Trauma wrote:
Agree 100%, lots of commenting around these rules, but not many signing up to become officials (it's not as easy as you would think, but I can guarantee that it would be infinitely harder with time based draft zones). If you think distance based draft zones are hard to measure, just wait if the switch were made to time based... assuming that every racer is traveling at a slightly different speed, you would need a radar gun and a stop watch as an official to establish what is and isn't drafting. It would look very arbitrary too, since depending on the speeds of racers involved, what would be drafting for one set of people, would not for others... As a racer, I get it, it can be hard to visualize 12m (I don't find it that hard while racing), but your guess at that distance will likely be far more consistent than your quick guestimation math on time based draft zones... Further, blocking becomes a real issue, because it's hard to be looking forwards managing your draft zone, and to look back to see the relative speed of someone approaching, to make sure you're not accidentally blocking them...
To be honest, when I've officiated on the bike course from a moto, most of the drafting issues stem from overcrowding courses. In those situations, many people just don't make an effort not to draft, so you get these loose packs forming... Having more moto officials does act as more of a deterrent (actually media motos help too, since racers hear a moto, but can't tell if it's an official or a camera coming...), but does increase race costs (extra officials, moto drivers, gas, etc.) as well so there needs to be a balance...
Great post.
A lot of "officials" at races, USAT or WTC, really have not raced much, or some, at all. Now some have done it for years, but a lot are just folks trying to help. Do I really want
one of these folks to ruin my day that I may have spend months training for? And as you say, MOST happen in overcrowded courses, and from what I have seen, flat ones.
As I post all the time, if the RD makes a race that is basically a draft legal event by how they set it up, well, ... If a RD REALLY cared about not having drafting, you would see this by how many they allowed to register, what type of wave starts they do, and if the course have some great tough hills. If not, well, ....
When I am out there, the drafting I see falls into 2 types. One is folks are just riding along, and maybe within the draft "zone". IMO, who cares. But, the person that is hugging the wheel of the person in front of them, and just sits there, well, they should be nailed.
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