[Closed] Ultra endurance athletes and PED's

An experience I had with an ultra athlete he asked me on what schedule before event do I apply enema, I told him I don't have one and he looked at me as if I was insane.

It'll depend on where the PED line is set:

- caffine, how much? An espresso is ok but half a pack of Pro Plus is not.
- paracetamol, ibuprophen, codeine... where do you draw the line.
- amphetamines or alcohol

There will always be people who test and go beyond the boundaries set, and others that don't.

I've known of drugs in sport all my life, as a 15 year old weightlifter a 21 year old in the club, lifted for GB and drugs (testosterone etc) were administered routinely during GB training camps, a schoolboy I knew of who used to race CX in Europe knew that if he carried on racing it would just be a "when" for him to start in order to keep the playing field level, he walked away and persued college instead, also used to know of a Cat1 roadie whose legs were a ripped work of art who had some random heart issues before leaving the sport.....

A couple of years ago I stood beside a group supporting a foreign runner (might have been Spanish but can't remember) at the Glencoe skyline. They had laid all his stuff out in a line (pun intended) to make it easy for him to pick up. There was some food, mainly gels and about 6 different pills. Given the openness of that it's probable none of it was illegal but it did strike me as odd, what could they all be?

Genuine question:

what schedule before event do I apply enema

Is that a banned practice?

What's the "performance enhancing" benefit? or does it reduce the risk of sh*tt*ng yourself?

What the “performance enhancing” benefit? or does it reduce the risk of sh*tt*ng yourself?

Weight loss?

I sometimes think I'd take all the performance enhancers I could get if they just allowed me to ride as hard as I wanted as often as I wanted, injury free.

Now I'm just learning that riding slower all the time has a similar effect, it's easy if you just ignore your average speed at theend 😁

I’m a romantic and optimist at heart so want to believe it’s all hard work and mind over matter

These days if I'm honest I tend to think that lots of competitors fall into 3 categories (those at the top of whichever sport it is) 1. naturally gifted with good genes who have enough of an edge never to have to take anything beyond pain medication and dietary supplements. 2 those just below that range who are probably pushing the regulations to the absolute limit to keep up with those in group 1 , and then the last group 3 who in some sports I've no doubt whatsoever that many are just supplementing their training with as much PED as they think they can get away with, as they are better than most normal folk, but have no other hope in catching or competing with those in groups 1 and 2.

I'd like to think that those in group 3 are being pushed by unscrupulous coaches or national teams, or have just found themselves through either age, ability, or injury failing to compete with groups 1 and 2 and perhaps have a family, sponsors to please...if they can just train through this injury...and then there's some who just don't give a shit and want to win regardless of how they get there. I think that last group is probably bigger than I'd like to believe though, sadly.

All sports will have those that use drugs.

What’s stopping people in events where there is either no or limited drug testing taking whatever they choose in order to win an event?

Ultimately, nothing.

What's "acceptable" probably depends on the culture, national and sporting, you were raised in as much as your own personal inhibitions and ambitions. My wife and I went on an organised MTB trip to Peru, about half the clients were European, the other half were American/Canadian, all of us non-athletes just regular riders. The Americans would openly discuss how much Ibuprofen they would take each day, us Europeans were wide-eyed. As @qwerty says, it depends where you draw the line: nationally/internationally classed illegal drugs are obviously at one end of the scale, caffeine at the other.

A real grey area: is taking Aspirin/paracetamol for toothache OK? What about taking it to deal with general soreness?

On the 2019 Highland Trail a pack of prescription only drugs was found on the route (pretty much only the HT riders would be on that track), no-one admitted to them being theirs so Alan voided all results.

During the 1980s when I was doing high altitude Himalayan climbing Diamox appeared - it reduces the effects of altitude. I wasn't interested in taking it because it had the distinct possibility of letting you get further into very dangerous terrain too quickly. Others were happy to. We had it on trips because it can also be used when AMS strikes and you need to get someone down to lower altitudes. For me it was there as a medicine not a crutch.

