USAT rule seems totally clear also. Personal audio device is anything that can make a noise, period. How is this not clear?

i. Unauthorized Accessories. No participant shall, at any time during the event, use or wear a hard cast, headset, radio, personal audio device, or any other item deemed dangerous by the Head Referee. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.

h2ofun wrote:

USAT rule seems totally clear also. Personal audio device is anything that can make a noise, period. How is this not clear?

i. Unauthorized Accessories. No participant shall, at any time during the event, use or wear a hard cast, headset, radio, personal audio device, or any other item deemed dangerous by the Head Referee. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.

That's far from clear:

1. Nowhere is personal audio device defined, much less defined as largely as you suggest. My 910XT makes a variety of noises. The new Edge 1000 looks more like my iPhone than a bike computer.
2. It prohibits "using" or "wearing" the listed devices. Under that rule then, I should be fine if I stuff my iPhone in my saddle bag and never take it out.

My wife's insulin pump makes a noise. My watch makes a noise. A non-smartphone makes several noises. my bike computer makes a noise, my gps talks. . . . . . . . All of them make a noise, yet none of them are a "personal audio device."

That is how it is not clear.



If you walked up to 100 people, held out an iphone or android phone, and asked them to describe it, not one person would define it as "a personal audio device"

That's far from clear:

1. Nowhere is personal audio device defined, much less defined as largely as you suggest. My 910XT makes a variety of noises. The new Edge 1000 looks more like my iPhone than a bike computer.
2. It prohibits "using" or "wearing" the listed devices. Under that rule then, I should be fine if I stuff my iPhone in my saddle bag and never take it out.

I received definitive word that a smartphone may be stored in the off position in a jersey or pocket or bike bag. If a smartphone is mounted on a bike, it is grounds for a time penalty, not disqualification. Hopefully USAT will formally amend the rules to reflect this interpretation, because as it stands now, there is no way you could read the rules and know this. I hope they allow a mounted phone that can be used as a bike computer, but if not, I hope they at least make it clear that a smartphone, or any phone is not prohibited.

It has always been the case that if the unit is not seen or heard ever in the race, kinda tough to get a penalty since an official has to see the violation. I would be surprised if they put this in writing since
it really is already there.

.

Well, Rule 3.3(e) provides that you must self report a rules violation:

3.3 General Conduct. At or during an event, or while at the event site, all participants must . . . . .
(e) After violating any of the Competitive Rules, report such violation to the Head Referee or retire from the event.

The fact that one can get away with something isn't really a reason for doing it. If you went to an ironman event, and stashed your phone, it would be a rules violation, even if you never got caught. I've never carried a cell phone or smart phone at any Ironman. I don't like WTC's no cell phone rule, but to their credit they made it clear in an extremely simple one-sentence rule that is not subject to subjective interpretation, and I have always respected it.

As for the rule already being there, it absolutely is not. There is no rule prohibiting a smart phone from being mounted to your bike. There is no rule prohibiting a simple cell phone from being mounted to your bike. There is no rule prohibiting you from whipping out your simple cell phone and talking, or texting-one number key at a time-while riding or running. You could not read the rules and know that a smartphone is illegal if mounted and ok if in a jersey. I was DQ'd for having a smartphone zipped away in a jersey. A phone I never touched during the race.

I do have something in writing, and I do not have explicit permission to post, so unless I do, and I haven't asked, I will not. But the interpretation is exactly as it was stated by the race official at the Canandaigua Tri: Smart phone mounted, not allowed. smart phone off an in a jersey, allowed.

I was at USAT AG Naitonals this year for the Athlete's meeting. The head offical explicitly said that phones where OK on the course as long as they were in your saddle bag. He said it was so that a racer could contact someone in case of an emergency.