Ferren Christou interviews Agency for Cycling Ethics

Steroid Nation reader and commentator Ferren Christou caught up with the crew at the Agency for Cycling Ethics for an interview.  ACE was founded by a lab scientist, Paul Scott, and a physician, Sr Paul Strauss, both of whom cycle.  With that expertise they implemented innovative designs of how a cycling team can compete clean.  The interview is found over at The Daily Peloton.

ACE will initially work with Team Slipstream.  The testing program sounds innovative and complete.  Although The Nation doesn't have the protocol (maybe Ferren can supply it) sounds like DNA  fingerprinting will assure th4e sample match to the riders;  also biomarkers will be employed.

Here is a summary of ACE's goal:

In September of 2006 partners Dr. Paul Strauss and  Paul Scott announced their initiative for clean cycling with the formation of the Agency for Cycling Ethics. The agency goals was to establish an A.C.E. community of teams riders and sponsors committed to a environment free of performance enhancing drugs, stating, "We are the advocates for the riders and the teams and empower them to take responsibility for their own behavior and bring the ACE Clean Cycling Initiative to the devotees of cycling and fans."

About that image of cycling. From the Sacramental Bee during the Tour of California.  This is the public perception of cycling:

Downtown Sacramento was completely gridlocked around the Capitol Tuesday morning -- five or six hours before the bike race was even supposed to hit town. It took 45 minutes to go five blocks. How long does it take to put down some cones?

I'm not sure who at City Hall decided that a bike race was more important than people getting to work, but it was a terrible decision. Let me repeat myself: It was a bike race, a bunch of guys on steroids that no one's ever heard of pedaling fast. Gee, that's first-class entertainment -- in Holland, maybe.

From Dr Strauss:

Dr. Paul Strauss: ACE was started by two local California amateur racers who are very disturbed by the negative public perception of the sport we love as well as doping by riders we were racing with. Whether it is true that some or all professional and amateur cyclists are doping or there is just a perception of doping does not matter, it is destroying our sport. We need and feel we will be able to make a difference with ACE.

The interview is direct and good reading.  Check it out.