Doped.
November 23, 2013 § 147 Comments
Lokalmotor Richard Meeker tested positive for steroids at the 2012 national masters championships and was sanctioned this week with a 2-year ban. Rich claims that he’s never intentionally doped and that the positive result came from a tainted supplement. He does this through a press release. A press release? From a 50+ masters bicycle racer?
I don’t believe him.
Can we please stop saying “shocked”
Rich’s press release says he was “shocked” to find out that he’d tested positive. I’m not sure it shocked anyone who regularly races masters cycling in SoCal, unless, like me, they were shocked that USAC finally nailed a masters racer who’s a pretty big deal. To the contrary, the positive simply confirms rumors that have swirled around Rich for a long time: that he wins races in part due to banned drugs.
The sad thing is now watching people who like Rich personally — I’m one of them — as they try to distance themselves. Folks, you don’t have to distance yourselves. He cheated, he doped, he got caught, he hired a lawyer, he fought it for fourteen months, and now he’s issued a non-apology proclaiming his innocence using one of the oldest, silliest, least credible, most embarrassing excuses possible. It’s the excuse that comes with the pre-printed “How to Dope” drugs from China, I’m sure.
“If to find doping caught violation, please to excusify on official protocol testing about mix product bad tea contamination and to a herbal remedy vanishing twin,” or something like that.
The “tainted beef” excuse, Rich, has been used by better, more famous, and more credible racers than you. Still, it’s okay to insult our intelligence. We’re bike racers after all.
What I want to know isn’t how his friends will react. I know what they will say because they’re already saying it. “Let’s wait until all the facts are out.” [Hint: they are out. He doped, got caught, and has been sanctioned.] “Those drugs don’t even make you go faster!” [Hint: they are still illegal, so you’re still a doper if you use them.] “Rich would never do that.” [Hint: he did.]
What I want to hear is something from his team, “Breakaway from Cancer,” which is sponsored by Amgen, which was founded by Thom Wiesel, who has a long and sordid history of turning the company into the major player of doping in cycling in the “Armstrong Era,” as if doping in cycling was limited to some tiny sliver of time when bad ol’ Lance ruined everything.
This may come as a nasty “shock,” but until Breakaway from Cancer and its team management make a strong statement about this, they’re going to be tarred with the amateur wanker doper brush, too — and so will their entire team. That’s a shame because it’s now reflecting on guys who truly are beyond reproach, guys who, if they tested positive, I would quite literally shake my head in disbelief.
That’s the press release I want to read, the one that says, “Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer masters cycling team condemns doping in sport. Richard Meeker’s positive test is proof that the system is being applied fairly to catch drug cheats on all levels. He will not be riding for our team in 2014, when his ban ends.” And then, in furtherance of the clean sport that Rich talks about in his press release, I’d like to see the test results he claims he carried out, along with the name of the supplement.
Indeed, now’s the time for his team to demand the release of that data in order to protect all cyclists out there who are buying unicorn powder in the hope that it will fill in the gaping cracks left by age, inability, genetic slowness, lousy strategy, weak legs, too much beer, insufficient training, and general sloth.
Just the facts
Rich has long been one of the top masters racers in the country, and although I’ve raced with him, it’s not exactly true to say I ever raced “against” him except for a couple of times, because he was so much better that I could never follow his wheel.
Throughout 2012 he was virtually unbeatable. He won time trials, sprints, crits, road races … in one race he went off from the gun, raced in a two-up breakaway in a hard, hilly road race, got caught, then destroyed everyone in the sprint. After the race no one would have been surprised if he’d done 10,000 push-ups, dragged a 747 down a runway by his teeth, and bench pressed a small ox.
The only time I was in contention for a finish against him was at the end of 2012 in a ten-man break at a CBR race. Sitting behind him and looking at his legs was enough to make me want to quit. He looked like a professional road racer with 0% body fat combined with a track racer combined with a weight lifter combined with the Six Million Dollar Man combined with Bo Jackson.
My stolen youth, stolen by dopers
Unlike Lance, who is responsible for everything bad that ever happened to me, Rich is in a different category. You see, Lance stole my dreams. He forced me to become a lawyer. He made me fail my algebra tests and ruined my career as a pro cyclist (I would have won the Tour and the Nobel Prize in physics if he hadn’t doped).
But Rich Meeker?
