Well the media (and most bloggers!) beat these things up and the drug testers don’t really explain it very well, so it looks like this young club-level athlete took “everything”. And he did take a fair bit. But to be fair what he took was probably only 3, maybe 4 separate drugs, not the widely misinterpreted and reported “12″. OK, at worst 7.

The drug testers reportedly found multiple “substances” but many of these are simply the same thing, metabolites or derivatives of the one drug. We can’t even be sure why he took this particular selection. He may have been injured, had allergies or was simply misguided. It may not have even worked. It’s hard to know what the effects of any drug cocktail may be. Some drugs are enhanced in effectiveness by a small quanity of other drugs but some are blocked and rendered ineffective. And some may be deliberate masking agents. But what are these particular drugs and what do they do, generally speaking?

The “drugs” as reported in Cyclingnews.com are:

3′HydroxyStanozolol - a metabolite of Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. It builds new and repairs damaged muscle. Stanozolol is difficult to detect in standard urine tests and is prone to sedimentation (so samples left to settle will stratify and give contradictory results). Metabolites are simply downstream indicators of a drug that has been metabolised. This counts as drug #1 – Stanozolol. It has been widely used in many sports for performance enhancement.

16B-HydroxyStanozolol – the main metabolite of Stanozolol. Again still just one drug so far.

4B-HydroxyStanozolol – yet another metabolite of Stanozolol.

4-Meyhylhexaneamine (sic) – well actually it’s spelled Methylhexaneamine, or methylhexanenamine, or even dimethylamylamine – a vasoconstrictor, usually inhaled (but can be a dietary supplement). That’s to say that its prime use is for nasal decongestion. It helps you breathe easier. It is also a central nervous system stimulant, so it probably sharpens you up and possibly helps burn fat. It too has been widely used in many sports for performance enhancement. That’s drug 2, if you are counting.

Prednisone – a synthetic glucocorticosteroid that is typically used an an immunosuppressive drug. Whilst that is an unwanted side effect for athletes, it also alleviates allergic reactions and inflammation, so it helps you train longer and harder – in theory. However it has several major adverse side effects, including glaucoma, bone and muscle loss (it’s catabolic, not anabolic) as well as thinning of the skin; so the positive effects may be outweighed in the medium to longer term, especially so if you get the dose wrong. It breaks down into cortisol and gives you a feeling of anger at higher doses, so perhaps that may help give an athlete an edge. Just don’t take too much for too long.  Drug number 3.   

Prednisolone – a variant of Prednisone, virtually identical in all but name and chemical structure. Still just 3 drugs.

Oxandrolone - also known as Anavar or Oxandrin, a fairly common anabolic steroid with fewer side effects than most. Builds or heals muscle and thus potentiates mass and power. Drug 4 and the second anabolic steroid. Removes itself quickly, too, so can be hard to catch.

Epioxandrolone – a metabolite of Oxandrolone, so we are still on 4 drugs so far.

Tuaminoheptane – another nasal decongestant, like Methylhexaneamine. May have been mixed in the same batch, I don’t know. We’ll count it as #5 anyway.

Triamcinolone Acetonide – well now it gets interesting because here we have another corticosteroid (a catabolic steroid, not anabolic). Again it can be used to treat allergies, asthma and rashes and is used as a nasal spray or perhaps more often topically. We don’t know how it was applied in this case but perhaps it was in the nasal spray(s) already mentioned? Or perhaps our rider suffered skin allergies and applied it as a cream? Side effects can be bad. Reluctantly #6 but I have some doubts.

6Beta-HydroxyMethandienone – an anabolic steroid that I don’t know much about – although I suspect it has a relationship with testosterone. Again, reluctantly, let’s call it #7.

17-Epiméthandienone – dare I suggest that this is a metabolite of 6Beta-HydroxyMethandienone? Let’s just call it 7.

So we have 7 drugs, really, in 3 groups: anabolic and catabolic steroids plus a selection of nasal decongestants. And we can’t be sure how many of these were bundled into one nasal spray. We can however deduce from all of this that we have a rider who took a bundle of anabolic steroids to either build himself up or to heal an injury. He also took corticosteroids, probably both topically and by tablet, either to relieve his allergies or other inflammation, possibly training or injury-related. He may also be asthmatic, or he just wanted to breathe easier in a race.  

I doubt that he’s that remarkable, really, and I’d really like to know the full truth of his story. Was he just naive, a bit misguided or simply taking things a bit too far?

