Just wanted to get some opinions from some people who are probably more trisavvy than I am. I did a sprint tri at Newport Beach, CA today and there were a number of things that perplexed me.
First, my wave (Men 25-29 & the Relays) was started last with the group in front of us being the Athenas and older women and the group in front of them being the older men. Now I have no misperception that I am some super-athlete or anything and I know some of the people in those groups could very well have beat me, however on average our group was much faster than the two groups started just in front of us. This made for quite a meley (sp?) in the water as our phase tried to make our way through the high number of slower people in the groups directly in front of us. I know this was not enjoyable for me, and it certainly must have diminished the experience for those who were run over!
Second, the people on the bike were all over the place! For safety reasons, I took the biking rules that I read on this website seriously. Stay on the right unless passing. Needless to say, as I was passing a certain gentleman who was continuing to drift farther and farther towards the left (forcing me into the concrete gutter next to the curb) I called out "passing on your left." He immediately looked to his left, directly at me, and rode directly where he was looking. He crashed his front tire directly into my leg and took himself out... luckily I did not fall.
Anyways, the real questions are why would a race be set up with seemingly faster groups directly behind seemingly much slower groups? It seems to make it more unpleasant for both. And why can't a sign or something be put up reminding people to stay left except when passing? There - It is off my chest now and I can keep smilin' until the next race :)
First, my wave (Men 25-29 & the Relays) was started last with the group in front of us being the Athenas and older women and the group in front of them being the older men. Now I have no misperception that I am some super-athlete or anything and I know some of the people in those groups could very well have beat me, however on average our group was much faster than the two groups started just in front of us. This made for quite a meley (sp?) in the water as our phase tried to make our way through the high number of slower people in the groups directly in front of us. I know this was not enjoyable for me, and it certainly must have diminished the experience for those who were run over!
Second, the people on the bike were all over the place! For safety reasons, I took the biking rules that I read on this website seriously. Stay on the right unless passing. Needless to say, as I was passing a certain gentleman who was continuing to drift farther and farther towards the left (forcing me into the concrete gutter next to the curb) I called out "passing on your left." He immediately looked to his left, directly at me, and rode directly where he was looking. He crashed his front tire directly into my leg and took himself out... luckily I did not fall.
Anyways, the real questions are why would a race be set up with seemingly faster groups directly behind seemingly much slower groups? It seems to make it more unpleasant for both. And why can't a sign or something be put up reminding people to stay left except when passing? There - It is off my chest now and I can keep smilin' until the next race :)