OK, So About the Whole Floyd Landis Issue

The Prompt:

Normally, cyclists are drug-tested if they win or finish near the top of a race, or if they are selected at random. They are also tested out of competition by their international federation or by the World Anti-Doping Agency. But that model is changing.

In Slipstream’s program, each rider’s blood and urine samples would be tested by an outside lab, then sent to an independent agency to be analyzed. That agency would then compile a biological record of each rider, including his levels of hemoglobin, naturally occurring steroids and red blood cell count. Over time, the information gathered would show what was normal for each individual. Team management has asked WADA to audit those results. . . .

Other professional cycling teams, like Team CSC and T-Mobile, have instituted rigorous in-house testing programs, but Slipstream’s is different because it is independent of the team and does not test for banned substances. Instead, the riders’ biological report cards are analyzed in conjunction with physiological testing, so scientists can see how the body changes when the riders work out, travel or when they are ill.

I ran cross country and track for a few years in college. It was at a division II state university, so it's not like we were big time or anything, but it was still enough to leave me burnt out for a number of years after. During, in fact. I ran cross country for a fall, indoor track that winter, and outdoor track in the spring, followed by independent summer training and another season of cross country. After that I disappointed Coach by telling him I needed a sabbatical and skipped track that year, then ran cross country one more time and was out of eligibility. But being on the team was an intense enough committment that I could only keep at it for so long.

I could count on 3:00-6:00 every afternoon being spent in practice. We'd start with a team meeting and maybe some kind of activity. Then we'd run our 2-mile warm-up and stretch, followed by the workout itself. Sometimes we had long runs, and sometimes Coach would drive us 15 miles out of town and let us run back. Other times we did intervals or whatever. After practice we might lift or do accelerations or stretch some more. On top of the afternoons, we were also supposed to run 4 miles every morning on our own for extra conditioning, so I had another hour committment on top of the afternoons. And we'd travel every weekend for meets, sometimes staying overnight.

In addition to the training, we looked for every way we could to gain any extra advantage. Even though none of us were working, many of us bought cases of special recovery drinks to chug after practice. Coach ordered us vitamin supplements that were supposed to help. And the last thing at the end of practice would be standing in a tub of ice water since that was supposed to flush the lactic acid from our muscles and aid recovery. And we weren't even that serious a program. Many ran more miles than us and tried to gain their own advantages. I remember one meet where a division I school's trainer met all of their runners at the finish and immediately drew blood. I don't know if they were testing for nutrition, oxygen capacity, or what, but they were obviously trying to get scientific about the whole thing.

Now you take that up a few notches to professional cycling, where it's their job and main passion, and they really get obsessive. Wind tunnel testing for aerodynamics, for instance. Lance Armstrong had the nickname "Mr. Millimeter" for compulsively pursuing minor changes in the bike and his position on it in the hopes of becoming that much faster. They also calculate every calorie and nutrient that goes in their bodies, hook themselves up to machines to test power and lung capacity, and the like. Instead of ice baths, they get massages after every ride. They will try anything and everything they can think of to make themselves better than the competition.

So if there's an illegal substance that might help, and they think they won't get caught . . . yeah, I can see it happening. They're doing everything else, so what's one more thing? To hear some people talk, basically everyone in cycling is using something illegal. But every single active rider acts outraged at the thought and acts personally offended when someone is caught in the act. So it's hard to know who to believe. Same thing with Floyd. The scientific evidence seems to be there and some people have already dismissed him even before he's had his hearing. Yet he swears he's innocent and that they have a case to disprove the evidence. I really want to believe him, yet it's easy to see how he might have gotten caught up in something. It's even easy to believe that everyone's doing it and he was just unlucky enough to get caught (in which case he was still the best rider since everyone had the same advantage he had).

So, anyway, I guess that's an awful lot of writing to say I don't know what to believe. I still like him and I'm rooting for him to be proven innocent, but am not ready to take a stand to defend him. I can see either side being the truth.