Watching Icarus on Netflix extinguished all hope that drug use in high level amateur endurance sport and above isn't commonplace/required to be at comparable levels of performance.

Is that a banned practice?

What’s the “performance enhancing” benefit? or does it reduce the risk of sh*tt*ng yourself?

If anything it is more honest practice than using a suppository.
The performance benefit is optimised bowel strategy, not needing to toilet on course saves a chunk of time.

Just sharing 1st hand account experience on things ultra atheletes are prepared to do for win even when no money at stake.

Is using painkiller like ibuprofin banned practice?

There is research showing ibuprofen can increase the risk of kidney problems with ultrarunners. Especially if you are dehydrated already.
Quite a few ultramarathons are now banning it.

I don't know if ibuprofen is officially 'banned' in any way but many ultra events have banned it themselves due to the health risks.

The Americans would openly discuss how much Ibuprofen they would take each day, us Europeans were wide-eyed.

I'd be wide eyed mainly because they probably don't realise how much they are ****ing themselves up.

On the 2019 Highland Trail a pack of prescription only drugs was found on the route (pretty much only the HT riders would be on that track), no-one admitted to them being theirs so Alan voided all results.

What were they? Must be something quite spectacularly stimulating to justify that...

https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16872&p=213187

Tramadol

Partly that and partly because we couldn't really believe that they were taking it as glibly as they were.

I can't remember if Ibuprofen was ever prescription only here but I know that there's differences in regulatory classifications either side of the Atlantic. On occasion I suffer from cold sores - I had a flare up whilst in Canada many years ago and went to the chemist to get some Zovirax only to be told that it was prescription only there.

What were they?

Codeine.

I stand corrected in light of Jambos post, opioid prescription medication used during the event wasn't how the organiser envisaged his ethos being applied.

Watching Icarus on Netflix extinguished all hope that drug use in high level amateur endurance sport and above isn’t commonplace/required to be at comparable levels of performance.

Indeed..

There is research showing ibuprofen can increase the risk of kidney problems with ultrarunners. Especially if you are dehydrated already.
Quite a few ultramarathons are now banning it.

NSAID can quite easily lead to gastric issues if abused. Personally, I don’t take them at all. I prefer to rely on pain-killers with a different mechanism.

Tramadol

I’m impressed someone could ride on Tram - I could barely bloody talk...

I only got tested once in several years of 24 hour racing. That was at a world champs race in 2012. It was very exciting, peeing into a paper cup while being watched by a burly bearded chap. I thought I'd properly 'landed' as an athlete 🙂

In all the other 30-ish races I did there was no testing but I have witnessed one or two instances of amazing upturns in speed and performance in other riders, very late in the race. Like record lap times after 18 hours. Hmmm.

I used to drink loads of beetroot juice in the weeks before a race which does have a useful enema-like effect and drops some unnecessary weight. Every little helps.

We are talking 15 years ago but I knew a lady who did ultras and run on a mix of jelly babies and ibuburfen

Tramadol in the right dosage could be useful, I certainly felt pretty pepped up when I was taking it!

I'd be inclined to think though that someone was just trying to get through the event with an injury. Would almost have been better to self declare and just accept a footnote against your result or something!

Is Tramadol and Ibuprofen banned? Brufen started out prescription only in Blighty and now is seen almost as a panacea... Tram could have been used for an injury. Imagine training for that event then tweaking something in the run up. Anyone with a dicky back will recognise a sneeze or just putting your socks on can lead to an episode. Tram can help with that. I used it last year when I broke my neck. not competitively though 😉

@boblo - in that case you'd fess up and say so.

Tramadol was added to the banned list in early 2019. As with all these things though they don't just get added overnight, there's a lead-in period where currently permissible medication is on an "about to be banned" list to give anyone using it time to stop and for traces of it to exit their system.

