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Will homeopathy make you a fitter, faster, healthier cyclist?
Fri, Jul 21, 2017 22:07
Do homeopathic remedies have a place in your cycling armoury?
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John wrote about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day’s work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
He worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John also wrote for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site’s main audience. He joined road.cc in 2013.
John died from cancer in 2025, changing his name to John Abbott Valentine in the months before his death.
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slc 13 minutes ago
Yes, but those are essential vehicles. Without them able to drive up and down that road (Park St) at will, fighting over the parking spaces, all the local shops would close immediately. The looney-green council had a plan to bus gate one end, but fortunately the WECA mayor decided to refuse the cash in the face of mere democracy.
slc 17 minutes ago
@chrisonabike I have seen the guy in the photo riding sans-helmet for around 15 years. He remains in one piece, though I put that down to his riding skill and good sense rather than any other factor.
Mr Blackbird 1 hour ago
Yes. Definitely wedges. Happily not covered with mayonnaise. They need to give haggis more respect as well. TBH it never looks that inviting, but usually tastes great. For a great angle on Scottish food, I would like to see them feature haggis as a crouton on top of a Scottish filet steak.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
Actually, maybe what they meant was police who are literally under a cover. Although in that case it's kind of definitional so I'm not sure it really proves anything.
dodgy 2 hours ago
Not a single pun with respect to his name. So disappointed.
Simon14 2 hours ago
A very well explored article, raising some super important points. It would generally be a good thing if certain high level races in particular had actual dope testing. This would benefit the reputation of the sport, but perhaps more importantly , protect riders’ health. The desire for short term performance often overrides longer term consideration of consequence. We don’t want any more Tom Simpson incidents. So, some regulation and enforcement could be seen as good, but heaven forbid we should end up with a UCI type structure that spends too much time and money on things that don’t matter so much (handlebar width, max gearing) versus simple things like approving race routes which ca do much more to enhance rider and spectator safety.
Terry Hutt 2 hours ago
So good that a great man (literally) like LeBron enjoys something as down-to-earth as cycling. Tailwinds!
mdavidford 2 hours ago
Didn't look like chips to me anyway - surely those were wedges?
mdavidford 2 hours ago
Isn't that a bit of a dead giveaway when they're infiltrating trafficking gangs and the like?
19 thoughts on “Will homeopathy make you a fitter, faster, healthier cyclist?”
It might … the placebo
It might … the placebo effect does work on some people some of the time … the precise treatment doesn’t matter … its belief that produces the required effect. Just don’t count on it working as success cannot be predicted or guaranteed. For a stronger effect you could always try a hay fever remedy.
Yes. As pointed out above, if
Yes. As pointed out above, if the complaint is psychosomatic in origin homeopathy has as much chance of working as anything else. A positive attitude and belief that something can and will be cured / improved also correlates well with improvement. So, homeopathy may have a place, but so might your horoscope
But if you believe in
But if you believe in homeopathy and you use it to enhance performance, then even though there is no medication as such to detect in a test, surely you are still morally guilty of a doping offence?
Mungecrundle wrote:
The same thing could be said about eating a banana, or an ‘energy’ bar…
caaad10 wrote:
The same thing could be said about eating a banana, or an ‘energy’ bar…— Mungecrundle
I don’t recall any person detected as a drug cheat claiming they took a bunch of pills because they were hungry.
Mungecrundle wrote:
Presumably then you will receive a homeopathic ban? Banned from one in 10^20 events.
Mungecrundle wrote:
This is along the lines of a question my daughter asked today
“If a dog farts in the woods and there’s no-one there, does it still smell?”
madcarew wrote:
This is along the lines of a question my daughter asked today
“If a dog farts in the woods and there’s no-one there, does it still smell?”— Mungecrundle
I prefer Steven Wright’s:
“If a man says something in the woods and there are no women there, is he still wrong?”
Homeopathy
Q. What do you call alternative medicine that works?
A. Medicine
Short, sharp and to the point
Short, sharp and to the point. Well put.
How are they going to test
How are they going to test for homeopathic doping? I bet they’d get loads of false positives.
Regarding the placebo affect, there must be a cheaper way of taking placebos than the high priced homeopathic “products” (water).
hawkinspeter wrote:
No, if it’s too cheap it won’t work as well … we have a tendency to believe something is better the more it costs.
nbrus wrote:
Sounds like titanium bits for bikes.
Even though homeopathy is
Even though homeopathy is pure quackery and completely useless, if a rider uses it in an attempt to improve performance, they can be banned.
6.3. Athletes’ health care providers should act in accordance with the latest recognised medical knowledge and, when available, evidence-based medicine.
DavidC wrote:
Does this also apply to swimmers? If a swimmer deliberately ingests some sea-water then they’re essentially taking every single homeopathic remedy at once including the banned substances.
I drink Homeopathic Lager
I drink Homeopathic Lager when riding my bike.
Leviathan wrote:
Really? I just don’t like the taste of Aussie lager, but if you like it…
Merely dressing up in skin
Merely dressing up in skin tight lycra, often explicitly trying to look like other grown fit men who dress in skin tight lycra, then following them around all day getting sweaty whilst looking at their arses does NOT in ANY WAY imply that cycllists are homeos….
The theory of homeopathy says
The theory of homeopathy says that the more a substance is diluted, the more effective it becomes. How come it doesn’t work for alcohol then ?