Bikes, Drugs, and Rock & Roll - for LIFE

Lance is banned again (guilty or not) - now pulling the sport of triathlon into the doping limelight. We understand both the power of competition and the pressure to perform, but it seems that when the concepts of winning and money join forces, really talented athletes make some really BAD choices. We just can't help but wonder what the "right" answer is for athletes busted for doping.

An interesting piece on NPR recently caught our ear:
Should athletes who dope face a lifetime ban?

A physiologist out of the University of Oslo, Kristian Gundersen, shared that their studies solidified that muscles actually DO have a memory of their former strength - and while perhaps not permanent, certainly it is "very long lasting."

NPR went on to discuss steroids and doping "methods" of all shapes and sizes, which facilitate the adaptation of significantly more muscle nuclei - with growth hormones expediting their production.

Gundersen then concluded: "And then, I guess, it's reasonable to suggest that exclusion time after [a] doping offense should be forever."

Some things should be "for life" - we personally fancy bikes as one of them.  As for a doping offense?  Please, get out of our peloton.