A question about EPO.

tomUK

If my natural hemocrit level were for example 42 and then I added a shot of EPO to myself and managed to get this level to 49, how would this affect my power on the bike?

Also, during the tour is it reasonable to expect a riders hemocrit levels to fall? i.e. if a rider starts at 45 and ends the tour at 49 would it be suspicious to say the least? Is decay in hemocrit levels measure in the great tours? I would expect that riding a punishing event like this would deplete levels over the course of 21 days??

tomUK

I would be interested in an answer to this question if anyone knows. Last week I was watching the documentary 'The Science of Lance Armstrong' and about half-way through Lance is on a training ride and he stops (to get a fly out of his eye or something) and one of the crew ask about the allegations about his doping use. He response something like 'if I were doing anything naughty then I believe it would make a small difference and therefore it wouldn't be worthwhile.'

Can a 'natural' athlete really out-perform one who is using PED's? I recall a comment from Lemond stating something in the realm of 'EPO can turn a turn a normal rider into something quite impressive'.

Forget the Armstrong - Lemond rivalry (i.e. envy, etc) and concentrate on the facts. Does EPO increase power output? As flyer says often pro-cyclist are seen to have 20 points raised hemocrit above us mortal folk. If us mortal folk were to increase our hemocrit to say 49% would our power output be substantially increase too?

Thanks. Tom.

snyper0311

OK DUMBASS! I've seen you post a lot of crap, and for the most part, have been nice enough about it. Now, if you want to start posting things about the military and doping, this shows how much of a SHIT HEAD you really are!

YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW WHAT A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION IS, because YOU'VE NEVER been in one. And you wouldn't know what is or is not done to get through war.

I am porud to say that I served in the USMC for 6 years. I did my time during Desert Storm and Somallia. I was in those situations and if I was on anything, it was FEAR! Your dumb ass would never know what it took to get through a tough situation, because you've NEVER been in one. So, Flyer, stick your doping propaganda you yoiu ass! Youa re truely the dumbest F/U on this board!

captnsavaho

Flyer, What is your backround?

snyper0311

He has none! Everything he has posted is "hear/say." "My cousins, best friends, daughters,twin sister separated at birth heard it from an man who knew the butlers, sisters, aunts, grandma." That's the extent of his expert sources an/or background. Never has posted anything with any evidence or proof.

Sure, he'll ramble on about the thousands of pro cyclists that have died from EPO use, but the truth is, NOT ONE of the deaths can be directly tied to EPO.

captnsavaho

This is true however, I do believe he is 100% correct in that doping is huge part of cycling. I'm living it. CORUPTION IS A WAY OF LIFE.

Felt_Rider

Coming from a different sporting background and a former user as a competitor in bodybuilding I could imagine the use in top level cycling as well as many other sports are real. And not to offend the military, but since I was also a distributor of sorts I know many of the guys were using as individuals. I can imagine that in the early days there were some governmental experiments going on as well. A good anabolic/androgenic cycle would make for a very aggressive soldier. A very good soldier in my opinion, but please don't flame me for that opinion.

The one thing I disagree with is the amount of deaths attributed directly to anabolics or androgens. I used anabolics/androgens for 10 years with no other combination and felt no long term ill effect. However, the effects do vary from individual to individual. I had a number of short term effects like aggression and acne.

I would say that most of the deaths that I know were from mixing PED's with recreational drugs, using diuretics, insulin, over using stimulants like ephedrine or harsher drugs. In that case I know that deaths do occur.

It is what it is, but I can still enjoy the TDF besides these facts.

Felt_Rider

Just a quick word to you snyper.

Thank You for your sacrifice in time and body for defending our country.

House

Anybody notice how TomUK asked a real question and Flyer made no pretense of answering the actual question, he merely went into one of his tirades. If he really wanted to stop doping he would actually answer a question like this to educate.

3_days

I'm not attacking Flyer but I'd be interested in knowing the answer as well ... if anybody knows of a good website to help me understand how EPO works, feel free to post them.

In the meantime, if my questions seem stupid, forgive my lack of knowledge ..

BUT ... Let's make HCT boosting drugs absolutely legal for argument's sake: If I take EPO ...

1) will different types of dosages affect certain kinds of output --in other words, will a certain EPO drug regimen suit weight-training better than cycling.

2) Is EPO even suited for "non-endurance" athletics?

3) With optimal doses, what's the expected benefit of HR --> power output ratio? 30% more power at 60% max? higher? lower?

4) Do the benefits of EPO show up across the board with various levels of effort? In other words, does the drug really only work its magic with maximum efforts? Or will the benefits show up even when going on recovery/foundation rides?

5) OR ... is EPO simply a recovery drug that maintains RBC levels to make you feel fresh after even tough days of effort? In essence, and unlike anabolics, deriving more power/endurance from EPO isn't really how it works, it's more of a "reset button" for muscle recovery?