The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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Cyclists may be dishonest... but they're less dishonest than....
Editor,
There is so much sadness, So much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Somuch angst. Cyclists are cheats. Cycling is dirty. Cycling is doomed. It'sso embarrassing.Just hold on. Chill. It's not just cyclists who are on the road to “deceive,mislead, break rules to gain an advantage.” Take a look at what a quick scan of the news found:According to the study “AcademicDishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: The Prevalence, Causes, and ProposedActions:” 56 percent of MBA students acknowledged cheating, comparedwith 54 percent in engineering, 48 percent in education and 45 percentin law school.“The surveyby an anti-piracy lobby group shows the percentage of illegal softwarein use in the UK has stayed at 27%, below the global average of 35%.“As a physician leader, how concerned are you about unethicalbusiness practices affecting U.S. health care today?”Very concerned 54.6% -807 responsesModerately concerned 35.6% -527 responses“Is there a physician — or physicians — WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION who you believe to be involved in unethical business practices?”Yes 33.1% -464 responsesCosmetic procedures among ALL AMERICANS in 2005:Botox - 3,294,782Breast augmentation - 364,610Laser hair removal - 1,566,909Liposuction - 455,489Chemical Peel - 556,172In 2000, there were approximately 22,000 drugs on HealthCanada's list of drugs approved for human use.CIHI (2002) reports that just over three quarters (78%) of Canadiansaged 12 or older said that they had used one or more prescription or over-the-countermedications in the last month of 1998-99 .The most common drugs taken werepainkillers. (taken by 65% )In 1993, prescription and non-prescription medications were estimatedto cost $9.884 billion. . In 1997, only France, United States, Japan andBelgium of the 25 OECD countries that reported their spending on drugsspent more per person than Canada.The reported rateof use of steroids among U.S. high school age males is 6 percent to11 percent, according to the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.“Dr. Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of health and human developmentwidely considered the authority on teen steroid use, estimated that atleast 500,000 to 600,000 U.S. kids have used steroids. ““NASCARset an example at the season-opening Daytona 500 by busting 18 crew chiefsfor rules violations. Two crew chiefs, Tony Furr and Kevin Cram, weresuspended for four races when their cars failed post-race inspections. Inaddition, Furr and Gary DeHart were placed on probation until the end ofthe year for multiple infractions."Today, there are so many templates, and there's a reason for it. Everytime they put a template here, we'd start cheating over there. It'snot cheating, it's just racing."“He cited several cases, including that of U.S. Olympic medal-winnerMarion Jones whose ex-husband said she used steroids. She denied the allegations.Rumors abound, said Wheatcroft, about a tennis player whose physique is"reminiscent of Barry Bonds." Bonds is the baseball player who took syntheticsteroids, claiming he thought they were flaxseed oil.The pressure to win pushes competitors over the limits of fair playin many ways, not all of them chemical. The outbreak of diving during thissummer's soccer World Cup ("plain fraud," said Wheatcroft) was enough toturn any spectator deeply cynical.The 2005 WADAreport on Laboratory Statistics shows 3,909 Adverse Analytical Findings(positive results) out of 183,337 tests. (2.13%).Cycling: - 3.78% - 482 positives out of 12,751 testsBaseball: - 3.69% - - 390/10,580Triathlon: - 3.14% - - 74/2,170Archery: - 2.94% - 25/850Golf: - 5.21% - 20/384Rugby: - 2.46% - 113/4,601Ice Hockey: - 2.87% - 79/2,751Boxing: - 3.14% - 83/2433Volleyball: - 2.06% - 54/2161Weightlifting: - 2.50% - 146/5842Athletics: - 1.67% - 342/20,464Football (Soccer): 1.46% - 343/23,478Billiards: - 9.96% - 28/281Motorcycle Racing: 3.23% - 12/372Underwater sports: 3.22% - 12/373Orienteering: - 2.09% - 10/479Bandy: - 3.94% - 8/20355.2% of all Adverse Analytical Findings were Anabolic agents (43.4%) or stimulants.
60.7% of AAF for Anabolic agents the identified substance was Testosterone.“Victory in the ancient Olympics ensured rich rewards in the form of money, food, housing, tax exemptions and release from army service. Not surprisingly, bribing and cheating became commonplace.Drug use was ultimately one of the major reasons for the dissolutionof the ancient Olympic Games.”Cycling has problems? Just look around.
Leen Tuk
Hamilton, CanadaThere's doping in Bandy!? What is there left to believe in?- EditorNow, there's a thought
Editor,
Now that Basso has been picked up by Discovery, what do you think aboutLandis sporting some new CSC colors in 2007 when he is cleared and willrace again and defend his Tour de France title.
Sean Rees
Portland OregonSuspicion does not equal guilt
Editors
I don't understand all demands for DNA and blood samples for all "accused"riders and the teams "agreement" to not allow riders to race if they areeven implicated in any type of investigation regarding doping.