He didn’t ruin shit. To the contrary, the only times I’ve ever talked with him he’s been an exceedingly kind guy. Unlike certain steroid-crazed, punch-throwing drugheads on the SoCal masters circuit, Rich is as nice as they come. It just so happens that he doped.
So? Our ranks are quietly filling with ex-pros who’ve been sanctioned for drugs, not to mention ex-pros who raced higher than kites and never got busted.
If you race masters in SoCal and you don’t understand that drugs are rampant here, you are an imbecile. Too many riders turn in unbelievable performances not to understand that the sport is rife with drugs. However, unlike pro racing, which actually matters in some weird alternative universe, masters racing is like vanity book publishing.
No one gives a flipfuck. Even if you’re the greatest masters racer in the history of Planet Earth, YOU’RE STILL A FUCKING MASTERS BIKE RACER. In other words, you are over the hill at best, one foot in the grave at worst.
It was a pretty good year
Rich is a national masters champion whose USA Cycling results for 2012 make you want to burn your bicycle and your racing license. National crit champion, national road silver medalist, SoCal Cup 1st, Ladera Ranch 1st, Paramount Crit 1st, Manhattan Beach GP 1st, Rosena Ranch 1st, Jail Circuit Race 1st, District road champion, Barry Wolfe GP 1st, Arco Crit 1st, Dana Point GP 1st, Avenue of the Flags 1st, Redlands 1st, Ontario Series 1st … you get the picture. If you were racing 45+ in 2012, you were racing for second.
This is different from catching some 65-year-old wanker in a Florida time trial who placed fifth out of five entrants. SoCal masters racing is a national benchmark, and the guys who sit atop the leaderboards here are the best of the best when it comes to elderly, delusional wankers whose lives revolve around bicycle racing.
Rich insists that he took a tainted supplement, but he has refused to name the supplement. He’s long been one of the top masters racers in SoCal, and it’s possible he’s telling the truth, just like it’s possible that Tyler had a vanishing twin, that Alexi drank tainted herbal tea, or that every other tawdry and poorly conceived and cheap-ass lie coughed up by every drug cheat ever was true.
Whether he is or isn’t, though, it doesn’t affect me much, because I’ve been beaten by guys on drugs and I’ve been beaten by guys who are clean as a whistle. My enjoyment of the sport has a little to do with how I place and a lot to do with the friends I make and the experiences I have.
At the professional level, where careers and sponsor dollars and prestigious victories are at stake, it makes a big difference whether people dope. At the masters level, it’s more sad than it is outrageous, although if I were a sponsor of an amateur bike team, pumping money into bikes, clothes, entry fees, and clean supplements, I’d be flat fucking livid. There are a lot of businesses out there who sponsor small time masters racing because they like bicycling, not because they’re expecting a big payday.
Life, and cycling, have a lot more to offer if you take them head on and accept your race results for what they are: nothing more than how you did on a certain day in a certain race against certain people.
My guess is that when Rich’s ban is over, he’ll be the same affable guy he’s always been, and he’ll still be kicking my ass, supplements or not. I just hope he drops the facade and takes his beating like a man. Silly as we are, even bike racers don’t believe what’s written in a press release.
Cycling in the South Bay 
how come a two year ban gets you back in the peloton in 2014 ? suspended from test date ?
Exactly.
If Meeker’s claims of tainted supplement are true, we would logically expect a lawsuit against the supplement company. If Meeker is spinning yet another lie, there will not be a lawsuit.
Yet what if…. the supplement was from a sponsor of the team?
In mid-late 90’s you could buy it at places like GNC. But it was banned ~ ’97 (too lazy to look it up). I’d bet a large lunch at your favorite drive thru that there are NO legal supplements which contain andro available over the counter. Maybe they fed it to the cattle and …oh, wait, that didn’t work either.
She told me my beef was tainted. Hence the shots.
Great perspective. Shared it on FB.
I’m sure there were two reactions: fear and rejoicing.
Doesn’t bode well for Amgen’s sponsorship…
I wonder if they care? They must have known about it since 2012. There are a lot of good, clean riders on that squad.
What a sad state of affairs. We are masters racers and should be setting the example to follow in all matters of sportsmanship. If not us, then who? Are not most of us family men or mature individuals who have learned a few lessons and able to set the example for others? If it does not start with us then I’m afraid the sport has less of a chance of ever becoming clean or at least reputable. We have the power to change cycling for the better and I suggest we hold ourselves accountable to do so.
Rich, you can help our sport by coming clean, admitting your guilt and move on to redemption (see Seth’s post on redemption).