@whitestone Fair enough. I dint know it had been banned. Thinking about it, wasn't there a fuss with a tennis player using it a couple of years ago? Might be mis remembering.

If it is legal and has some performance benefit, assume every professional will be taking it. Hint. They’re professional. Those are the rules. Issues arise where rules change or products have contamination. Pros spend a lot of money on tested supplements to avoid this.

I take ibuprofen for 12hr TTs, 600mg loading dose then 200mg every two hours. It’s allowed and it works for me. I have no issues with the ethics of this. And some of you will be aware that I have a sideline on professional sports doping advice for the foremost sports lawyers in the business 🙂

Boblo that was meldonium and the rules changed but her coach failed to stop the supplement. She failed the next test and was banned.

PED’s or drugs like pain killers and anti-inflammatories

It's kind of weird to smash them all together like that. There's a world of difference.
You can pick up ibuprofen in a supermarket with minimal restrictions.

And some of you will be aware that I have a sideline on professional sports doping advice for the foremost sports lawyers in the business 🙂

Any chance of any freebie advice for a tubby 50-year-old tryhard?

12hrs/week in zone 2. Creatinine 1200mg/day, multivitamins, iron if you can stomach the side effects. Ibuprofen 400mg for evenings if your legs hurt. Eat less. Sorry there is no (Legal) magic. 😀

There is a reason why things get banned. And obvious drugs get put on the testing list years before they become approved medicines (or dropped from development e.g., SARMs).

Hmmm, I had some tramadol in my first aid kit for the ht550 in 2017, in case I broke a collarbone or something and had to hike out (but it was still there at the end so not mine hanging around for two years!). Mainly as it is an excellent painkiller! Prescribed for me when I was recovering from cancer surgery, but I wouldn’t fancy riding on it!

I thought the current thinking was to avoid Ibuprofen during training as it hampers the very adaptations we're seeking to achieve?

What is creatinine good for?

Eat less. Sorry there is no (Legal) magic. 😀

Pfft...back to enemas it is then. 🙂

What is creatinine good for?

Muscle function/repair

Boblo that was meldonium and the rules changed but her coach failed to stop the supplement. She failed the next test and was banned.

That's the one, Sharapova wasn't it?

Pfft…back to enemas it is then. 🙂

Well you have to get your fun where you can don't you? 😀

I’m impressed someone could ride on Tram – I could barely bloody talk…

I was given some tramadol once going home after an op, was ****ing awful, it was like being switched off for four hours. Bit like acid but with none of the fun bits.

Creatinine 1200mg/day

Unless you have some very specialist knowledge ?

Yes, sorry was a typo. I took a lot of tramodol after my accident. Terrible stuff. Vivid dreams. I tried one at the end of a road race once for an experiment -I’m no contender. It wasn’t great.

Low dose ibuprofen however is very good for muscle pain in endurance events.

West highland way race doc says ibuprofen is a no on that event (well strongly recommends against).
There's always super human efforts in 24s and a few names have mutterings around them. I'd say they'd always podium whereas I rely on teammates and low entries to trouble the steps.

You may be surprised to learn that only one U.K. cyclist is currently serving a sanction.

https://www.ukad.org.uk/sanctions

Once served, the sanction becomes redacted. The cycling suspect was found to have some interesting substances. And a sixty yo TTer no less.

Now search on rugby 🙁

Cyclists get done for a variety, but mainly blood boosting medications (although the above was a more general bag of muscle building). Rugby, boxing, weightlifting, powerlifting are all on steroids. Motor racers get done for recreational drugs!

I used to carry a couple of Tramadol for emergencies in my kit when doing multi-day unsupported event in case I jiggered myself. Occasionally used to carry / take codeine for my back - no worries about enemas, it was a very effective ‘stopper’

Boblo that was meldonium and the rules changed but her coach failed to stop the supplement. She failed the next test and was banned.

Her coach didn't know she was on it, and neither did her american doctor, she claimed it was for a heart condition but she was getting it prescribed specially in Russia despite having lived in the US for 20 years and never disclosed the drug or her "fantasy medical condition" it to any American medical practitioner in all the time she lived there.