So let me get this straight, if I am a pro cyclist or team owner ormaybe even just an extremely fanatic fan or journalist and I want a specificrider to win a specific race, all I have to do is get a few documents together,like maybe a little black book with some phone numbers in it and some bannedsubstances or bags of blood and make some accusations and I can get anyrider in that little book or document that I might think is a threat tothe rider I want to win banned from racing for at least a short periodof time. Maybe just enough for my favorite rider to win. Andthen if my rider still does not win, I just drum up some fake positiveson someone who was already tested several times (some before and some afterthe positive test!) and eliminate him too.

Eventually, there will be enough accusations that no one will be allowedto ride.

And if every rider that is accused of doping or implicated in an investigationis required to supply DNA and blood samples, why not just make every riderproduce those samples every day of their life so we all know exactly whateveryone is "on"?

Pretty ludicrous, eh?

I just want to ride. And when I'm not riding, I just want toread about and watch RACING.

Tim Wright
Hummelstown, PennsylvaniaLooking forward to seeing Basso ride
Dear VeloNews,
I’m writing in regards to Mr.Soteros’ recent on line letter. I don’t think any of us in thegeneral public has any detailed knowledge of the evidence of doping fromthe Puerto case. However, from what I’ve read, any evidence againstMr. Basso was rather weak. So why is Mr. Soteros so willing to judgeMr. Basso, the Discovery team, and pro cycling in general? Of course,pro cycling isn’t totally clean, but what sport is?There have been cyclists who have doped, and there probably always willbe some racers who try to get an edge over the competition by doping.There are also corked baseball bats, automobiles with tires that grow widerwhen hot in auto racing, and many other ways athletes in many sports tryto get a bit of advantage.So what’s a fan to do? Live with it and move on. Acceptthat some athletes will be caught, while others won’t. But that bitof controversy actually makes for interesting debate that many fans actuallyenjoy – should Barry’s home run records stand? Should McGuire’s?Did Sammy ever use a corked bat in a real game? What was that stuffon the hand of the Tigers’ pitcher?I look forward to seeing Basso race with Discovery. I look forwardand hope that Tyler will be racing next season (he’s paid already for atleast some of his errors, and more so than many other cyclists).They certainly will under a lot of scrutiny, and if they fail a test, they’llhave a hard time defending themselves and I’m sure they are aware how closelythey’ll be watched.I’ll agree that doping isn’t good for the sport of bike racing.But being vindictive and cynical isn’t good for the sport, either.
Mark Hsu
Dunlap, IllinoisThe road to redemption
Editor,
There never will be a sport made up of perfect people. In fact I findpeople who put on a show of being perfect a turn-off.If only perfect people were in sports we wouldn't need sideline officialsand rule books. What I do enjoy is that when an athlete stumbles and issidelined his talent is not denied but applauded when he is, after duepenance, allowed back to the field of battle. If only perfect people wereallowed to inhabit our world... well, just think about it .The athlete humbling his pride in order to ask for another chance, thefan who cools his anger in order to extend a hand to welcome him back.Now that is what sports are really all about in my book.GO TYLER!
Peace,
Susan Moore
Seattle, Washington

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The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.