Erik Long

It saved his job long enough for multiple victories at a world class level.
If he'd been "racing clean" all these years, riding in the environment of
the doped-up super-peloton, he'd have been a mediocre domestique, at best.
The man took a calculated risk that has paid off for most of his career.
Don't forget, he's 33 years old, his days in the peloton were coming to an
end, anyway.

He made a decision to do what he had to in order to compete at the highest
level of a professional sport, the same as everyone else at his level, and
it helped his career. He just happened to get caught. A sorry end to an
otherwise brilliant career.

Athletic doping is the kind of thing we all wish we could dis-invent. But
it happens, and with good reason. If you want to beat 'em, you have to join
'em.

My point in all of this: The dope is so rampant that it no longer provides
an advantage to the user, just a disadvantage to the poor soul who thinks he
can ride at that level on nature alone.

Forget about dope for a sec. Hypothetically, you enter a mass-start hill
climb against 100 riders at your same fitness level. You know that their
bikes are all at least 5 lbs. under the weight limit, and your team hands
you a similar bike, well under the weight limit listed in the rules.

Do you accept the illegal bike, knowing that you'll be breaking a critical
rule and possibly put yourself at risk by racing on such an underbulit
machine? Or do ride your existing bike and willfully put yourself at a
disadvantage, hoping in vain that every finisher ahead of you will get their
bike weighed and be disqualified?

----Original Message Follows----
From:
To: Erik Long
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Vino's reality:
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:55:31 -0700

Well, not sO'wise one. He's out of a job, his career is over, his name is
tarnished, his team is out of the tour, he's given pro cycling another black
eye and he will have to pay a years salary as a penalty. How did doping save
his job?

---- Erik Long wrote:
> Do you really think they'd keep him on the team if he wasn't capable of
the
> kind of riding he's done?
>
> Tell us all, O' wise one. Which G.C. position do the clean riders start
at?
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From:
> To: obra@list.obra.org
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Vino's reality:
> Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:25:33 -0700
>
> In no way shape or form did he do what he HAD to do to keep his job. I
see
> allot of riders slower than him who have jobs. Do they fire every rider
who
> doesn't win? Of course not.
>
> ---- Erik Long wrote:
> > Why are we all so surprised at Vinokourov's positive test? When did
we
> all
> > go back to thinking that the UCI Pro-Tour is so different from other
> > professional sports?
> >
> > Are they doping? Hell Yeah, in addition to more training miles than
> you'll
> > ever see in your lifetime. It's not like these guys inject a magic
> > substance, sit on the couch and just get faster. Hell, EPO only works
if
> > you're riding a hard schedule. The pain of riding hard is still there
> for
> > these riders, they're just going 10% faster than than they would if
the
> dope
> > didn't exist.
> >
> > Is it unfair to the riders who aren't doping? It would be naive of us
to
> > assume that there are cyclists on the Pro Tour who don't care to keep
> their
> > jobs. But under the assumption that there are Pro Tour riders who
"ride
> > clean", then yes, it would be unfair to them.
> >
> > Vino's job (his J-O-B) is to be competitive at the top level of a
> > professional sport. Hundreds of miles of training every week, the
strict
> > diet, the ability to handle a bike at 80mph, and all the natural
talent
> in
> > the world isn't going to get 1 rider in 3 million to average 31mph in
a
> 55k
> > time trial, no matter who's bike you put 'em on. That takes
> pharmaceutical
> > assistance, and if you want to keep your job, you'll do it because
there
> > will always be new talent waiting to take your place.
> >
> > That's the cold, hard, reality. And now that Vino's been caught doing
> what
> > he had to do in order to do his job, he'll lose his job, his career
will
> > end, and the tour will go to another great rider and eventually, he'll
> get
> > caught, too.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----Original Message Follows----
> > From: gschreckchat@comcast.net
> > To: judson@math.harvard.edu, obra@list.obra.org
> > Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] vino = cheater
> > Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:42:48 +0000
> >
> > I think Atana's and Vino's silence speaks volumes. The result
apparently
> > came from the test after the TT. In this case, there is not much
reason
> to
> > wait. These guys are going to kill professional cycling.
> >
> > Of course, I suspect that if other sports had rigorous testing, these
> would
> > be a lot of sports in trouble. I notice no one ever followed up on
the
> > soccer palyers that supposedly were working with Fuentes. In
baseball,
> guys
> > who tested positive are still playing and apparently in football, you
can
> > still pay in the playoffs, make the alll star team and be eligible for
> > defensive player of the year after you serve your massive six-game
> > suspension for steriods. Attendance in all those sports still sets
> records
> > which only goes to show that the fans do not really care, nor do the
> money
> > interests. For some reason cycling always seems to be in everyone's
> > headlights both on the road and the press. It is not an excuse for
> cyclists
> > taking drugs, just a question why the rules are not enforced a
> stringently
> > for other sports. I suppose there is more moeny involved in other
sports
> > which drives everything..
> >
> > --
> >
> > George Schreck
> > gschreckchat@comcast.net
> > (503) 502-0425
> >
> > -------------- Original message --------------
> > From: "Thomas W. Judson"
> >
> > > Let's wait for the B sample to come back before we
> > > judge Vino as a cheater. Let the process run its
> > > course. There have been false positives in the past.
> > > --- Mike Bene wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/news/?id=/news/2007/jul07/jul25news
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> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Thomas W. Judson, Ph.D.
> > > Preceptor in Mathematics
> > > Department of Mathematics
> > > Harvard University
> > > 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
> > > EMAIL: judson@math.harvard.edu
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
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