It wasn't a simple supplement that had the rules changed on it, it was a prescription medicine that she didn't need but took to gain an advantage,

My sister does some of these long distance jogging things. Multi day marathons in deserts around the world.

She managed to break a bone in her foot in Iceland but finished. I assumed she'd been on the ibuprofen/paracetamol rotation you'd normally take for pain. But, apparently in most of these events ibuprofen is banned. Apparently if you are dehydrated it can really mess up your kidneys. To the point where a normal dose could cause kidney failure.

Equally I do know people doing multi day hiking and cycling trips swear by "Vitamin I"

Some people probably take stuff that's stronger/illegal. Same as in any sport if their are gains to be made.

A couple of years ago I stood beside a group supporting a foreign runner (might have been Spanish but can’t remember) at the Glencoe skyline. They had laid all his stuff out in a line (pun intended) to make it easy for him to pick up. There was some food, mainly gels and about 6 different pills. Given the openness of that it’s probable none of it was illegal but it did strike me as odd, what could they all be?

Most likely Salt / electrolyte tablets (e.g S Caps) and/or caffeine pills as well. Possibly amino acid pills. you can get gels with all of that mixed in but taking seperate supplements gives you more control so easier to avoid stomach issues etc.

Pain killers and indigestion tablets also commonly used in ultras. Most organisers are clamping down on pain killers these days due to the risk of rhabdomyolysis which can result in death.

Difficult to monitor several hundred athletes in the middle of nowhere though.

Still interested in the effects of Ibuprofen on training, surprised it isn't being discussed here as a couple of different physios/medical professionals have suggested to me that it can inhibit recovery and strengthening/adaptation.

I guess trained athletes don't consider events part of their training as such, but I have a multi-day trip coming up and am weighing up benefits of painkillers vs. possibly missing out on some useful training load, I need all the training miles I can get!

If you are a swimmer (and a rat) it may have some effect. If you are a runner (and a mouse) it may offset gains in skeletal muscle. If you are a human, the jury is out.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Ibuprofen+endurance+training

I'd look into the risks of taking it when dehydrated.

Also when I've been injured I've been advised not to take ibuprofen in the first 48hours after injury as it slows the healing process. Not sure on the science behind this. Is it more to do with the inflammation response than muscle repair?

Whilst on ultra events, I see Josh Ibbet has just won GBDURO in a bit under 8 days.

Not entirely rational or logical opinion = If the distance or time needed is short enough that PEDs of some sort make a difference then it's not 'ultra distance'.

Real long distance events go so far that burning the candle at both ends will risk a likely burn out before the finish or getting so dopey it's counter-productive. The events can become managed attrition to an extent and I'm not convinced uppers etc are productive by that stage. Mistakes in kit, route or resupply can lose more time than the 'PED' etc might gain and uppers, pain killers etc all create a yo-yo of feel good and crash cycles. So on that basis I've got no issue with how much caffeine, 5-hour energy shots or anything else that people take as long as it's nothing on banned lists. I also think (over a genuinely long distance race) a well-prepped and efficient, mindful rider will be fresher and make fewer mistakes than a strung-out caffeine-reliant or pill popping rider. And if the pills help a less fit or prepped rider keep up longer, so be it. I expect self-supported distance racers are as much about personal style and ethics as results vs their peers. If that's not your case you'll probably not get the returns or rewards you want from self-supported bike racing.

I’ve got no issue with how much caffeine, 5-hour energy shots or anything else that people take

Awesome, I'm going to try riding the Torino-Nice rally like it's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas! 😎

I'd never actually heard of rhabdomyolysis, but just looked it up - severe dehydration, muscle injury and ibuprofen aren't a good combination it seems.

Awesome, I’m going to try riding the Torino-Nice rally like it’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas! 😎

Why not, it's not a timed event, fill your boots / neck... I think the beer and coffee consumption of a few along the way would count as uppers and downers.

