From the Library: Racing Through the Dark

If you can judge a book by how long it takes to get through it, Millar's book resides somewhere between thrilling page-turner and and bargain-bin reject. Which does not tell you very much.

The cynic will say that this is just another book by another former doper and, while that may be true on the surface, dig a little deeper to uncover the nuances. I have always wanted to believe that Millar's case was, at least, a little bit different - there was never that period of denial, for instance, that every single other racer has plead, there was never an attempt to justify the doping. In the aftermath Millar always seemed contrite regarding his actions, accepting of his punishment, and took the initiative to help bring about change in the sport. The cynic will say I am naive if I really believe all that. Maybe. I do want to believe that Millar was different; at the same time, there will always be that nagging doubt, that Millar, though his story, his means of entry into the world of doping, may have been unique, the end result was the same. That is too simplistic for me, though.Youth, excess, pressure, culture, all contributed to Millar's eventual capitulation

This is a bit of cycling history that many people would like to simply forget. It is a story from an era rife with cheating and lying. Yet for all that the belief that we can never truly move forward without first understanding the past rings true. Understanding Millar's entry into the Dopers Club can enable us to direct young riders away from following the same, or similar, path.

Millar, David   Racing Through the Dark: Crash, Burn, Coming Clean, Coming Back
New York: Touchstone, 2011