French Rider Positive For 12 Substances | Cyclingnews.com

The French Cycling Federation FFC has announced a three-year suspension for Alexandre Dougnier, who tested positive for no less than 12 different performance-enhancing substances last year. The 19-year-old, who rode with local club AC Boulogne-Billancourt, was caught by surprise at a Kermesse race in Aubervilliers, France, on May 17, 2011.

Traces of the following substances were found in Dougnier’s urine sample, according to the Federation: 3′HydroxyStanozolol, 16B-HydroxyStanozolol, 4B-HydroxyStanozolol, 4-Meyhylhexaneamine, Prednisone, Prednisolone, Oxandrolone, Epioxandrolone, Tuaminoheptane, Triamcinolone Acetonide, 6B-HydroxyMethandienone and 17-Epiméthandienone.

the muse-ette: In for a penny….

While the sheer number of substances makes this an almost farcical story, coming as it does in the wake of the Gregory Bauge case it makes you wonder if French cycling’s much vaunted no doping culture is starting to come apart at the seams. Dougnier was only racing at a local level but ACBB is a big club with a big reputation. Was he playing the system or was it playing him?

The report doesn’t give any details of how much of each substance was in his sample, or how they all got into his system. Do they all occur in one product or was this guy on a cocktail of medicines?

A pre-session meeting of a government caucus is “unprecedented”? Never, ever happened before? Somehow I don’t think so. Love the unattributed negative quotes, too. All the better for the Terrorgraph to spin up something from nothing I guess.

PM Julia Gillard calls in entire caucus for crisis summit | thetelegraph.com.au

THE entire Labor caucus has been ordered to an unprecedented weekend brainstorming session before parliament resumes, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard moves to keep her party on side.

All 102 MPs will workshop policy ideas and strategies, with one saying: “We will be getting the butcher paper and Textas out and solving the country’s problems.”

Having ridden close to 300,000km in my lifetime I’ve just about seen everything imaginable, from fiesty kangaroos bent on destroying a peleton to looney drivers determined to rid the road of riders at all costs. As well as, in the majority, careful citizens just getting along. But this Shane Warne whinge is a rare one indeed – complete with tweeting and counter claims, all in the public eye.
And the truth? Who knows. If it wasn’t Warnie it’d be just another day in the bike rider’s office, dodging cars, trucks and buses and keeping as alert as possible.    

Warniegate! The cyclist’s side | Cycling Tips

At this point a pedestrian witnesses were yelling, “Get his rego” and some even yelled out his registration. One woman approached me offering assistance and asked, “Are you OK? Are you going to follow it up? I have the rego ” as she held her phone. I thanked her told her it wouldn’t be necessary – partially because I was in shock but also because I hadn’t yet realised the extent of the damage to my bike and I knew who the driver was anyway.

My girlfriend who had witnessed the whole thing from the adjacent corner now came over to ask if I was OK and what happened. “Shane Warne just ran into me with his car” I replied.

Shane Warne vs. cyclists: registration and number plates — David Johnstone

Shane Warne has managed to get himself embroiled in controversy again. This time it’s with cyclists. Firstly he wrote a series of tweets last week where he called for cyclists to ride in single file, show number plates, and pay registration. Unsurprisingly there were a lot of responses, some of which he retweeted. The classiest of them wasn’t from the wife of a certain famous Australian cricketer suggesting that he “just throw a cricket ball at them if they really annoy u”.

Cyclist hits back at Warne Today’s News – The Mercury – The Voice of Tasmania

The man alleged Warne “lurched his car forward forcing my bike wheel and almost my leg under the front of his car”.

He said following the incident he immediately went to the nearest police station to make a report.

Police have confirmed the man did take his bike to a station and said officers spoke to both parties.

It is believed police advised both parties to take civil action.

A police spokeswoman said due to the minor nature of the event a traffic incident report would not be submitted.

Cyclist hits back at Warne Today’s News – The Mercury – The Voice of Tasmania

Six-time ironman champion Luke McKenzie accused the cricketer of inciting hatred towards cyclists.

Amy Gillett Foundation spokesman David Lee said it was disappointing Warne was using his profile to inflame cyclist-driver tensions.

“Each road-user group has a requirement to respect the rights of the other, and inflaming the situation, whether you are a cyclist or a driver, doesn’t help,” he said.

Bicycle Network Victoria spokesman Jason den Hollander said Warne should be aware of the road rules and obey them, just like other road users.

