6? Are you crazy? Why don’t you just skip the middleman and throw the espresso directly into the toilet?
OK, I’ll start. From the beginning I always heard aspirin helped mask the pain and thin your blood out, causing more oxegen to flow through your blood. That seemed to work for me, but I over did it a few times in races and had really bad stomach cramps. Caffeine too is a well known stimulant, but too much of that can make your stomach even worse, and if taken too early can cause dehydration and leg cramps. I use to take Ephedrine too, when it was legal, for short fast races. That was my cocktail, Aspirin, Caffeine and Ephedrine.
I used to also drink Ultimate Orange, no longer sold over the counter in the US. I don’t know what was in it, but it made me talk really fast.
That said, none of that stuff made a real difference as moft of my best results came when I did not take anything. Also a few times I dropped out of races I could have easily finished and probaly placed due to stomach cramps.
What would I do with all my crap?
3 aspirin. 2 salmon oil capsules, 1 multivitamin everymorning
12 oz coffee and 1 pop tart before races
acclerade in my bottles and gels during race
recoverite & whey protein after races
the occasional epsom salt bath
there it is..follow the above routine and you too can be bitch slapped by James Joseph in the sprint at FBF
chris
I am going to Boulder, CO to train and race for a week. I know not enough time to get full altitude benefits but I hope I get some. I need all the help I can get.
I also inject EPO into my eyeballs before each race. Gives me the eye of the tiger. Meow
i tried a red bull & gatorade cocktail but it was nasty and upset my stomach.
I eat 2 bananas before and after. I drink a banana pureed with some blueberries and H2O on the bike in races — thin enough to swallow easily, doesn’t hurt the stomach, loaded with glucose and antioxidants, tastes good.. And pefectly legal and you aren’t enriching some dastardly pharmaceutical company. Also,lay off the coffee if you can all week and a half-cup before a race will get you a buzz for 6 laps.
2 asprin and 2 red bull for me plus cytomax in the bottle. I know a girl who knows a guy who swore he raced on ritalin..
In the 90s, I tried a couple of things I shouldn’t have.
I drank Ultimate Orange twice. It had some kind of stimulant in it, and it really worked. I didn’t like what it did to me, so I threw it out (I also felt guilty).
I was sick once, so I raced on Sudafed. Better if I had stayed in bed.
Now it’s vitamins. I drink Emergen-C every day. I consider myself lucky that I didn’t end up with a physical addiction years ago. I think it could happen easily, since the temptation is so strong.
Well it is now 1.6 weeks with no riding and a sore collar bone. This thread will probably be very quiet – cause I am sure some guys don’t want to reveal their super secret cocktails.
Over the years – I can’t say I took anything that would be considered illegal – I think I took some super gurana tablets in the early 90’s and was flying – but once I found out that gurana containe ephedra – I was like F*ck that sh*t.
A couple of years ago I started to take Pyruvex – and maybe it was more of placebo -but I felt good taking it and had a string of solid results that I was happy with. No wins (CAUSE I SUCK) but, then again I was working f/t, just had my 2nd kid and hardly had time to train. ( My usual execuses).
This year I have done alot of homework on supplements and found that some of these probably do work – and are legal – though I am more happy to be healthy than wrecking myself with some supplement that kills your stomach like EAS VO2 Max.
My thing is – go all the way. TAKE EPO, Nandrolone, and other Cortical Steriods. Cause those do work. (of course I am just kidding).
ray
Just a point of interest here…what’s wrong with the sides of the woman’s tongue in the picture? They look shaved.
i grind up a multivit and 800mg of ibuprofin and dissolve it in 2 parts seawater, 1 part tussin. oh, wait, that’s totally disgusting.
Ahh, Ultimate Orange. I remember those great ads in the bodybuidling magazines for it "Bench up 45 pounds, squats up 75 lbs, deadlifts up 60 lbs. What’s in this stuff?"
What’s in it? A stimulant that’s banned in most sports — ephdedrine I think.
For me I occasionally use caffeine — used to us
I used some banned stuff once — Lidocaine, which is a pain killer. I had a severe saddle sore and could barely ride without it. I only used it topically and that might be legit — I’m not sure. Lidocaine is banned in some circumstances.
