It was my second time swimming biking and running on the big island. 10:18 Swam 57, biked 5:13 and horrid run! 10:01 remains my best time at Kona.
I just wanted to ask what others observing the AG race and riding it thought about drafting this year.
I raced in 2015 and felt it was much worse; there was more of a pack mentality of "well, everyone else is doing it so I'm going to join in too" than I experienced this year. (I swam 59minutes 2015 to give an idea of where I was in the pack.)
This year, I felt it was a much cleaner race. There was one guy around me who was blatantly drafted. He got a penalty that he served just after Hawi. By Kawaihae on the return, he had caught back up to me, and proceeded to draft again...and again..got a penalty. Good job by the marshals. I later saw him on Ali'i about 5km behind me looking shattered and walking. A few others near me received penalties but my sense was that everyone around me was making a more conscious effort to do their best to race cleanly. That meant sitting up when passed instead of jumping on the wheel to pass back as I so often observed in 2015.
Was this just me or do others feel it might have been better this year?
I just wanted to ask what others observing the AG race and riding it thought about drafting this year.
I raced in 2015 and felt it was much worse; there was more of a pack mentality of "well, everyone else is doing it so I'm going to join in too" than I experienced this year. (I swam 59minutes 2015 to give an idea of where I was in the pack.)
This year, I felt it was a much cleaner race. There was one guy around me who was blatantly drafted. He got a penalty that he served just after Hawi. By Kawaihae on the return, he had caught back up to me, and proceeded to draft again...and again..got a penalty. Good job by the marshals. I later saw him on Ali'i about 5km behind me looking shattered and walking. A few others near me received penalties but my sense was that everyone around me was making a more conscious effort to do their best to race cleanly. That meant sitting up when passed instead of jumping on the wheel to pass back as I so often observed in 2015.
Was this just me or do others feel it might have been better this year?