Oh, thanks for bringing that up. Another point of emphasis made at the athlete briefing by head official Charlie Crawford was to not have your bib crumpled up.

yeah, i know, i heard it. i actively uncrumpled it for that reason. i didn't notice it right away though.

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Any word if the run in the sprint was short? I ran about 90 seconds faster than I thought my fitness level to be. Not trying to backdoor this, but I'm usually pretty good with predicting my fitness/times for races. And 90 seconds faster over a 5k is an astronomical amount to me.

If you're getting passed on the right, you're doing something wrong, yourself.

nope, but jump to conclusions.

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Would have been nice if the contents of the rules briefing was provided on a piece of paper in the race registration packet. I find it a little surprising that the rules briefing would be the sole way to learn a variety of poorly understood yet critical facts.

The average participant thinks that they know the rules. They've done lots of races, half listened to lots of pre-race briefings, so they've reached the (in this case, erroneous) conclusion that they don't need to be at a rules briefing.

Just like the USAT site has a list of "Rules that get broken most often" or something like that, the registration packet could have had a single sheet of paper titled "rules and clarifications that we want to be sure you're aware of". Heck, they could have just had a piece of paper that said "if you've not been to Nationals before, be sure to come to the Rules Briefing because this isn't like any event you've been to before".

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Good lord is triathlon trying to make themselves look more stupid with rules?

Now we're gonna have a if your bib doesn't look pretty we are going to give you a penalty rule.

We have the number on us in 5 spots in most races. If the official can't figure it out maybe they should do something different.

....and why cant the get the sprint results by age group link active.....seriously, its only Wednesday....lame!

Hey now don't rush them... they only do results 10-15 times a year. It can get confusing.

They are probably doing it manually. (And no, just because it is on a computer doesn't mean it isn't manual. Using Excel is still manual.) USAT could benefit immensely from hiring a few good IT people.

IT guy: "You can do this with VBA"

USAT: "we don't have that program we just use excel"

IT guy: "yeah I'm gonna have to put in my 2 weeks."

Given that the average tri bike is somewhere around 5.5' long, you have to close at least 22' in 15 seconds to legally complete a pass. That requires a speed differential of a little more than 1 mph. For the elites, with their 10 meter long draft zone, the required speed differential is almost 2mph.


I'm a much stronger swimmer than cyclist. The passing rules make me hesitant to try a big event like a USAT National or an M-dot HIM. I feel like I'd spend most of my bike leg backing off of one pass after another, LOL.

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Grant.Reuter wrote:

Hey now don't rush them... they only do results 10-15 times a year. It can get confusing.

The searchable results are here: //live.pttiming.com/MS.html?mid=1268

What are you having trouble with? It's pretty easy but let me provide directions: select Sunday, August 13th, click on non-draft sprint distance, click on the word "compiled" to get all the splits (if that's what you want to see), then use the fancy drop downs or text box to drill down further. It's pretty easy to dump into a spreadsheet but I'll save that for the advanced class.

Or just feel free to keep replying with IT geek responses.

Side note:
I went to the Lauritzen Botanical gardens on Sunday- definitely worth the visit.

Honestly it's not that bad, I'm weaker on the swim than the bike, so I often do a fair amount of passing during a race.

Passing weaker cyclists is pretty easy, I just hold my pace & I'm through the zone legally without them having to slow down.

There's three points where it's a little trickier
1) Passing someone who's only slightly slower. Normally for this I'll close to just outside the zone, back off for a few seconds, look for a good bit of road (no turns etc..) & then push through. Once I've passed I'll keep the power on for a little longer until they're a good distance back (to my mind breaking past their front wheel & backing off is fairly rude)
2) A slightly slower but skinny rider. As above but If there's a hill coming I might back off till the hill is past & avoid the yo-yo. (They're a good rabbit to chase up the hill in any case)
3) Multiple riders all passing each other at the same time. This ones tricky, as the chain reaction of one moving can make for a big mess.

USAT nationals was pretty good, the biggest bike course issue was near the dismount line, it wasn't particularly wide & there was a big variety of speeds/skill levels.

I agree with you. Maybe there's a good reason that I'm missing?

There isn't. Somehow running has managed to handle only using a bib for how many years without issues?

We need to simplify the rule book not add stuff like this, or interpret it to absurd levels like this.

The body markings are for the swim, the bike number for the bike, and the bib number for the run. Easier in run-only events with just a bib. The body markings that are visible for the swim often get covered up or washed away by the time the run comes around, which is why they require a bib number on the run.

https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Triathlon/News/Blogs/Rules-Education/2014/February/16/Race-Conduct-Race-Numbers


They did mention in the pre-race briefing that you needed to wear your bib number on the run.

Agree... I just watched my finish line vid from Nationals and my bib is crumpled most likely from running and it being in my crotch area.

A friend of mine got hit with a drafting penalty near the turn around on the Sprint... my understanding is there is a "congestion zone" around these sorts of things that negate this penalty. I know both days I had to work my way through and round a couple of folks at the turns that aren't comfortable with turns I suppose.

If I'm verbal on a bike course turn arounds and the dismount line are where I'm letting people know where I am and where I plan to go at big races... for example sprint dismount I was coming up fast on a guy that was left and riding on his pedal to dismount and I was coming in faster... let him know I'd be on his right, saw him nod... we both dismounted side by side and I went on my merry way. Mount/Dismount felt tight but they were using the whole road, so not much else to do there.

I know what they're for and don't disagree with the concept of a bib on the run. Although I disagree that the numbers normally wash off, pretty sure I have destroyed washclothes trying to get sharpee off before. But that wasn't my point.

When you start giving penalties because a bib is crumpled up some we've reached the point of absurdity. Rules should have a function. If you are not breaking any rules during the race having a crumpled bib changes nothing.

How often does it even come up that someone has their bib so destroyed that you can't read it? So they basically interpreted the rule and gave penalties on it for the 1 in 10 million chance someone made it impossible to read the bib.

It's no different than the bib needs to be on the front rule. If the official can't see the bib number because it's behind the runner, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say give them a few seconds, you'll probabaly see it on the back of them.

There is a whole page in the rule book for how to pass someone during a race on the bike. Overall the rules need to be simplified and enforced at a does this make sense level.

For instance in football you could call a penalty on every play but it doesn't happen because the officials know how to enforce the rules based on the flow of the game not 100 percent based on the strict interpretation of the rule book.

Based on the rule book you're correct. You can enter the draft zone and leave it when making a 90 degree turn or more.

 
When you start giving penalties because a bib is crumpled up some we've reached the point of absurdity.
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here it is. usat this time. usually it's the itu at worlds.
peggy

The rule just says it must be plainly displayed, unobstructed and readable while on the course. Seems like having it crumpled up in your hand as you run doesn't meet those requirements.

As for the "bib needs to be on the front" rule, I can't find that one. I assume the officials are looking for it on the front, the side, or the back. I know the timers would like to see it on the front as you cross the finish line, as a backup. I wear mine on my back and then move it around to the front for the finish, and haven't had officials penalize me for it.

What I heard at the rules briefing was:

Number visible before exit of transition.

Number turned to the front before crossing the finish line.

I ran with it on the front out of transition so I didn't think about it afterwards.