Mature men and fifty year olds racing bicycles is the opposite of maturity.
good point.
Eagerly awaiting your definition of “maturity,” not to mention real-life examples.
The big problem is the word “masters.” Masters of what? All you need to be a “master” is a license and entry fee …
Yup. Just leave the word “masters” out, and all is good. I’m fully capable of being an immature imbecile at any age and have proved this many times over.
First test??? What does that say about PEDs in the previous years?? “According to the AAA decision, Meeker was nine time Masters National Champion and this was the “first anti-doping test sought from or provide by Respondent in his career.”
Good one today
>
For some!
Rich travels the world for the Charlatan Church of Timmy Robbins and eases the money out of transfixed memetics enchanted by the power of walking on coals, for a small fee, of course. And this leads to the inevitable conclusion that Rich was slipped a Mikely Finn by an irate infomercial competitor. Ruined by a rival, it happens-all the time.
Where do I sign up?
If and when I get that Silver Medal from 2012 Natz Road Race, I’ll donate it to the Fairness for Floyd Fund.
Rich travels the world for the Charlatan Church of Timmy Robbins and eases the money out of transfixed memetics enchanted by the power of walking on coals, for a small fee, of course. And this leads to the inevitable conclusion that Rich was slipped a Mikely Finn by an irate infomercial competitor. Ruined by a rival, it happens-all the time.
Max, did Squeaker get that nandro from birth control bills you sabotaged his steak with when he was staying with you at your flat in Bend?
Your fault, I am thinking.
Hold your breath … but make sure there’s an oxygen tank nearby. A big one.
same for me in the crit. What about Paulson? He got gypped from wearing the jersey all year? How do you give that back?
With a kick in the ass?
GREAT words! I have raced against Meeker and the like in the SoCal scene and at Nationals many times… I study my capabilities scientifically… I know what I can do clean and how much I can improve naturally… Sad, but nice to know that the guys who were kicking the shit out of me… weren’t REALLY… I still love MY clean sport and it really is just about doing the best ride you can do on any given day… If you win, you were the most prepared and lucky. If not… someone else was that day!
Cheers for writing this!
Thanks! I study my capabilities, too, but usually after too much beer.
Most of the dopers who beat me would have beaten me clean, but there is a cadre of clean guys they would have never beaten. I would feel sorry for those who were cheated were they not bike racers!
Thank you Seth.
Next revelation: Politicians are corrupt!
But … you’re welcome!
You mentioned Meeker in another blog. I searched for it. Can you post a link?
It’s a chapter in my book, “Cycling in the South Bay,” available on Amazon for the low, low price of $13.99!!!
“My enjoyment of the sport has a little to do with how I place and a lot to do with the friends I make and the experiences I have.”
I think I said this same thing a while back, when I hung up my race wheels and told the USCF to bite me.
That was ridiculously funny and as clear and succinct of an indictment as you could possibly want to hear about the tawdriness and egocentricity in road racing. Even as the tip of the spear is broken, there will be no shortage of graspers for the crown, because what else is there to it? Riding the road is simply about beating the other guy, and for some, at any price.
Bullseye Howlie!
unbef*ckin-lievable – well maybe not….
Here in the NC hinterlands, not competing, and blissfully
out of touch, I am honestly shocked, and sorry that it has come to this. Thanks, your perspective is right on. Must share.
Thanks for the news, I enjoyed racing again for a few years in my forties here is SoCal. Had a blast and was so impressed at the caliber of masters athletes. It makes sense that racers with access to supplements and pharmaceuticals would use them. I never placed near the top but enjoyed trying to keep up to these monsters.
Great news! After they vacate his placings, I move up to 42d!
We’ve got our own “Meeker” up north. 50+, wins everything, kicks Cat 1 butt, time trials up mountains like a skinny teen. Gets a free pass from the local peloton cause he’s never tested positive, not that there is any. I hope he has as much pride in his trove of trophies as I do in my best-ever age-group 3rd place finish.
Well, I hope there is more to your accusation other than “winning”. That would be a very sad state of affairs.
Have I accused anyone; named any name? Indeed, not. I described a 50+ racer who “looked like a professional road racer with 0% body fat combined with a track racer combined with a weight lifter combined with the Six Million Dollar Man combined with Bo Jackson.” It doesn’t take a genius to add 2+2, nor a human physiology Ph.D. to know what an unadulterated almost-60-year-old body is capable of doing.
