Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/307350
F riday's announcement from MX Sports - the promoters of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship - that they'd con- tracted with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to implement an anti-doping pro- gram in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code for the 2014 series caused a bit of a stir. But it really shouldn't have. In this day and age, if you don't have an anti-doping program in place, you're not thought of as being a real sport. And we all know that with the amount of physical strength and endurance it takes to race a motorcycle around a motocross track for 35 minutes, twice a day, motocross is most definitely a real sport. Here's hoping that we differ a bit from those other real sports in that we don't have any positive test results. When news broke last week that riders in the Pro Motocross Championship will be tested in at least two events in the 12-round series (the three riders on the po- dium in both classes will be sub- ject to both blood and urine anal- ysis in a minimum of two events – at USADA's discretion), the debate started. Dude, how could marijuana or other drugs help you race a motorcycle faster? Whoa… for starters, this isn't about the use of recreational drugs. The doping that USADA tests for is of the performance- enhancing variety. Think more along the lines of baseball and cycling, Barry Bonds, Mark Mc- Gwire, Lance Armstrong, etc. and less of second-hand, hip- pie-lettuce smoke at a reggae concert. Also think more of what enhances your ability to recover – whether that be from the first moto or the training you did all week long. Think Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, prescription testoster- one creams (such as Androgel) or injections, erythropoietin (EPO), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)… albuterol or formoterol. The list of prohibited substances is long. And involved. We're also talking about blood doping, "the use of red blood cells from any source, or otherwise artificially enhancing the uptake, transport, or delivery of oxygen is prohib- ited. Any type of intravenous (IV) manipulation of the blood or blood components by physical or chemical means is prohibited." Put it this way, if it ends in a "rol" you may want to stay away from it. If I were subject to testing (The Motojournalist Olympics? The Transcontinental Transcribing Games?), I'd stay away from any- thing other than Gatorade and bananas. Well, and beer. I looked closely. Beer is not on the list. Again, the bottom line with how most of this junk could potentially serve a motocrosser well is not necessarily the performance gained in the race, but in getting you to the race. Think of it this way, those two 35-minute motos are separated by just 75 minutes. On a hot day at Unadilla, that little sumthin, sumthin you had during the week might just make you stronger in the second moto than the clean guy who lined up next to you at the gate. And this isn't a case of Davey Coombs and the crew over at MX Sports waking up one morn- BY PAUL CARRUTHERS CN III CARRUTHERS SAYS IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MOTORCYCLE? P118 " THINK MORE ALONG THE LINES OF BASEBALL AND CYCLING, BARRY BONDS, MARK McGWIRE, LANCE ARMSTRONG, ETC. AND LESS OF SECOND-HAND, HIPPIE-LETTUCE SMOKE AT A REGGAE CONCERT. "