Eric needs a blog again

Eric emailed me this little gem, and i thought it was in need of reprint, so with permission...

Alright, I gotta get this off my chest. I know doping bugs the crap outta you, I can relate, so you may just as well should delete this right now. Chances are high I won't say anything that's new or relevant anyway. This is to help me vent.

Now that I've given you fair warning....

We, the cycling fans, are stupid. For years we have heard DOPING DOPING DOPING. BLAH BLAH BLAH. We generally bought the party line that if a rider didn't' test positive he/she was clean. "Freaks of nature" or "Naturally gifted athletes" are the terms we called them.

Man did we have our heads in the sand. They all dope. Anabolic steroids are easy to catch but synthetic HGH, Testosterone and the like are close to impossible. All we can do is monitor the blood for "signs" of doping... like too many red blood cells and a rider isn't using EPO he's just unfit to race. It's just all about levels in the blood.

How did we come up with these "approved" blood levels anyway? Who negotiated these terms? "Look fellas, we still want you to be able to ride faster than the wind so you can use a little just not a lot. Okay?" "Deal."

The fact that each team has a bevy of doctors should be a sign something is up. Why would each team needs blood work done on a daily/weekly basis? Oh, because cycling is a gruel ling sport. Yeah, that's it.

Is it cheating to take something right up to the line? "They say I can only have 4 to 1 ratio of testosterone... Ok doc give me a 3.9999999999999999999 to 1 batch please." Then it's shame on you for going over. But an athlete can never say "Yeah, I took a shot, a pill, and a patch. My doctor just screwed up on the dose." We want them to be like us only better.

Who should we blame? The riders? The Cycling governing body? Fans? Sponsors? Hell, I don't know. I'm just pissed off.

and this was pretty great too,

Thanks EZ-E