Yep. All the “I’ve never tested positive” crap gets old. What about flunking the common sense test? You know, photos that show a guy in his late 30’s looking flabbier and weaker than when he’s 51, all ripped and veiny and punching the pedals with legs that would make a quarterhorse blush.
I don’t buy it. You are accusing an anonymous OR racer of doping on the basis of his performance and the fact he is in great physical shape. I have no idea who it is but I bet from the information you’ve given that racers in OR know who you are talking about. Again it is a sad state of affairs for you to be convinced he is a doper based on your perception of what someone his age should look like and be capable of doing. Something I never did in my 30s, 40s and 50s but do in my 60s is ride 400 miles a week. I win some of the 55+ and most of the 60+ masters races in AZ and got 5th at Nats in the TT. Using your criteria I’m a doper. Just saying!
No, he’s just using circumstantial evidence to suggest doping, he’s not conclusively saying the guy dopes. When a guy goes from inactive to athletic, drops weight, gets fit, that’s one thing. When a guy looks leaner and more muscled at 50 than he did at his physical peak as a bike racer in hid 30’s, only a fool would rule out drugs as one possible explanation.
So, “Only a fool would rule out drugs” is not an accusation? And if we don’t accept your argument, we are fools. Sorry, but please let us all agree to differ and move on. I’m assuming we are all disgusted by drug use and so leave it at that.
Yep. Well said.
PS: I am fairly foolish (fair disclosure).
Re: “You know, photos that show a guy in his late 30′s looking flabbier and weaker than when he’s 51, all ripped and veiny and punching the pedals with legs that would make a quarterhorse blush.”
I get your point, but your specifics are bad. Because nobody has ever been healthier and fitter at 50 than when they were 30, right? Nobody has ever got caught up in work and family and not trained, ate poorly and got fat and then got back to riding/running/whatever at an older age when those stresses lessened, right?
If I had a dollar for every guy who got divorced and then came out and ripped legs off the next year because he was bitter and his time was all about him, I’d be doing okay.
I’m sure that there are tons of old guys doping. That makes me sad. But when did being fit at 50 become evidence of dope?
We’re not talking about conclusive evidence, only circumstantial evidence. And when a guy who was winning big races in his 30’s looks weaker and flabbier than he does at age 50, you’d have to be nuts not to wonder what changed.
Wow! But, not surprised…I remember the days driving out from the desert to line up with SoCal’ s finest masters. Following MKA’s fantastic blog on trusport, the Labor Team, Turbo, Squeeker, G Spot and all the other nimrods and dreamers line up and I always knew that yes, even on my best day, I raced for second or 10th. Great times, fast racing. Heck, I even consoled Meeker at MBGP right after he augered into the back of that moto at the finish years ago. Anyway, the cheats will come out and the field may be leveled eventually, until then, good luck to all. I will occupy my time riding events like the BWR in SD.
Where was the original announcement? I can’t find anything at USADA or USAC. http://www.usada.org/sanctions/
If that was intentional, then why does he get special treatment with no announcement until the sanction is over?
They do not announce positives until the decision is final. Here Rich exercised his right to appeal and have a hearing. So, there is no big conspiracy, darn it.
If there isn’t a conspiracy, we can sure as heck make one!
Have you not seen the real Zapruder film yet? They found it under the fourth building that was destroyed on 9-11, the one that NO ONE HAS TOLD YOU ABOUT.
If he exercised his right to appeal, doesn’t the ban start at the time of the ruling rather than the time of the finding?
Let me ask the doping lawyer I have on retainer.
Hi Bill,
Please explain this a little more.
-Doper tests positive.
-Federation opens secret case.
-Doper appeals???
–Two years pass in the course of the appeal?????
We get to the end of the sanction period, which turns out to be a double-secret sanction by the federation and doper is ready to ride in a few months.
To be fair, I think we saw the same thing with the Bauge positive. I’m happy to read the docs if you can provide a link.
Sorry, you do not have sufficient clearance.
If it is any consolation he has no results for 2013 listed
@channel zero, I was wondering the same thing. Could it have something to do with this and Meeker wouldn’t go quietly?
Laura_Weislo
“rumor has it that a certain federation is allowing masters riders who tested positive a chance to quietly retire w/out publicity.”
What other Masters racers have decided to hang up the racing shoes lately?
I wonder why his positive wasn’t announced at the time?
This is where I’m going with my question to Bill.
HOW did Meeker get the silent sanction? I mean exactly how. Other dopers get the announcement straight away????
