Norm, I was trying to click on the photo, and my phone decided that it wanted to click the "off topic" button instead. Bad phone. Bad. You are on topic.

Joaquin --the Sky police are controlling your phone. They're official stance is that all the doping chatter is "off-topic", thus they jigger remotely with the touchscreen input coordinates attempting to hide evidence and evade scrutiny.

@Joaquin you *do* know that you can just click that icon again un-off topic the post...?

Sure I do. But Sky is watching. And things don't work the way they should under the Rapha colored Sky. Besides, I wanted to see what brilliance Norm had waiting in response.

Interesting analysis of the Russian ToAD stash... or Prairie State Cycling? 
Still not explanation of the clear bag & tubing OR THE LIGHTERS....

All this stuff may not be on the official banned list, but reading the descriptions really makes me wonder what their combined effect may be on your health.  Fuck it, I'm buying them all.  I'll get back to you when I dominate the 4's next year.

Cough, cough, comrade has asthma.

Any updates on local testing? When will Results from Maltese be public?

"Local Doper" thread perhaps?

@perlberg: the results of the testing will never be 'public'. Part of the deal is strict confidentiality. The testers (USADA) will not tell us anything at all - like who was tested. The only way you will know anything is through the rumor mill.

There is one exception: if there is a confirmed positive, then there will be a press release - but that should only come after confirming the B sample.

Fascinating podcast on Blood; very interesting part at the end - put "young" blood in an old mouse and not only does it remember and learn better but it's heart shrinks making it more efficient... something to do with intracellular fluids.

http://www.radiolab.org/2013/jul/31/bloody-real-blood/

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDF11

This is why vampires always choose victims that are young and attractive ... and scantily clad.

dstokes said:

@perlberg: the results of the testing will never be 'public'. Part of the deal is strict confidentiality. The testers (USADA) will not tell us anything at all - like who was tested. The only way you will know anything is through the rumor mill.

There is one exception: if there is a confirmed positive, then there will be a press release - but that should only come after confirming the B sample.

You can also poke through their website and find names of people tested and how often.  

Most surprising name on that list? Joe Papp! That dude still rides/races?

bunde was tested in 2011.  Once.  

Klier... These apologies are taking on the formulaic style of Politicians caught with their pants down...

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/news/andreas-klier-accepts-usada-suspension-for-ped-use_299285

Crafted by the team's public relations staff, these statements are what they see as the bare minimum necessary in order to keep Klier on staff.

I like this one better; no BS http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/tour-de-france-jacky-durand-yes-epo-believe-104458275.html

Jules said:

I like this one better; no BS http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/tour-de-france-jacky-durand-yes-epo-believe-104458275.html

"At the time we the riders could hear the alarm bells sounding."--do you think this is literal or figurative?  Certainly, in the early 1990s, there were reports of racers waking up in the middle of the night to ride rollers, even at the junior worlds.  But by 1998?

@Wump I take a different message; "just because *we* were guilty as sin don't assume the current crop of riders are too..."

It's hard to find similar unequivocal admissions. Agreed on the rosy view of today's "best" tho...

I finally got around to publishing a review of Run Swim Throw Cheat

Really?  Unstoppable nosebleeds?  I feel like I've watched a lot of cycling and this is the first time I've heard of someone pulling out of a race because of nosebleeds...

Maybe it's his cocaine addiction.  That would explain the emaciated frame with the chubby cheeks.

^ good read. Not surprised one bit. 

If 50% of the field is doping, then it must be 90%+ among the winners.  Cheee-rist.

Re: Dombrowski. Doesn't EPO thicken the blood? If so, can I naively take this as a sign that Dombrowski is clean? Or does it just mean he's taking blood thinners in conjunction or is taking some other PED?

A friend from Austin just sent me this from his hometown.