Second chances

There was a post today on our local bicycling forum which got me thinking. The author of the post in question was suggesting if you're a doper (cheater) and you get caught, you're out. You've earned (perhaps stole) your money (while keeping a legitimate rider out of the peloton) and you can't come back.

Instead of launching into a posting war, I decided I'd post MY thoughts on MY blog. If you do or do not agree with MY opinion, I'm cool with that. My two cents.

I, as do many others, believe in practicing forgiveness and grace. I think the David Millar approach (I doped, I took my suspension, I am now riding clean, and I am fighting for a clean sport) teaches a very human lesson and one I'm proud to talk about with my children. We are humans, we are imperfect, and we don't always make the right decision. When we don't make the right decisions, our mistakes may be judged by others as "avoidable" or "calculated decisions on our part," in which case we "should have known better."

I am human, I make mistakes, and I stumble in my practicing forgiveness and grace. What is my true north when I find my mental, spiritual, or moral compass out of whack? I try to remember this short Bible verse. It's from Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Whatever the reasons are for our mistakes, ill-fated deeds, transgressions, or sins our response is to take responsibility without excuse, accept the consequences, learn from your mistake, and begin a path of 'righteousness'. Turn away from the sin. Easier said than done. But our objective nevertheless.

For David Millar and others to admit their wrongdoings, get their own lives and bodies back on track, and take an active role to help clean up the sport is not depressing to me at all. In fact, I find it to be a gift to the sport. I'd suggest it may be exactly what we need if we're going to help flush the dope out of cycling. Perpetuating an environment wherein the riders (both dopers and dope-free) continue to live in a world where admission of wrongdoing is career-ending won't speed up the cleansing process. In fact, it will do the exact opposite.

I'm not suggesting we coddle the dopers, pat them on the back, and not feel a sense of betrayal. There's no doubt the sport needs to be cleaned up. Better enforcement, better testing standards, more civil rights, fewer epic stages, the list goes on and on. Eliminating everyone who ever doped seems a bit extreme to me.

Maybe I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it without excuse, I'll accept the consequences, learn from my mistakes, and pursue a path of righteousness. In short, I'll expect a second chance.