nic404 said:As ironic as it maybe to ask, eddy merckx are you a pure cyclist? or a BB'er that rides the bike? just be interested to hear what kind of dosing protocol you used? as we want to keep water weight down and dose to avoid pumps...
Ferrari compares EPO to OJ... too much and you have problems but as long as your smart about things it can be rather safe... just make sure your covering your main aspects: centrifuge (Hemoglobin meter as an option or good to pair both), iron (you'll need lots, and you'll need to monitor) it and asprin (just a baby asprin)... just don't go over 50% until you know what you are doing... there is a lot of information out on the subject and you should be able to find dosing protocols (just remember we all react differently and that is why we retest)...
As far as whether EPO is worthwhile, a lot of cyclists I know have changed their threshold power to close to their old VO2 max!!
I'm surprised the BB'er's don't have more to say on EPO... or maybe its just the elite that are using it...
Regardless be smart and safe... please don't flame me for telling things like it is...
i am more of pure cyclist--ex-locally-competitive runner (meaning win a small race every so often but not if there was a real runner in it) and lift more for self confidence than bb--and played with gear prob more than i should have--and still do.
yes, epo will do wonders, but really only for guys close to their natural limits--but at a price: to get your rbc high enough for it to work you can get some crappy sides....every see the guy at the head of the peloton scratching himself like he has fleas? dead giveaway.
as noted above, if it gets to high, the body, for some reason, has a harder time breaking the rbcs down (e.g. like going through valves etc) so it can get out of control pretty fast. It killed a lot of dutch (i think) years ago---it is sor of a deadly combo of a low resting HR b/c of endurance + glue-like blood.
bbs know about it b/c androgens increase rbcs--just not like equipoise or epo.
it is easy to control the water with various anti-estrogens and the type of test etc, but if you compete and are subject to testing all the stuff is banned. I have been off for a whole year b/c of injury than repro endo ordered no riding, but i started again today--as a sad out of shape fat f*ck