Well, we almost lucked out with the weather.

I spotted you wheeling out of transition after the race, but didn't have the chance to say hi. Was too busy getting my stuff together to get out of there and get warm & dry!

At least I stayed safe and had fun (until a side stitch slowed me over the last 1.5mi--ouch).

Hope it went well for all.

John

After the race, it was all I could do to manhandle my bike back to the parking lot (which was slowly getting flooded), due to the huge winds and my quickly freezing. The rain and wind let loose when I had about 200yds to go on the final run. Where were you at that time? I'm glad I made it over the bridge before the weather turned. I saw a guy from the first wave sitting by the bridge with a lot of blood on his face and legs. Wasn't pretty. I foolishly rode both directions over the bridge, with my rear wheel slipping from side to side. Heat of battle and all that.

For those who weren't there, they cancelled the awards ceremony (and this was a regional championship and a Grand Prix event!) due to the fact that the tent might have blown away and that some of the competitors were on the verge of hypothermia. Now I have to wait for the results to be posted on the Web.

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Yup, I'm sure glad that rain held off too. I can't imagine if we had started the race at 9 or 9:30. That bike ride would have been hypothermia-central! As it was, my first trip across the metal grates was a little dicey as I was fishtailing all over the place. I said screw it and walked on the way back. After hearing about the guy that took a face plant into it, I'm sure glad I walked!

I ditched the race pretty quick since I was quickly freezing to death. I'll be interested to see the results, I'm pretty sure I'll get my first-ever drafting penalty(s), which I do deserve. We had a pretty good pace-line going with 5-7 guys. I was kind of annoyed, as I try to play by the rules, but it was pretty much impossible on that course. Being dead flat, and a little wind, it's tough to break away for very long from cyclists that are on par with your abilities. Oh well, it was just a B/C race for me.

And Ken, I did end up going with the Disk. No problems, except being a little dicey on the turns, but I would definitely have regretted it if we had started later!

Just checked the results...

There's no way that was actually a 30K bike, is there? It says I averaged 25.2 MPH, and there's no way I was riding that fast, even with a little draft here or there.

No, it's 17.2miles or so (27.7km). Either way, nice race!

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Most of the downpour and winds were on the run for me as well. Rain started shortly before I hit the metal bridge the 2nd time (you were probably 1/2mi or so into your run). I unclipped 1 foot and sort of pushed myself over it. First time was actually dicier because there were several people changing lines at different speeds.

Saw you grabbed 3rd AG. Nice job!

Yeah, congratulations on your race. And nice disk!!!

Does anyone know who the guy was that they flew to the hospital?? He was in the first wave and in the top 10 when it happened. When I went over the bridge there were people helping him, but his face was a mess. Nothing but blood. I was just curious if anyone knew who it was and how he is doing.

Does anybody know if it happened to be Doug Mock? I saw he was listed as a DNF. He would have probably have been relatively high up as he is a fantastic runner. He most likely would have been in "Du2R" gear....

<< We had a pretty good pace-line going with 5-7 guys. I was kind of annoyed, as I try to play by the rules, but it was pretty much impossible on that course. Being dead flat, and a little wind, it's tough to break away for very long from cyclists that are on par with your abilities. >>

Is everyone giving this a free pass? It was impossible not to cheat? You have got to be kidding me.

Hey man, I'll be the first to admit that I deserved a drafting penalty. Other guys in the group that I rode with said the same thing. Having said that, here's why it was tough to avoid drafting. While leading the group, if someone tried to pass me, and got his wheel in front of me, per USAT rules I have to sit up and let him pass me until he's 3 bike lengths ahead. Okay, so I do that, but while I'm doing that someone else passes me. Again, wait 3 bike lengths. And on and on. Once 5 people pass me, I'm now sitting 3 bike lengths behind 5 people, which is easier that riding into the wind alone, even though legal. So I pass all of them. And then the cycle repeats....

As far as the guy that went down hard on the bridge, based on his position in the race, I would guess by looking at the DNF's that he was probably Doug Mock, or possibly Keith Davies or Scott Ashman. I will say I don't know any of these guys and am just looking at the results.

(I missed the previous reference to drafting)

So did you get your deserved penalty? As for the unavoidability of drafting, I call BS. If these guys were strong enough to catch and pass you, they deserve to be in front of you, and you don't deserve to suck wheel. If they were drafting to do so, then they were cheating; that doesn't give you license to do the same. I was riding in proximity to 2-3 other guys of similar strength, and we managed to keep a legal distance at all times even while passing each other at various times due to grade changes, wind, etc. Imagine that.

I saw two packs of riders coming back from the turnaround. Blatant cheating. There's a photo of a pack of 5-6 at the final turn (including a pro woman duathlete) within about 10 yards of each other. I'm sure it's a coincidence that they were all together just at that moment.

I guess the high stakes of the race this year (Grand Prix race, regional championship, worlds qualifier) brings out the cheaters. The previous two years I saw nothing like that pack riding.

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Ken,

The drafting was real bad on the bike. Because of the fast mofo's in the first wave running low 16 for the first 5k, I ended up riding the whole way without anyone else. I think I passed 2 or 3 guys, but they didn't try to draft me. Like you said I saw two packs after the turn around. It was frustrating to see the drafting that was going on, but it's just the Brandywine Du so it doesn't upset me too much. If you complain about it, it still won't go away so it's no use wasting your energy.

Before the turn around I saw the leader. Then I saw 4 motorcycles. I'm not sure if any of the motorcycles had officials on them, but I don't know why there were that many vehicles following the leader. Then I hit the turnaround and see a pack. Go a little bit more and see another pack.

Now I sit here and think about the guy I saw laying on the other side of that metal grate bridge with his bloody face. Despite all the drafting, I still had a fun day and I'm glad I made it through without any problems.

Ken, no I didn't get a penalty. I saw plenty of official-looking cars and motorcycles by me, so maybe I wasn't drafting. Look, it wasn't like I sucked some guys wheel the whole frickin' race. I tried several times to ride away from the group and could only keep them away for 5 minutes or so. I don't enjoy riding in a group like that and prefer to be on my own, even if its in theory slower.

As far as a group near the final turn, remember people probably slowed down a lot, or walked, across the metal bridge, which was right before the turn. And there was no woman in my group.

And as far as the race being a world qualifier, or whatever, big frickin' deal. I signed up for this race 2 weeks ago as a B/C early season tune up. I had a good time despite the weather and was honest enough to admit I drafted a little. Next time remind me to lie.

He lucked out. Only 9 people got penalties and only about half those were for drafting. I talked to the two officials after the race and both said drafting was out of control (not that I needed them to tell me that but I'm glad they noticed). Ann said it looked like a Sunday group ride out there. I didn't get their reasons why they didn't or couldn't assess more penalties though. Maybe the rain caused the ink to run on their papers.

Drafting: "a little", some, any = cheating!

The chief official (Rob Alford) said that he was looking for the "instigators" to assess penalties. I'm not sure that's the right way to do it, but I remain silent (especially since he reads slowtwitch!).

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