It seems like a great opportunity to start doping if I can get setup like Meeker. Which is totally consistent with Wiesel owning the federation.
His team is sponsored by Amgen…
Amgen sponsors the Tour of California 2.HC….
Any questions??
Uh, nope!
You have to be on double secret probation to get that deal. Sorry, dude.
I hope that it’s not true that it was covered up.I _hope_ that they properly kept quiet about it while it went through the appropriate processes. I have no idea one way or the other. I did find this.
Click to access usoc-policies.pdf
Public Disclosure of Pending Cases.
No later than 5 business days after it has been determined in a hearing in accordance with
the USADA Protocol that an anti-doping rule violation has occurred, or such hearing has
been waived, or the assertion of an anti-doping rule violation has not been timely
challenged, USADA shall publicly report the disposition of the anti-doping matter.
Perhaps the hearing was just this week and Meeker was getting out ahead of the news. We will know soon I guess…
We’ll see. The press release is pretty clear.
Oh please please everyone tell me more that you race only for fun and the pleasure of the moment and the pure joy of being part of something that is so so much and then more but what the dictionary and even the words of great poets, or for that matter Dos Gatos, cannot do justice with the words and thoughts.
Just STOP embarrassing yourself.
Yep,
All you have to do is listen to the colorful vocabulary used during the race to figure it out!
The one reason I doubt he really tested positive is that that steroid was way too hard for your average bike racer to pronounce.
When cynicism drifts over into nihilism, I’m getting off the raft.
I’d like to encourage all local bike shops to have a zero tolerance policy for sanctioned riders. No sponsorship support for teams with sanctioned riders. It doesn’t matter how great a person you are, how how contrite or innocent you feel you are… I think it’s absurd and offensive that any sanctioned rider see’s the benefit of support. If we want to move the culture foreword… we have to make conscious decisions about what values we want to support. Masters sports should hold itself to a higher standard and that should be self generated. We should manifest these changes ourselves. I’d encourage all local teams to insist that if you accept sponsorship that you refuse to take supplements or anything that promises the benefits skin to PEDS. One should be able to compete at their highest level on a healthy diet free from risk of contamination. Let’s kill the excuses and justifications and elevate the hobby.
What if a supplement does not make promises skin (sic) to PEDs. Then can it be taken with your imprimatur? Why does every doping article bring out the sanctimony.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but without sanctimoniousness I’d hardly be able to get out of bed.
Bill, pardon my typo.. the word was “akin”. I don’t feel sanctimonious (i just managed to have never been sanctioned or cheated in sport and also work in a field where our ethical standard is at a higher threshold than the law and where consequences run deep). I do feel that Mr Meeker has been around the sport long enough and raced an extremely hight level. I admire the man and his talent (I absolutely mean this). I also know that there’s a clear history around cycling and cross contamination in supplements that it merits one take ownership of the mistake rather than see themself as a victim. I’m also not so hip to folks that are apologists and do very much think this is yet another opportunity for everyone to evaluate their values and the meaning of their racing. I think you’re quick in your responses to ‘blame the victim’ by suggesting those of us that have never been sacntioned or raced clean are somehow morally superior for having an opinion or wanting to look into the soft tissue of our hobby. Kind of a projection over there on your end. I have a hard time seeing the person that’s been sanctioned as a victim of anything but their own bad decisions. I never understand the, “I’ll show them I’m clean with my results next time” as being evidence of anything except a self serving bias. And I do feel the competitive end of our sport could use some critical thinking… especially what has become pro masters racing super teams. In my mind… the putting in print and talking about it, the exploration of sense, consequence, and feeling… is entirely what this needs to be about. An old team mate and dear friend that has spent his entire adulthood racing sans sanction or cheating has come in second to Mr Meeker enough that I can comfortably say… this is about loved ones (for me). Fariness is personal. I don’t race anymore… the 20 hours a week I have to put in on the bike to be minimally relevant in a race cuts too big a hole in my health and life…. but I do love the community and the sport enough to have an opinion about where things are going…. as do you. Let’s just agree that we disagree…. I’m comfy with that. *I’m sure you can overlook any typos and discover content.
Dr. Noel O’Malley.
Nicely put.
But, it’s all about winning!
