December 15/00 9:38 am - Shep Report, Armstrong Boycott

Posted by Editor on 12/15/00
 

Shep Report

Mountain bike pro Chris Sheppard updates us on knee surgery situation.

Move over Travis Brown, another come back of the year kid is on the circuit. A week ago I under went corrective knee surgery stemming from a weight lifting accident (screw up) 13 months previous. The initial injury has been fixed for a long time but a new pain surfaced at the Tour of the Rockies this past summer. All the scans, and radiology came up negative except for the x-ray which discovered that my cartilage under my patella and in the socket of the femur had become somewhat angular! This is great news because my chronic knee pain will be alleviated, my body will not be limited at any point during the season, and no ligament or tendon damage was spotted. The doctor went in, had a look then decided to do some sculpting ASAP.

Somehow I have avoided hospitals most my life so going under was quite a treat. Slowly I faded into the abyss but the darkness was soon replaced with a scene i'm more accustomed to. Images of racing dashed my memory with a certain amount of stress attached. I soon realise that I was being chased, not by a racer but by a giant scalpel! What the hell! I bet you every anesthesiologist puts themselves under at least twice a week. Anyway, I came to with my knee the size of a melon and I was given some death sticks to help me manoeuvre to the pills when the codeine started to fade.

Codeine is an evil substance because within five days you are craving the stuff. I recognised this and weaned myself off it but still I was able to have one 'out of body experience'. After a hard day of nothing I sipped down my pill and attempted to sleep when suddenly I was floating above my body looking down at myself! At that point I figured is wasn't too good for you!

So here I am one week into the ordeal and now my knee is the down to the size of a grapefruit. I have been keeping in shape by playing at least 6 hours of video games, doing 800 abs, 80 dips, 80 push ups and 100 wrist curls a day. A happy moment will occur this evening when I get onto my wind trainer for my first ride to slowly build up the miles while reacquiring the muscle that has started to disappear. Wish me well and I look forward to seeing everyone at the start of the season.

Over and out

Chris

PS I'm also looking forward to a another season with Haro Lee Dungarees! We are going to be even a greater force next year.


Armstrong Threatens Tour Boycott

Two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has threatened to boycott the Tour next year, in retaliation for the French courts launching an investigation into allegations of drug use by the US Postal team. The US Postal team and their star rider have vehemently denied drug use, and claim that they have not even been contacted by the French court concerning the investigation.

The investigation stems from reports by French television that they analyzed medical garbage from the US Postal team and found traces of a product called Actovegin, a substances containing calves blood that it is claimed enhances performances in a way similar to blood boosting. While Actovegin was not on the banned substance list for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) nor the UCI (Union Cycliste International) it does potentially fall into the area covered by blood boosting. Since the investigation began, the IOC has added Actovegin to its proscribed drug list.

US Postal has not commented on Armstrong's threat to boycott the Tour.


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