Chattanooga 70.3, course was open to traffic, much of it on narrow two lane road with no shoulder. I've been racing for 10 years but honestly this was the first time I've ever had to deal with this issue to this extent
Ran into a situation where a group of riders ahead were bunched together (in a peloton, that's another Oprah covered in another thread) and a truck came from behind me. Truck passed me and tried to pass the group ahead but because they were not riding right and due to oncoming traffic, truck could not pass and fell back behind the pack, now in front of me. Rolling course so peloton is going anywhere from 15 to 22 mph (guesstimates) and people are also falling off the back as well as getting passed. Truck to its credit behind is trying to give them room, but slows way down to wait for a good time to pass. So now truck is in front of me, going slower than I am as it and I are catching the detritus of the peloton.
Had a second incident on a wider road coming back into town, solo rider slightly slower than me but would not go far right, and a very conscientious jeep driver would not pass him, so I am stuck behind this jeep, until he makes a right turn (probably .5 mile)
My options:
(1) I cannot pass on the left without crossing double yellow into oncoming traffic, illegal and stupid
(2) Fall back to <15 mph and sit... and wait....stupid
(3) stay as close to the truck as is safe and wait... maybe illegal, maybe stupid
(4) pass on the right.... stupid I know! but I actually did do this once in the first instance, as I felt the truck knew where I was, but I certainly risked a right hook and would have been in the wrong. But then the truck just re-passed me when there was room.
So, what to do in each case? I do my best to ride as clean a race as I can given WTC numbers and space limitations, to the point of some huge watt surges to get around groups, and purposely under-riding and free wheeling to fall back from groups and riders passing me.
In the first one I did make one pass on the right but tried to stay as far back as I could until it was resolved. But I was "penalized" as I had to slow down for that time.
In the second one I stayed behind the jeep and while I guess it was technically "drafting" as we know it for that short period, certainly violating the spirit of the WTC rule but not the letter (just checked, says "Drafting” means to remain within the draft zone (as described below) of another athlete for a period longer than 25 seconds. Drafting during the Race is prohibited; (5:00 Minute Time Penalty))." Jeep driver isn't an athlete, so.... Not suggesting that someone could legally motorpace a car, but I certainly was not getting a motorpacing benefit as it was going slower than I would be going solo.
I do have to say that the drivers I saw were very polite and conscientious. I was on the course early so really only had this issue with 3 cars, I imagine it was worse later
Was I wrong? Right?
Ran into a situation where a group of riders ahead were bunched together (in a peloton, that's another Oprah covered in another thread) and a truck came from behind me. Truck passed me and tried to pass the group ahead but because they were not riding right and due to oncoming traffic, truck could not pass and fell back behind the pack, now in front of me. Rolling course so peloton is going anywhere from 15 to 22 mph (guesstimates) and people are also falling off the back as well as getting passed. Truck to its credit behind is trying to give them room, but slows way down to wait for a good time to pass. So now truck is in front of me, going slower than I am as it and I are catching the detritus of the peloton.
Had a second incident on a wider road coming back into town, solo rider slightly slower than me but would not go far right, and a very conscientious jeep driver would not pass him, so I am stuck behind this jeep, until he makes a right turn (probably .5 mile)
My options:
(1) I cannot pass on the left without crossing double yellow into oncoming traffic, illegal and stupid
(2) Fall back to <15 mph and sit... and wait....stupid
(3) stay as close to the truck as is safe and wait... maybe illegal, maybe stupid
(4) pass on the right.... stupid I know! but I actually did do this once in the first instance, as I felt the truck knew where I was, but I certainly risked a right hook and would have been in the wrong. But then the truck just re-passed me when there was room.
So, what to do in each case? I do my best to ride as clean a race as I can given WTC numbers and space limitations, to the point of some huge watt surges to get around groups, and purposely under-riding and free wheeling to fall back from groups and riders passing me.
In the first one I did make one pass on the right but tried to stay as far back as I could until it was resolved. But I was "penalized" as I had to slow down for that time.
In the second one I stayed behind the jeep and while I guess it was technically "drafting" as we know it for that short period, certainly violating the spirit of the WTC rule but not the letter (just checked, says "Drafting” means to remain within the draft zone (as described below) of another athlete for a period longer than 25 seconds. Drafting during the Race is prohibited; (5:00 Minute Time Penalty))." Jeep driver isn't an athlete, so.... Not suggesting that someone could legally motorpace a car, but I certainly was not getting a motorpacing benefit as it was going slower than I would be going solo.
I do have to say that the drivers I saw were very polite and conscientious. I was on the course early so really only had this issue with 3 cars, I imagine it was worse later
Was I wrong? Right?