CODY SHIMIZU

A look into my life, a journal to look back on, a blog for others to see.

Doping. The word that has tainted the cycling world for close to 20 years now, the poorly kept secret of a biological warfare between skinny armed, clean shaven, lycra clad herd of people, unravelling to the rest of the world, all from an event at the 1998 Tour de France called the Festina affair. Several professional teams caught with dope in team cars, trailers, hotels, and of course, the blood. The pandora’s box was open, truth being gossiped in households, rumoured about at bike shops, a heated conversation at a mid-ride café stop. It was only the beginning of the struggle, to regain and rebuild the trust that people would put on anyone under the banner of a “cyclist”, everyone would look at a cyclist with eyes of suspicion and doubt. In the 80’s you look at any sport from track and field, cycling, baseball, weightlifting, they all had one thing in common, doping. Since then many sports have cracked down on dopers, tightening the nuce around dopers, shining the light in shadows, whether it was actually cleaning the sport or a PR stunt never the less it worked. They publically displayed and ashamed whom were hailed heroes, Ben Johnson, Floyd Landis, Ross Rebagliati, Tyson Gay. But cycling and doping were like star crossed lovers, inseparable, “cyclist caught doping” occurring far too often. The classic tale of an American hero, making a comeback from cancer to fight back and win the most prestigious race in the world, Lance Armstrong. His empire, ideals, and image coming crashing down with one swift sweep of a few words on TV the truth was out, taking down not only himself but the entire sport of cycling with him. Ever since the ball has kept rolling downhill, dopers being exposed left, and right, we cant even look at our heroes without a little bit of doubt in our minds. Ex dopers only to make a return to the sport, because a few years can change who they truly have become at heart. People putting motors in their bikes to race with. Something needs to change.

Doping, but why? Why; the three letters that can make people question everything, kick them off the tracks, lose their minds. Or it can bring sense and understanding in their beliefs and actions. To people like me that has never gone near EPO, testosterone injections, steroids for the purpose of “performance enhancement” may never understand. Rather it makes me question, this sport that I am so passionate for, the sport that others must love to be able to make a living out of. Why, why would they ever destroy the image of the thing they love just to cross a line, they don’t realize they’ve crossed the wrong line; one never to be crossed, to be doping. Is this what cycling has become? It doesn’t matter how, as long as you cross the line first? The pay cheque, the glory is worth more than the integrity of the word that connects our community? Cyclist. A part of me thinks I understand, I dreamed a dream of one day racing 2 wheels for a living. Looking at photos, videos, of professional riders in amazing places doing what they love, and getting paid. Who wouldn’t want to do that? But with little guidance, and a training plan that I cobbled together from Facebook articles and GCN videos (GCN is a cycling YouTube channel), I wasn’t going anywhere quickly. I was running myself into the ground trying to do so many intervals in a week not accounting for recovery and rest, no real long-term plan I was burning myself out. This thought of thinking that I was doing everything I should be (looking back I should’ve been smarter) but I was thinking with my passion rather than my head. I had reached a point of desperation, a deep part of my mind of why’s and what if’s. What if I doped. The moment it flashed into my mind I was scared, what had I done to come to this point of desperation to even consider doping. Looking back maybe it was the moment I told myself that some dreams are meant to stay as dreams. So, I ask again, why dope? Out of desperation? For your ego? Just to prove to others that you’re better than them? I’ll never know; never.

What is doping? In the past, the early days of Lance Armstrong, blood doping was common. All you do is inject your own blood right before a race which increases blood volume, this allows your body to transport, consume, and utilize oxygen at a much quicker rate. More recently the word EPO is being thrown around in the world of cycling. In short, it is the seed of red blood cells. EPO is called erythropoietin, a hormone to tell your body to tell you to make more red blood cells. EPO is naturally created in the human body since it is a hormone, so let’s take a step back and ask again, what is doping? Consider the case of Caster Semenya, she is an South African middle-distance runner with many world championship, and Olympic titles to her name. She suffers from a case of Hyperandrogenism. This causes her to have unusually high levels of testosterone, close to the level of males. This is because in reality she carries the XY gene (male gene) in their bodies which is why their bodies produce so much testosterone, and typically the high levels of testosterone will cause their embryos to grow into males with male reproductive organs, but athletes such as Caster Semenya has CAIS (Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome) where their bodies cannot react to the increased levels of testosterone thus resulting in hyperandrogenism. This insensitivity to testosterone causes their embryo’s to grow into females, with female reproductive organs. The IOC has a rule where people with Hyperandrogenism is forced to take hormone suppressants or even a surgery to reduce the testosterone level in their bodies. But Why? Why do these females need to alter their natural bodies to fit this definition of an female athlete just to compete when there is still no conclusive evidence that Hyperandrogenism gives them an advantage? Take another step back and think, even if it did give them an advantage, do they really need to go through hormone therapy or surgery just to compete? We never told Usain Bolt that his legs were genetically too long so he needs to shorten them, or Michel Phelps to make his foot smaller cause they were giving him an flipper like advantage, how about sprinters with genetically large number of fast-twitch muscles? Endurance runners with incredible metabolic efficiency?

So it begs the question again, what really is doping? Is taking protein doping? Artificially increase the protein levels to help us recover quicker? Where do we draw the line? How about TUE’s (Therapeutic Use Exemptions)? When I went to the doctors complaining about breathing, the doctor was quick to offer me corticosteroids because they thought it improved my FEV1 (Test for max volume of air exhaled over 1 seconds) “slightly” I was quick to refuse since it didn’t seem right, taking drugs I didn’t really need. The issue right now with Chris Froome testing for unusually high levels of salbutamol, a drug used for treating asthma. Was he actually “doping”? How much of a difference does an asthma inhaler actually make for people that don’t suffer from asthma, in truth probably not much if any. Or maybe it’s just Chris Froome’s genetics, physiologically just doesn’t breakdown salbutamol very quickly. Or maybe he took one too many puffs out of desperation? Would you call doping something that some people have access to while others don’t, creating an “unfair advantage” across the field? Then how about people who can afford all the training facilities one could dream of, compared to maybe someone who doesn’t have a physiotherapist, a team doctor, sports psychologist, or even a coach? Or someone who has the latest and greatest, lightest, most efficient parts for the equipment while others using equipment from 20 years ago? Is that an unfair advantage? Is that... doping?

So how do we get rid of doping? Doping in my opinion is a deep-rooted problem starting with the sociological issues surrounding the sport of cycling and doping culture, now with the thought of motor doping it seems like a problem that will never go away. Like a virus, always finding a new way, mutating to work around the detection of the newest drug, or motor to cheat their way to the front. Maybe it starts with education, of knowing what we are dealing with. Cause no matter how big the consequences, thefts still occur, murders still happen, and cyclists are still doping. So, next time you’re sitting at a mid-ride café stop think, why, and what is doping, and most importantly what can you do to change and restore the integrity of the cyclist.