I know one illustrious CRCA member who had a heroin addiction before he got into racing…
I’m high on life
A bunch of guys I know were getting ready for a race and their coffee machine wasn’t working. Racer A
is totally stressed abut this, repeatedly mumbling how he *needs* his coffee in the morning. Finally racer B, or Brian, gets sick of this and says, "Look A, here’s a caffeine pill, take this."
To which racer A responds, "But I don’t do drugs."
Oh yeah, I used to drink bad deli coffee, black, before Tuesday Floyd and Wednesday track. I wasn’t a coffee drinker back then, so it was really gross.
Water Joe is great — mix in a little Powerade powder and I’m good to go.
Stage 3 – June 7: Bourg-de-P
USA…USA…USA…USA…USA!
We like emulating the pro’s, and why not? I must say we do this pretty well and quite seriously too: matching brightly colored uniforms, oversocks, team tactics that would probably be more impactful in Liege than at Floyd, carbon TT bikes for 10k TT’s, etc. What concerns me is whether some are emulating another seemingly intrinsic facet of racing: doping. While I agree w/ Schmalz that we’re not talking about "the pro stuff here, because if you are taking those to be able to place in local races, well, that
I eat and train and occasionally use medecine not to emulate pro racers, but because I think it’ll help me race better.
You’re absolutely right. I also ride to race better. But I also learn more about racing from watching pro’s then I do from anywhere else. Maybe I should get a coach. Someone like Pevenage or Saiz.
One night before a CRCA race a few years ago I found I had no energy gel/powder/drink and decided to make my own. In the cupboard I found a pack of gummy bears and a jar of brown rice syrup. I melted the gummy bears into the syrup on the stove and poured it into one of those gel flasks. It tasted pretty good. But when I pulled it out of my pocket during the race the next morning I found it had re-solidified and I couldn’t get it out of the flask.
I have taken creatine in the winter while lifting weights, but I’m not convinced that it had any effect. I once read that it might be beneficial for vegetarians. I like those Emergen-C packets, and sometimes take a cal/mag/zinc tablet to prevent cramps in hot weather. I drink a lot of coffee all week long, not just before races.
Non-cyclist friends sometimes ask me whether people dope in our races. I always say no, because I know that at least in my case, I could get fast a lot more effectively just by increasing my training volume than by taking any supplements or drugs, even if I knew where to get them and could afford it. If you’re already riding 20-30 hours a week, sleeping 12 hours a day, getting regular massage, avoiding alcohol, etc. maybe it’s a different story, but I’m never going to get to that level.
Caffeine is my drug of choice, and nougat, of course…
Drugs dont make a donkey fast.
Crystal meth. And Gu. Don’t forget the Gu.
Two weeks before any big event such as Ironman, GMSR, or a State RR I will eliminate any and all stimulants from my diet. Yes, no coffee for two weeks! I do this in the hopes that I will feel the effects of caffeine for the event. I learned this when I started doing Tri’s a few years ago. Seems to be the practice in that arena. I do feel the jolt but any "performance enhancement" tends to be masked by my giddiness and nerves of doing the event. I still like doing it, if anything it helps you stay focused the weeks heading into your "A" races. Trust me, showing up to work with no espresso is a pretty good reminder of what you really want to be doing.
Crystal meth. And Gu. Don’t forget the Gu.
This topic will never be discussed honestly unless spoken in the dark to yourself and even then you can totaly justify it.
tried crystal at a race
but kept blowing the pieces out of the pipe w/ my breating
couldn’t light it
didn’t help
FRS……There’s no substitute!!
this is by far the best discussion yet on NYvelocity…
In races lately, I getting more tired mentally than physically, so I have found the the usual cocktail of coke and beer in my bottle can be aided by 2 doses of 2mg nicotine gum. Focus is enhanced ten-fold
grape fruit and espresso . that is for the diet phase.
endorox for above 1 hr events
gu and as much espresso as i can stomach for crits under 1 hr
nothing for CRCA races, I am only riding them for training from now on
Ho ho! I see ze caf
will someone please give jean-marie two behind the ear?