Noel, I will for a brief moment or two attempt to be serious-a rather dreary place to dwell as seriousness, to steal from AJ Liebling, is almost certainly a fatal disease. Simply, my point is that I have a hard time getting past any comment that contains the gratuitous aggrandizement that the writer has too much integrity and conscience and overall wonderfulness that he would never dope, or lie, or cheat, or not be otherwise baby butt clean in all life aspects. Because such statements are the true substance of projection, i.e. the attribution to another of personal failings onto another person and thus tempering the flaws of the projector. It provides relief.
This is another way of saying my two friends agree. Which is awesome!
[…] November 23, 2013 § By Seth Davidson […]
I don’t know who any of these people are! Probably all too far ahead of me.
Yeah, I’ve only read about them, myself.
I’m certain that Tony Robbins is behind this.
Is he related to Baskin?
31 flavors of PEDs…
And they only test for 30!
Most brilliant line:
“No one gives a flipfuck. ”
Indeed, truly, no one does. Yet it’s annoying when you are next ti it. Like someone you probably loathed in your youth said, all it takes is one bad apple. Masters racing seems to have a big mutha-ass orchard. Your NorCal brethren, and sistren, up here in Oakland see many similar masters chaps – ripped of linebacker sinew yet still climbing like Pantani, actually, a lot like Pantani.
As we know racing love runs particularly deep and I certainly don’t claim any ability to understand my 50+ gentlemen peers putting needles and pills in their systems, but it does make me sad, for a second or two, then I just try to follow their wheel whenever I can just for the “test” of it, and fuck if that ain’t hard!
Problem one: calling us “masters.”
Problem two: cash prizes.
I play Masters tennis (we call it “seniors” or, when you really, truly do have one foot in the grave, “super-seniors”). And if you take out the doping part (probably – some of those endless 5-hour moonball marathons give me pause) and insert “tennis” wherever you wrote “cycling”, I could have penned an eerily-similar riff.
A lot of players make it their full-time job and know more about how so-and-so won this or that 50+ tournament in Bumf.ck than they do about Federer or Nadal winning Wimbledon.
I’ve got enough talent, but I refuse to give up beer. Or my life. Or my bank account. I will always lose to them. Despite that, I bought my way to once being No. 24 in the world in my age category.
I know if I gave up beer and hit the gym I could have been, oh, No. 17 or something!!! Maybe No. 16!!!
But as you so eloquently put it, who gives a flipfuck?
We really need to get a bit better at getting old 🙂
Nice post. And kudos for refusing to give up the beer!
Glad we’re dope free up in NorCal. Well maybe there are 1-2 agro hot head masters that must be on something. Glad I just race to keep my doc from prescribing statins for my high cholesterol. I’d hate to lose my 3rd place Red Kite Omnium title 🙂
Ha, ha!
[…] Here’s a link I just saw to a pretty great post. The best quote of the post is – If you race masters in SoCal and you don’t understand that drugs are rampant here, you are an imbecile. […]
Let the chips fall where they may.
Get a life!!! why you waist your time writing this shit, I will not be surprise
your a real doper and you still get your ass kicked. So cut the shit and give the guy a break and do not kick him when he his down and if you like him so much why you put this bullshit on the web. He has a job a life and a new wife. I bet you can not win an 80+ master race but stop snoring cocaine and get a life. . LUCIO
Hi, Lucio
When I first saw your illiterate, pissy comment I laughed because I thought it was a joke. Then I looked you up on USA Cycling and realized that even though your comment wasn’t a joke, your cycling career sure is.
https://www.usacycling.org/results/?compid=263678
Anyway, my rule is pretty simple. Someone who is too lazy or stupid to master 3rd Grade spelling and English grammar is not someone whose writing I take seriously. I look at it like this: You’re too lazy to learn to write a proper sentence, so your ideas are likely to be lazy, half-baked, and unworthy of serious consideration, either.
Good luck out there.
O Seth there you go latching onto the time tiring tactic of attacking grammar and ignoring what you cannot otherwise refute. You are an effete snob. And not sanctimonious.
I just looked up “effete” but it’s not in my 2nd Grade dictionary. Time to move up!
Lucio, you rock man, it’s those bums snoring cocaine you’ve got to watch out for, keeps everyone up in the house at bedtime. People who snore cocaine should be sanctioned for sure.
Last time I snored cocaine it clogged my epiglottis.
Ahh, Squeeker love the guy. But go down the rabbit hole and find an association for more than a decade with the dirtiest human in US cycling, Tom Weasel, oops, Weisel, a former teammate no less, the Cappo di Tutti Capi, the man behind LA, behind Johann, the man who would rule US cycling and through Montgomery Securities take public Amgen. Hmmm. Curioser and curioser.
http://www.srm-consult.de/teeth/USPSMastersteam.html
Oh yeah, used to f’ing hock nutritional products.
