Spartan420 wrote:
This happened on my 1st 70.3 this year at Gulf Coast. I self seeded kinda far in the back of the pack for swim times in order to not be overtaken. The bike was crowded for the 1st half of the race. There were times where I was stuck in a group and I was freaked out. In real life, I do not ride in group rides. In fact, I have ridden a total of 20 miles in a group my entire life. So, I dont even know how to ride in a group :)
What I do know are the rules after hours of reading and watching videos. I would pass people - they would speed up, killing my legs - but dropping back would have put me in violation so I had to push to pass them. What really got me were the people riding on the left. I was in draft zones sometimes, but not on purpose, I was trying to to pass. I even had to pass inbetween bikes a few times.
My 1st full is coming up in Sept and I am afraid that once again, I will not be able to enjoy the event because I spend every second in fear of violating a moral or written violation.
Also, I am slow so also not competitive with a 3 hour bike split for the 70.3. Still, I train alone because I want to prove to myself what I can do. I do NOT want assistance during a workout or race, not even for a second. But, it seem unavoidable unless I self seed the swim at a faster pace... which I might do. Id rather get beat up physically than emotionally.
I don't know what others think, but I really think it's a bit dangerous allowing yourself to end up in a pack if you have no experience riding in a group. Tri-bikes aren't ideal for group riding anyway, but I think anyone who may end up riding in close proximity to other riders should be competent to not put them in danger.
It sounds like you take pride in never riding with others, and think training with others is somehow a cheat? Foolish IMO. I do much of my training solo, but group rides can be some of the hardest, most rewarding and most enjoyable sessions.
With regards to your fear of violating rules in your 1st long distance race, relax! You say you're slow, so you're not really going to any great harm if you were to gain a second here or there via accidental infringements. And seriously, how likely are you to cheat by accident in any meaningful way? The rules aren't that complex or hard to observe. And moral violations? If you didn't intend to cheat, you have not morally violated anything.
If you're going to worry that much about it, why bother taking part? Go do a hard solo training session instead!
It sometimes comes across in this forum as though people think there is some fundamental value in racing triathlons. There is not. Do it if you enjoy it. Don't if you don't. I realise there's plenty obsession going on around here, I can't say I'm immune, but really, let's not take it quite so seriously......