Bear Claws. Ancient Eskimo mojo. They scratch my throat a bit on the way down.
cat 5…dope what
cat 4…that 3 guy is so going to be a 2
cat 3… that cat 1 is so on the juice
cat 2… who me never
Cat 1… shhhhhh
Pro…Yes my feats are extraordinary but I am a great champion.
FRS with an espresso kicked my ass into gear once, but I found that I couldn’t stomach the stuff on the bike. But with some research it’s easy to reproduce the same ingredients and make it taste better (see bananas and blueberry post below). Add Red Bull if you feel you need the caffeine.
I think the best performance enhancer is … sleep and recovery.
Ok fella’s let’s hear it. In 2004 a journalist asked Lance straight up "Have you ever used illegal performance enhancing drugs". Lance’s answer (I thought) was very telling. He said" I have never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs". That sound like legalize to me. What say you all.
I thought that Lance answer was curious..but perhaps that was just another way of saying "no" to the question. Does he allways answer doping questions in that manner? I don’t think so. People love to throw stones..I believe if anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt it’s that guy. I think not so much the cancer but the rejection cycling offered him post cancer awoke a sleeping giant. His training and dedication and drive went off the charts. I do wish he never teamed up with Dr. Ferrari. He does have a laundry list of people who would love to get into a steel cage match with him. But every alpha wolf does. 7 tour wins-0 positive tests. Hard to argue with the facts.
Y Pulla?
Does real doping exist at the amateur level? I don’t know but I suspect it probably does. I once read a story about young, high school and college athletes at the top of their sports (olympic hopefuls). They asked these kids if they could take a pill that would allow them to win at will for a year, but they would die at the end of that year, would they take it. More than 50% of them said that they would trade that one glorious year for all their years thereafter. I think that the level of passion and dedication also runs that high for some amateur cyclists, at every level. How many of us know someone who has nothing else in their life but cycling? No husband or wife, no kids, no career to speak of, just cycling. They love it, live it, breathe it, eat it, sleep it, smoke it. Are you telling me that person who gives up all else for this sport would not be tempted by the lure of success and glory? If high school kids are doing steroids to make the football team, then I suspect there are cat 3’s using dope to win GMSR or Bear Mountain or Fitchburg, or whatever race holds special meaning for them.
This is just my opinion, I don’t have any hard facts to back it up.
To AC – – I think it’s safe to assume that some amateurs dope. But it’s absurd to assume that Cat 3s who win GMSR and other major regional races must be doping. Most of these guys have a little extra talent (e.g., some are former Olympic rowers) and a lot more commitment to training (as you point out). They uniformly train harder than most. If you want to see who’s been winning the Cat 3 races this year, just go for a ride on 9W between 6 and 10 a.m. on any given weekday morning. You’ll see Will R., you’ll see the Motor, you’ll see others. Some have jobs and wives and some don’t. But they all train very hard and focus on recovery. It doesn’t take dope to win a Cat 3 race. If you think it does, you should just put your life aside for a few months and dedicate yourself to training.
Caffeine lovers – – there was an article in the NY Times a few months ago about the effect of caffeine on people with some type of circulation disorder. The conclusion was something along the lines that caffeine is bad for blood circulation. It’s findings also suggested (not directly) that caffeine would reduce aerobic performance during extended athletic activities. I was surprised by this as most cyclists I know enjoy a coffee or other caffeine jolt before/during an event – – can we all be wrong? I’ll try and find the article and post the link. Again, it wasn’t an excercise physiology study, but there were inferences toward this conclusion. Anyone know anything about this?
do not ask pulla and alvaro please!!!!!!!!! you can die!!!!!!!!!
ADM, I think maybe you misunderstood me, or perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in my post. I didn’t mean to implicate, (nor do I believe) that those winning Cat 3 races are on dope. I think those capable of winning at this level don’t need it. Rather, I meant to say that I suspect some who pour every ounce of their life energy into racing at this mid-level and still can’t win (for whatever reason) might be tempted down the wrong path. If one is willing to go to all these other lengths in pursuit of success, some might take the final, fateful step. I also think its the smallest of minorities but that it does, probably, exist in our club. My point is solely this: Performance enhancing drugs are becoming more and more pervasive in high-school and collegiate athletics, to suspect their absence from our own playing field is probably unrealistic, as you point out.