I have my own personal stake in this – my kids just don’t take council library threats seriously enough. They are great readers and borrowers but slack returners. I badger and remind them but if I don’t take control and induce some action they just let it slide. And the reminder letters come. And finally they feel guilt. Or fear. I wasn’t like this as a child (or even now, obviously). I borrowed almost weekly from the council library and saw it as my social responsibility to get the books back as soon as I could. Someone else may have been waiting to borrow them, after all. It seemed natural to think that way, although maybe it was just me. Probably.

Anyway, the Terrorgraph’s Susie O’Brien has had a bad experience and is using her media access to have a bit of a whinge about modern society in general. It’s “sick”, she writes, that a local council calls in a debt collection agency to pursue her child over a book. Well, actually, to pursue her as guardian. (Perhaps that wouldn’t sound so sick.) Now painful personal anecdotes like this can illuminate a real issue or simply distract and distort. This one looks like a mix up over library late fees rather than a society-wide crisis. Yes, there should have been a letter sent, and maybe it just got overlooked – perhaps at both ends. Yes, it was unfortunate and over the top. But it could also be a case study in personal responsibility and teaching kids that if you agree to return books on time – you do so. No excuses.

There’s the root cause here – a late return. Yep, personal responsibility. There are consequences in life if you choose to ignore or to simply “assume” it’ll be OK, no matter how tempting it may be to just let it slide. And whilst the customer service presented here is indeed poor, there has to be some sort of responsibility taken by the consumer. If you borrow and agree to terms, you respect them. Perhaps the poor customer service values represented here simply mirror the lack of respect presented here by the consumer?

The fine and the statement:
It’s a fine mess we’re all meant to cop | thetelegraph.com.au

THERE is something seriously sick about a local council calling in an international debt collection agency to pursue an 8-year-old boy over a $7 overdue library fine.

The later, umm, correction?
It’s a fine mess we’re all meant to cop | thetelegraph.com.au

Yes, the letter was addressed to me as his guardian, but it was a pretty heavy-handed way to treat a kid in grade two on his first proper visit to the library.

And then the rant about everything else, loosely tied back to, umm, a library fine?

It’s a fine mess we’re all meant to cop | thetelegraph.com.au

There is a principle here worth fighting about.

I am tired of cops outsourcing policing to private speed camera operators who make more money by employing more aggressive tactics.

I am tired of having a nice man come to my door and sign me up to an electricity company, only to then have to deal with overseas call centres who put me on hold for my entire lunch break.

Wow. And the principle is? Don’t speed and you won’t be fined? Don’t switch electricity providers without due research? Yes, well, it was an opinion piece after all.

Unconfirmed but interesting. What exactly does the UV light do to the blood? Presumably it increases its ability to hold oxygen, or masks other agents – but whether it actually is worth the trouble – who knows? It is suggested that used in small doses (sometimes in concert with magnetism!) it “may” have a positive effect on endurance. Perhaps. Part of the “logic” relies on the principle of altitude training, where not only is the air thinner but the UV is higher. Whilst I get the thinner air hypothesis I’m not sure about the benefits of excessive UV, unless you have a vitamin D insufficiency. And you need the UV to hit the skin, surely, rather than the blood?

Black Light Blood Treatments In Germany? | Cyclingnews.com

A doctor at the Olympic training camp in Erfurt is said to have carried out the procedure.

According to the taz.de, a doctor identified only as Andreas F. was suspended by the Olympic committee and has been under investigation since April 2011. The Olympic camp is for speed skaters, cyclists and track and field athletes.

Public prosecutors in Erfurt are investigating whether the doctor was involved in the “illegal use of medical procedures for the purpose of doping,” spokesman Hannes Grüneisen said. The doctor refused to comment on the matter to the newspaper.

It must be hard filling space in a newspaper, online or off. But do we really want to read this sort of trivial beatup? A visiting cricket team arrives early – yes, early, ie not on time – to a function and is forced to wait 15 minutes – yes, a whole quarter-hour, in the “baking sun” to meet the Prime Minister of Australia. Imagine the shame of it, waiting a full 15 minutes to see the PM. Sigh. Surely we all have better things to do, he says as he draws further attention to the whole waste of space.

Hot under collar: Test tensions as tourists are made to wait at gates

In scenes bordering on the farcical, cricket luminaries such as Sachin Tendulkar​ and Rahul Dravid were made to stand outside the Prime Minister’s Sydney residence for 15 minutes on Sunday before being allowed inside.