In all seriousness though RE caffeine and Red Bull etc, maybe it's not the amount it's the amount compared to your resistance to it. I could drink a small can of Red Bull at 10am and still have disrupted sleep that night while others can sleep well after a black coffee after dinner.

I also think (over a genuinely long distance race) a well-prepped and efficient, mindful rider will be fresher and make fewer mistakes than a strung-out caffeine-reliant or pill popping rider.

It's not about muscle power in a genuinely long distance race. It's about managing sleep deprivation, whilst staying alert and keeping your metabolism high.

When you have been awake for 36 hours or more and are starting to hallucinate and fall asleep on your feet then caffeine (or a stronger stimulant) wakes you up again and is a massive advantage.

rhabdomyolysis

It was a suspected cause of death in marathon running and a few of them have now banned it and include info on their entry forms about this. Brighton was one, think some of the big international ones too.

It’s not about muscle power in a genuinely long distance race. It’s about managing sleep deprivation, whilst staying alert and keeping your metabolism high.

When you have been awake for 36 hours or more and are starting to hallucinate and fall asleep on your feet then caffeine (or a stronger stimulant) wakes you up again and is a massive advantage.

If I read your post right, I disagree. Managing rest/sleep dep is about muscle power, it's about conserving that higher power base level you've trained to and managing the physical fade. If your recovery is bad during the event you'll slow down too much toward the end. Long distance racing is about looking after yourself first, sleep deprivation may be further down the list (though increased sleep dep is how racing's gone in recent years as the guys who can get all the other bits right then start to sleep far less as the last real gain to be had). Sleep dep does detract from your performance though so it's simply whether you can handle or manage it enough so it balances out as a gain in av speed. Managing it significantly with stimulants just kicks the fatigue can down the course a bit, though I can't say I've a lot of experience of that - only a little and I didn't like the way it pushed me off a more natural cycle of rest when needed.

In long events (not the 4-5 days that get tagged as ultras, I mean a week plus) you have to manage the inevitable breakdown and maintain your output, so if you've been awake 36hrs you need to be confident you can handle that strategy. It's not going to be the fastest way to ride for everyone. Yes use caffeine to keep going if you have to, why not, but if you're 36hrs into that block of riding but really struggling and only 3-4 hours from where you plan to rest that caffeine could mess up the rest you'll need to manage the next block. It's all about how you feel at the time compared to where you need to be next and a mindful planner will be more likely to manage that better than someone relying on a fix when needed.

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You may be surprised to learn that only one U.K. cyclist is currently serving a sanction.

Not surprised but disappointed, because there’s at least one high profile name that should be there too.

will be fresher and make fewer mistakes than a strung-out caffeine-reliant or pill popping rider

I can tell you that twelve and twenty four hours on aero bars looking through your eyebrows is not great for a neck that’s carrying a twenty-year whiplash injury.

The nice thing about these events is that hydration is normally not an issue (over-hydrated). Ibuprofen helps with muscle aches, but it’s mainly the shoulders and neck that do the suffering for me.

As for caffeine, well it has a six hour half life and I take a SIS espresso gel every three hours. One is usually pretty wired by the end due to accumulation. Which helps when you have to drive home afterwards. For a 24hr, somebody else drives.

one high profile name that should be there too.

I’d be interested to hear who you think should be serving a ban. And for what.

One night when out with pals I was doing the driving so was drinking coke. After about 6 pints over the evening I couldn't sleep when I got home and felt both wired and exhausted at the same time. The next day I felt as hungover as if I'd had a skin full the night before. Can't imagine what state I'd be in if I was consuming caffeine for 24 hours without sleep.

When I first got into mountain biking I used to ride with people who were a fair bit fitter than me so I thought nothing of having a can of red bull and a 2 ibuprofen before the ride. I felt great mostly, but I was still in my twenties. Not sure I'd do that anymore.