JHS – – Thanks.
AC – – Got it. I tend to agree with you.
Evil MH – – Creatine in the winter? So that’s what makes you such an angry, aggressive person. It’s roid rage!
Just some findings for you caffeine dopers ;o)
– Caffeine, probably the most widely used drug, affects the psychological state of thosewho consume it. Abuse results in symptoms of caffeinism which include agitation, disorientation and a syndrome which may be mistaken for anxiety/neurosis.
– The equivalent of one or two cups of coffee (150 to 250 mg of caffeine) is sufficientto induce adverse effects. The occurrence of hyperesthesia, an unpleasant sensory sensation, can be stimulated by large doses of caffeine.
– Everyday "legal drugs
i have without doubt succombed to caffeinism–i know because i sometimes experience something which i mistake for anxiety, but which actually is something else. something disastrous.
Who can recommend a dealer? I want to try HGH. Possibly steroids for winter training, maybe EPO – but I hate needles. Speaking of needles, what is the spanish word for needle – pulla is it? Since I am new to doping, can someone provide links to possible sideeffects of taking steriods, growth hormone and EPO? Thanks.
ask Lance, he had problems with them back in the 90s , some cancer of the balls thing…
anyone take animal pack?
Hi Aaron, GN is not a bad source for info (he’s in great shape for his age!) but I personally don’t believe in too many supplements, but rather eating nutrient rich foods.
Baldwin you are the man…
I never go anywhere without my espresso
bought at PR coffee store on Bleeker.
5.99 a pound for Italian Espresso
can’t beat it.
Eugene emergen-C packs I’ve been into since
they came out around 1990 or so – just drink
a lot of water with it or you’ll get stones.
If you are getting your heartrate up like we all
are on a regular basis, I think both are a must.
Also vitamin E will thin the blood and over 400mgs
give an elevated heartrate if that is what is your poision. Otherwise a good meal the night before and a lot of rest is the key – did I mention training, training, and more training?
Mihael – ephedrine will raise your blood pressure, not a good thing for the kidneys and liver especially under stress. Asprin may cause bleeding don’t ask where – as per stomach cramps vitamin E works better.
The key to any of these including coffee is low doseages. One good cup of expresso in the morning has less caffeine then American Coffee without the processed beans and almond flavoring. Straight black and strong will get you started, with a lot of water also, then leave it alone for the rest of the day – never before bed – get your heartrate up to process it and you are done.
Good advice campocat
Old school emergen-c-er
Questions:
Rest: how much? Two days spin after hard sessions? Or just one?
emergen-c while riding?
I just ate a whole pack of certs! Remember me when you place your bets for the TT tomorrow.
But really, just some vits for me.
That rest thing is up to the individual. A lot of folks are afraid of burn out, but if you don’t know where that point is, you won’t know how to tweak it up a click.
Alan Atwood says I’m like the Austrailians, go till you drop or can’t walk and do it again the next day.
When I do the camp in the springtime – march into early april – 8hrs every day – hills one day – intervals and speed work the next for three weeks.
You get a feel for what your body tells you. If it says rest, I rest. It even tell me how much.
Sometimes it says; ‘hey sucker tonight you going to out and have a good time with your buddy Jose Q…’
I particularly like those days, as a matter of fact it was last night.
Motor pacing is going to be fun today.
No nothing while riding except water, your body has every thing it needs to process the crap you put in it before the race. If you load you kidneys with stuff it has to process besides latic acid it will slow you down.
Emulating anyone except yourself should be avoided. The pro’s I have come to know over the years got to be pro’s by believing in themselves as the one’s to beat.
Give yourself that benefit of doubt. The best way to do that is to except the fact that you can be beat.
Then fix it.
bryant gumbel has more soul than casper.
I had some intelligent comversation going on there for a half second. What happened? Brain fart?