Howard Jacobs? Really? Really? Really? How very pro. USADA obviously bought in given the max. Sanction
And is this why my wife who when she does me a favor and gets my oil changed has to deal with the dude at the Jiffy Lube who sees my bike and says “oh yeah he’s one of those guys who takes drugs.”
Rant over.
No worries Rich. It’s all good. See you at the start line in September. Only this time have the decency to slap a little KY in my hand when we shake.
“Shocked.”
[…] Doped A nice little article about Richard Meeker (who was tested positive at the US National Masters.) […]
Good job Seth. One time when I was a kid, my father wrestled car keys away from a man who was driving drunk in the parking lot of a supermarket and tried to make a citizens arrest. The guy started crying and carrying on. A crowd gathered and started yelling at my Dad to give him back his keys. Same thing happens here too. People are funny and complicated.
Yes, there’s that element of “Poor ol’ doper. He’s already suffered enough. Quit being mean to him and let him go out and dope some more.”
Happily, it’s the minority viewpoint.
Reverting back to calling oldsters Veterans will solve everything.
You know what? You’re right. And I’m actually in favor of calling them “POP racers.”
Pathetic Old People, of course.
That’s funny Seth! My kids call me pop, maybe they have it right!!
They sure don’t call us “master”!
I have long since started telling folks who care that I race “geezer plus”.
How many folks is that?
Wait! ..Did you say “vanity book publishing”? … Just kidding Seth. Never don’t not stop writing.
If the insult fits …
Rev. Billy – i was nodding my head in agreement until you wrote that baby’s butts were clean. They are not clean. And thus I must conclude that your opinions are not entitled to the weight of a dirty diaper.
I write this with a heavy heart on Day Two of Black Arm Band Day here in Corona Del Mar.
Yes Rog, I wondered about that but concluded that degenerates as I would get the irony of a baby butt being clean compared to the licentious thoughts of those who cannot get past thinking that the occasional use of birth control ruined their sporting lives. Never imagined I’d go over your head. Seth’s yes, MKA, never.
Rusty medals are in the mail, I’m sure.
From a recent article in Runners World,
——–
http://www.runnersworld.com/health/sports-supplements-now-with-methamphetamine
Sports Supplements: Now With Methamphetamine!
A new study finds (once again) that you may get more than you bargained for in sports supplements.
… Even more bizarre was the recall in August of vitamins from a company called Purity First when the FDA found that their Healthy Life vitamin B supplements contained the anabolic steroids dimethazine and methasterone! …
——-
Just sayin’ …
There’s often a lot of junk in “supplements” including the stuff you might buy at your local GNC or Vitamin Shoppe …
There’s significant risk in using many of the “supplements” on the market … especially since there’s little or no evidence that the vast majority of “supplements” are any better than a sugar pill placebo.
Where can I get that meth supplement? For study purposes only …
Really??? First test??? What does that say about PEDs in the previous years?? “According to the AAA decision, Meeker was nine time Masters National Champion and this was the “first anti-doping test sought from or provide by Respondent in his career.”
USAC has never been too hot to kill the golden goose of Old Folks Racing.
Regarding killing the golden goose. I got into a sort of argument on one of the NorCal mailing lists about dope testing at local races. I was for it. I was for adding a premium on to our entry fees to pay for some testing. One of the guys arguing against it was that it was a hobby and he didn’t want to have to pay more to participate in his hobby.
Though I disagree with that viewpoint, I suspect that it is at least fairly widely held. I think that while lots of people will quite happily wear dopers suck socks and talk about how much dopers suck on the internet, they will piss and moan if they have to pay a few extra bucks to cover the cost.of catching those dopers that suck.
I think you could even make a case that it might help racing to pop more master’s dopers. It might bring more of the occasional racers who are discouraged back.
Put your money where your mouth is. Demand more testing at local races. Demand that they add a small surcharge to cover the costs of that testing.
Or piss and moan about it on the internet.
Can I just piss?
Into a cup, of course.
Never tested negative.
For beer.
I love Pops Racer and want to be just like him, fixing the Mach 5 and giving Speed all that great advice! Although, sometimes he doesn’t have much patience for Spritle and Chim-Chim, so maybe I don’t want to be like him.