Coca Cola is about 50 mg per pint. Six pints would be 300 mg. that’s two SIS gels. Elimination is surprisingly slow - half removed in six hours. Back to baseline in about 30 hours.

Caffeine helps raise heart rate and may help with metabolic efficiency. It was on the WADA watch list, but you really can’t use it as a drug of abuse. The limits of concern were thought to be about 1000 mg in a short time. That’s a box of 20 Pro Plus. A dose of 100 mg an hour before a short race is a reasonable regime for some enhancement of performance (that’s a double espresso). An hour because it’s absorbed slowly.

The lethal dose was thought to be 14 g until two students survived a horrific sports science study induced overdose at Northumberland unit. They survived by ITU admission and dialysis. They had 30 g instead of 300 mg!!!! an over dose of 100 times or equivalently taking 200 of those SIS gels (it was dosed as pure powder).

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-tyne-38744307

If you’re going to take PEDs then at least check the dose. That’s my day job, and don’t work it out on an iPhone calculator!

Btw the content of energy drinks is regulated. Red bull is 80 mg and monster is 200 mg.

One night when out with pals I was doing the driving so was drinking coke. After about 6 pints over the evening I couldn’t sleep when I got home and felt both wired and exhausted at the same time

Dont ever try amphetamines!!

The lethal dose was thought to be 14 g until two students survived a horrific sports science study induced overdose at Northumberland unit. They survived by ITU admission and dialysis. They had 30 g instead of 300 mg!!!! an over dose of 100 times or equivalently taking 200 of those SIS gels (it was dosed as pure powder).

Just read a report on it:

They had used a mobile phone to calculate the caffeine dosage, resulting in the decimal point being in the wrong place, he added, saying that no risk assessments had been made.

In their defence, the university’s lawyer said the university wished to “emphasise that they take the welfare of their students and staff seriously”.

I imagine it like giving a couple of PE teachers lab coats and telling them to get on with it 🙂

If I asked you to pour out 300mg of salt, you wouldn’t know what it looked like (it’s really not much at all!). Funny thing is, pure caffeine is VERY bitter- it’s used for flavour not effect. Swallowing 30g just shows how willing people are to satisfy others.

I never understood why they didn’t just use 50mg pro plus tablets.

I can neither confirm nor deny if I have used amphetamine but I do have a history of being fairly sensitive to drugs.

Caffeine can give me heart palpitations and is one of my known migraine triggers.

My legal high is a cup of tea and a slice of cake after riding my mountain bike and even then I can get pretty buzzed. A rockstar I am not. 😬

Any other known drugs/supplements that amateur endurance athletes are known to take?

How about slimming pills? A guy I used to work with took a fair few more than the recommended amount of slimming pills one day on site. He ended up a right sweaty mess and said his heart was racing, not sure what they were.

Iron supplements are popular. If your guts can stomach them. Increasing haemaglobin has obvious benefits for endurance. Whether iron intake is a means to this is moot.

Serotonin is also a useful high. The normal route of administration for cyclists is known as a banana. You need a large dose to get high 🤣

I took a tramadol in the middle of the night during a recent bike holiday, it was the only painkiller I had in my travel bag.

I was surprised how strong I felt the next day on a big ride in the mountains.

I'd always wondered why the pros took it, but I think it had a significant effect on muting my fatigue from the last two big days of riding with poor sleep.

Shame it was my last one from an old prescription, really.

A few years ago me and a couple of pals went road cycling in the French Alps. But a couple - or three - weeks before we were due to head out my pal had an asthma attack and needed to be administered to hospital. He was given some strong drugs (no idea what they were) and he seemed to back to health prior to us flying out.

His performance on the climbs in the Alps was way better than mine. Which was in total contrast to how it normally is when we ride together. As our week in the Alps passed he got weaker and I got stronger.

I'm sure that the asthma drug he had been taking was just coincidental with his sudden performance boost.

