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A review by bookishwendy
The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton
4.0
I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I'm not usually one for the "celebrity scandal/confession" type of book, but I do love those peeks into the power-struggles and self-rationalizations of criminal organizations...and if doping is a crime, then surely most of the pro-cycling world was a collection of criminal organizations in the '90s and early 2000s. Did I cheer for the US Postal cycling team back then? Of course. Did the idea of using performance-enhancing drugs seem at the time reprehensible, something undertaking by isolated, lazy and immoral riders? Yeah. Yet the truth is so much more complicated...and still it makes a lot of sense that ALL the top riders would have to be dabbling in EPOs and blood transfusions, when there is so much money AND national pride on the line, and when winning on "only bread and water" is impossible.
So, was pro-rider Tyler Hamilton a rule-breaking, anything-to-win doper? Yes. After reading this book, does he gain back a little of my respect? Absolutely. He isn't making excuses for himself because he declares outright, yes, I did that. But he lays out the entire story of his fall into doping and shows that there's a lot more to it than using drugs and transfusions as "lazy outs." If anything, the willingness to suffer beyond the average mortal is a hallmark of bike racers, and conveniently carries into the doping world.
The writing here, thanks to the help of Mr. Coyle, is very good, even gripping--down to the last gory detail of what it is like to accidentally transfuse a "dead" bag of blood that hasn't been stored properly (shudder). The most interesting part to me, though, was the Mafia-like power plays of Tyler's former teammate Lance Armstrong contrasting with the submissive, yes-men behavior of people like Tyler, who don't care quite as much about winning as they do about being part of the team. I'd recommend this one even to readers who don't follow sports or the Tour.
So, was pro-rider Tyler Hamilton a rule-breaking, anything-to-win doper? Yes. After reading this book, does he gain back a little of my respect? Absolutely. He isn't making excuses for himself because he declares outright, yes, I did that. But he lays out the entire story of his fall into doping and shows that there's a lot more to it than using drugs and transfusions as "lazy outs." If anything, the willingness to suffer beyond the average mortal is a hallmark of bike racers, and conveniently carries into the doping world.
The writing here, thanks to the help of Mr. Coyle, is very good, even gripping--down to the last gory detail of what it is like to accidentally transfuse a "dead" bag of blood that hasn't been stored properly (shudder). The most interesting part to me, though, was the Mafia-like power plays of Tyler's former teammate Lance Armstrong contrasting with the submissive, yes-men behavior of people like Tyler, who don't care quite as much about winning as they do about being part of the team. I'd recommend this one even to readers who don't follow sports or the Tour.