Don't kid yourselves that doping is only happening at the professional level. As pll said, yesterday the news broke of master's aged racers being caught doping at a Grand Fundo - the grand prize? An $8000 bicycle that many could likely afford. One of the racers has admitted to the doping - he won Tour of the Battenkill this year. Think about how it feels to be racing against someone, only to find out they were doping.

DH and his friends are sadly questioning the performances of more than a few local AMATEUR racers. They have the means to do it, and testing is virtually non-existent at our local events.

Put yourself in a racer's shoes. Every weekend DH and I are out putting in our best efforts on the local race scene. We don't dope. We pay our money, work our a$$es off, and have to question the performances of some of our peers. It's disheartening.

Oh - and EPO is readily available on the internet. And just yesterday, DH's rheumatologist quipped that even male enhancers (you know the ones advertised consistently during prime time TV?) would improve performance.

So, do the pros do it? Yes. Do the amateurs do it? You bet. Does that make it ok? Absolutely not.

SheFly