Real Ironman and Ironwomen would never think about drafting. :o)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Not trying to rag on your idea, but it seems to me that the people, of whom are the objects of our disdain, are very aware of the rules and the zone. Yet, they still draft anyway, which is akin to doing it in purpose. Hence the reason we hate it so. Education for them is not the answer.

Now, if the volunteers took that same rope, showed the draft zone, and then used the rope for a public flogging for said cheaters, we might be making progress.

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I'll throw out my idea.

Every bike has a rear wheel sensor attached to spokes, all bikes also have a front wheel sensor that attaches to spoke.
If front wheel sensor is within proximity of rear wheel sensor of another bike for to long it explodes and rips the spokes out if your wheel.

I dunno... IM Japan would paint like 10 lines 10m apart and as you passed over them you could really calibrate your distance... I think I've adjusted my drafting eyeball by at least a bike length since that race

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I agree completely with your point. I watched the pacific crest 70.3 race last month supporting a friend, and there were countless "cheaters" who I suspect many of them didn't realize what they were doing. For example there were two people(I eventually realized were friends racing together) who I noticed rode on each others wheel the whole bike course(and also ran side-by-side) who I think were doing the race together and may not have been aware they were in blatant and continuous violation of the rules on the bike.

How about... if the timing chip equipped with some sort of GPS tracking device like a vehicle tracker. Linked to a computer to show real time movement during the bike leg. Software calculates the duration of the rider in the draft zone and issues him a ticket at T2. Take it a step further, the penalty time is proportional to the duration of the rider's draft time. Or you can just make the device explode.

Could be a western Canada thing? I saw the same presentation with a rope at Victoria before it became a 70.3. Same organizers maybe? And yes showing it visually really helps. We had a gasp and murmur from the audience when they spread out that rope. Yes 4 bike lengths are really that long, mmkay?

This needs to be automated somehow. Course marshals can't be everywhere at once. I've had races where I'd see them go by once or twice over 56 miles. Ummm yeah that doesn't work.

If only GPS had greater precision then they could issue us with a GPS device instead of a passive RFID timing chip. That'd make catching serial drafters dead-easy. Alas GPS is just not that accurate. Yet. Another method would be to spam the bike course with cameras and have software that can identify drafters. With a manual video review by referee after the race.

Those definitively caught drafting by race marshal (or otherwise) should be made to run extra 3/4 mile. (That's extra 5 minutes for most of us...except a lot more painful than just sitting in a tent.)

At Ironman 70.3 Calgary athlete briefing we were just advised that anyone who gets a drafting penalty (not anyone who DQs, gets a single penalty) will not be allowed to qualify for a WC slot. I guess we'll see how deep that rolldown goes now...

So, that's new too.

Take it one step further: have everyone sign their name under a statement - "I will not draft during this race" (or some other non-draft pledge) during athlete check in. There has been a lot of research on commitment and this stuff usually works.

Definitely a step in the right direction!!!

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Whoa, really? Have any more info on that? Like a pic of it in print or something? That's a huge deal.

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There was nothing in writing at the briefing, but I have sent a message to confirm.

This might work to end drafting if put on the rear....

Love this idea!! It's a great reminder, training tool, and it's dirt cheap for RDs.

In Kona the pro draft spacing lines up with the marker dots on the road, making it easier for the pros (and marshals) to judge distance.

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Now that is an interesting idea! Any confirmation yet?

They did the same thing at Galveston 70.3 in 2010 with the rope and distance of bike lengths at athlete meeting.

Now confirmed in an email from the RD.

Ironman does not care if you draft, if they did there would be 3x as many refs and smaller fields that could actually spread out. Ironman cares about separating you from your money not someones wheel.

Other then the GPS not being precise enough, the other problem with this is that the rider is not warned that he/she is in the drafting zone. One may be able to judge the distance within a foot or two but this system would penalize you even for an inch or two of infraction even if you really didn't have intention to draft, just couldn't judge the distance perfectly. The solution may be a device that beeps when you enter the draft zone and starts a 30 sec countdown on a little LCD screen so that you have a audio warning and a visual count. 30 sec later you get penalized unless you pass or drop back, in which case the device resets itself.

Under the current rules you may not drop back once you enter the draft zone.

You're probably right but that's the message delivered at the meeting and confirmed by email. I guess we'll see how serious they take it in the course tomorrow, but they certainly made a point of telling us they would be taking it seriously.

This is a cool rule!

I hope they do, would be a nice change.

at Roth they had 80 officials on the back of motos. They acted very proactively. They issued penalties where needed and the sin bins were well populated. I saw no packs and very little drafting.

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David
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