In the midst of the current doping scandal which involves many of the Tour de France favorites, I have been thinking quite a bit about why I ride. The sport of cycling is becoming synonymous with doping in the public eye and I'm afraid that someday all elite cyclists will be suspected of using some form of performance enhancing drugs. This both saddens and angers me. I want to be a professional but would never compromise my morals to attain that goal. Cycling is pure to me now and I want it to be pure to me for the rest of my life. I love this sport and if I come to a point in my development or my career where 'there is no way to get better without doping' then I will leave the competitive side of the sport and ride for love of it. The thing is that there is always a way to get better without doping because cycling is a sport of self-improvement. The lessons one learns in cycling are lessons of life: discipline, sacrifice, delayed gratification, patience, and teamwork. Cycling has made me a better person and I could never continue to learn in this sport while cheating.
I ride
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