I have been a professional cyclist for 11 years, and never has my job title seemed as loaded as it does now in the wake of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's reasoned decision that found Lance Armstrong and many other professional cyclists guilty of rampant doping.
During a recent flight I sat next to a man whose attire — the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet, matching T-shirt, and shoes — showed him to be a supporter of Armstrong's charity. My in-flight reading was the confessional by Armstrong's former teammate Tyler Hamilton.
When my seatmate noticed and ascertained my profession, he remarked, "Well, you guys all do that stuff, right? So, personally, I'm still pro-Lance."
He unjustly painted all professional cyclists with the same tainted brush in order to reconcile the painful truths that have been emerging.
I swiftly informed him that I have been a clean rider for my entire career and that I am far from alone in the peloton.
The experience made me realize the importance of telling my story and addressing the misconception that pursuing a successful career in cycling during the Armstrong era necessitated doping.
I race for the Jamis-Hagens Berman Professional Cycling Team, which is a UCI Continental Team. This means that we race at a lower level than the Tour de France teams. But our racing calendar includes such top-level events as the Tour of California and the Tour of Utah.
I am proud to say that I have never taken drugs and have never been offered drugs in my entire career as a professional cyclist.
While I can only truly speak for myself, I do not believe that my story is atypical of my U.S.-based colleagues.
Making the choice to race clean was never a difficult decision or one that I felt deserved praise. It felt as obvious and unremarkable as paying my taxes.
But recently, it has become important for me to be outspoken because I believe we do not deserve to be condemned en masse with the riders whose doping was revealed in the recent USADA investigation.
I started racing road bicycles in 2000 and have been racing professionally since 2002, during much of the time highlighted in the USADA reasoned decision.
Here are some scenarios that I have encountered: pressure to produce race results from my bosses and peers; seeing dopers finish ahead of me; determination of my salary and job prospects based on my racing performances; and dealing with the reality that my dreams of racing the Tour de France may not be attainable.
I have had ups and downs in my professional cycling career, winning national and international races, but also dropping out and missing major goals. This is simply the nature of employment and endeavoring to achieve a long-term goal, not a reason to dope.
The Armstrong fan I encountered on the plane is mistaken. His perceived dichotomy is false. In addition to the choices of either doping or walking away during the dark Armstrong era, there existed a third option of racing clean. A rewarding career in cycling need not include the dangerous and reckless decision to dope.
Tyler Wren lives in Rensselaerville.