Maybe I can be like Racer X. He used to be Rex Racer until he became a secret agent and changed his name to Racer X because the two names are so different and nobody would ever guess the connection.
Yeah, I want to be Racer X!
Me, too!
I can’t even begin to explain how crushed and disappointed I am in your investigative journalism. WTF am I going to do with my giant Richard Meeker Fathead that adorns my living room wall? No more will I be able to walk past the Fathead and pretend that Richard is winking at me and telling me “C’mon Jon, with the extra training you do today, someday you might be as awesome as I am”.
Fathead Returns Dep’t
2003 Positive Way
Colorado Springs, CO 30021
[…] Main Street and Broadway, pending Tuesday’s SaMo city council vote. Cycling in the South Bay isn’t shocked by doping by masters racers. The new bike team at Cal State Long Beach is starting to make waves. The Pomona […]
You mad bro ?
Noooo !
Life’s too short to be mad. Just crazy. Life’s waaay to long not to me crazier than a shithouse rat.
Absolutely Brilliant! …I’ve been wondering about the same thing happening in triathlons where the top master’s group at Kona are not far behind the 2nd tier pros… I’ll most likely get some backlash for this comment but so be it.
Triathletes would never dope.
…oh that’s right I forgot….
Because there’s no ego involved. Or money.
Anyone who thinks he may be innocent, or that his supplements were contaminated when he purchased them, please read this, it’s fairly entertaining reading:
Click to access aaadecisionrichardmeeker.pdf
Here’s my favorite part:
“[Meeker] stated… the “loose white powder” at the bottom of the bottle was accumulated by his pouring capsules and debris from other containers to his Race Caps Supreme bottle… The problem is that there was 4.32 grams of such powder in the bottle and not a single empty capsule shell. Respondent testified that he would “pick out” an empty capsule shell occasionally as he might encounter one in pouring out a pill. He had no specific recollection of picking any such shells out of this bottle… A single tablet of Endurolytes is 250mg. Therefore, 4.32 grams of powder would mean that at least 36 empty Endurolyte capsule shells had accompanied the powder in the original container and/or this container at one time. Picking this powder clean of no less than 36 little shells is an activity that would seem to this Panel to have taken some memorable effort.”
Oh and none of the intact capsules that he provided contained banned substances, just the powder in the bottle… So amazingly, a shit-ton of capsules containing banned substances exploded in his bottle, while all of the “safe” capsules remained intact.
Sounds like he was lucky not having his ban extended for attempting a lame cover-up.
Real lucky.
At least he has earned a new nickname.
Richard “Loose Powder” Meeker
Ha, ha, ha!!!
I would be happy if Masters testing stopped. Reasons are simple:
A- it’s not a critical part of bike racing
B- I don’t think it will significantly change the amount of cheaters
C- The biggest advantage gained in Masters racing is to train harder than everyone else. This trumps doping. In pro racing it is different, they all train hard.
D- I would rather be home in time for lunch with the family having finished 3rd, than be in testing for a few hours with a win.
You have no idea how hard the dopers train. No idea.
“Life, and cycling, have a lot more to offer if you take them head on and accept your race results for what they are: nothing more than how you did on a certain day in a certain race against certain people.”
Correct.
http://www.chasing120.com/2012/05/mid-pack-attack.html
It doesn’t bother me in the least that Rich doped. In fact I now treasure all the (rare) times I beat him in races or put the hurt on in training rides all the more. Its amazing how many people get so agitated over this and want doping controls for Masters. I think its ridiculous. At some point, just get over it. Compete if you want, recognizing that you may be competing against others with an unfair advantage. Everyone can make the choice whether they want to risk their health for an epsilon higher chance of victory, or simply get satisfaction out of training well and performing at a high level. That ought to be enough at our advanced ages…
Not everyone thinks that doping so that you can to win every race you enter is as victimless as you do. What if you had a buddy who always cheated you at cards, took your money, and told everyone he was a better card player than you? Would you still treasure the few times you actually won? Or would you stop inviting him to your games?
What about the promoters, who are obviously interested in an undoped event? They have juniors and elites there as well. Looks weird when they say “Here comes the fastest race of the day … the 45+.” Doesn’t it?
What about the supplement manufacturers who get defamed when people pin the tail on their donkey? How’d you like someone to blame your company for tainting them with illegal drugs, when you were completely innocent?
Does it all still seem silly? Well, at one level, yes. But at other levels, not at all.