Steroids. I had a course a while back. Couple of days later knocked out 50 miles at highish effort off road and felt fresh afterwards. Almost worth having the chest infection.

He ended up a right sweaty mess and said his heart was racing, not sure what they were.

Sound like some sort of amphetamine

So guys, give me the top 5 readily available drugs or supplements that someone - hypothetically of course - could take leading up to a 2 day 300km off-road mountain bike event that would make a discernable difference but wouldn't likely kill them or have any other horrific side effects?

interesting thread. I've wondered why non-pro roadies take painkillers when that just means they'll miss out on some of the pain, which I thought was the whole point of it?

Or is it like the masochist who liked a cold shower in the morning, so he had a warm one?

So guys, give me the top 5 readily available drugs or supplements that someone – hypothetically of course – could take leading up to a 2 day 300km off-road mountain bike event that would make a discernable difference but wouldn’t likely kill them or have any other horrific side effects?

You'll know me at the start of the CL -

😂

My current 'legal highs' are

1) Beetroot juice - because I actually like it now anyway. Jury seems to be out on drinking it before or after exercise. I just have it with breakfast.

2) Multi-vitamins. Because why not? (apart from possible waste of money but at Tesco prices I'll take the hit

3) Trying to hydrate much better

4) Kale! Seems like an easy win, is tasty roasted as Kale chips, everyone seems to recommend it, useful roughage...

5) Intrigued by Creatine but it sounds like it's mostly good for strength gains but can cause weight gain?

You'll recognise me by my lack of knowing what the hell I'm doing. I'm likely to turn up with enough kit to circumnavigate the globe or with just 2 water bottles, a waterproof jacket and an emergency banana.

Multi-vitamins. Because why not? (apart from possible waste of money but at Tesco prices I’ll take the hit

Vitamin pills do work insofar as they top up your levels of the vitamins - but are much better taken with food and are not a replacement for healthy eating obvs. But they don't 'work' on the wilder claims like preventing colds etc.

Beetroot juice pharmacology is one of the most interesting of all. Your body can't process nitrate, so it's released back into your mouth via saliva and broken down my bacteria. You than absorb the nitrite, convert it to nitrous oxide and this acts as a vasodilator. Stuff makes me gag and you have to drink a LOT of it, but I do like eating beetroots!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3575935/

My top five are:
1) vitamins - when I remember
2) caffeine tablets and/or SIS caffeine gels
3) creatine - when I remember
4) ibuprofen - as above 100 mg/hour
5) liquidised porridge with apple sauce in freezer bags, drunk every hour!

The Spanish have recently reduced the dosage of Ibuprofen available without a prescription - you used to be able to buy a pack of 600mg pills over the counter, that's now been reduced to a maximum of 400mg. And there's definitely a lot more awareness of the risks of using Vit I during long races, previously we were all necking one before the race (just in case) and then as needed during. You don't really see that anymore.

Never thought of taking Ibuprofen as a performance enhancer, but some used to joke about taking it before a ride to deal with the inevitable pain from crashing.

TiRed - Could you elaborate on the benefits of creatine for cycling if you have time please?
Also, your number 5 is a troll to teach the OP a lesson for cheating, right?

I’m intrigued by the Ibuprofen. The sports physio I go to on and off has always been clear that it’s fine in the immediate term (ie at the pint of injury) but that it inhibits muscle recovery. People taking it to manage inflammation prior rather than in response to an injury are you concerned about any long term effects?

Tramadol used to come up in conversation at the club TTs and I’ve ridden whilst on it through prescriptions. I’ve also TTd on Valium, again prescription and that I cannot recommend at all 😄
I read a good few years back that ibuprofen can cause heart issues when exercising so given that I was on prescription for it for several years as a teenager and it turned my guts to mush I tend to avoid it, and wouldn’t take on a ride, if I get sore then I’ll take a single 500mg paracetamol.
I was on tramadol (3x50mg/day) for 14 weeks and the coming off was horrible enough that I don’t want to be on it again any time soon.