I completely agree with the original poster's comments. Just look at the Lifetime Fitness triathlon, a non-drafting race. A lot of the pre-race hype was regarding men who race in many ITU style races. They assumed that kemper could run a sub 31 min 10K, because that is how fast he runs in ITU racing. Guess what, in order to win, you had to bike hard, on your own power, so that walton would not get away. This race came down to the man who can run faster than anyone in the world after a real bike race; a time trial. Don't you think there is a reason they call the TT the race of truth? I will agree that it takes lots of mental energy to try to win a bike race that includes drafting. There will be changes in speed that will be tough to deal with; but there is no way that it is tougher to ride a 55-57 min 40k with a pack than it is to ride a 57-59 min 40k on your own, let alone the fact that you have to run off the bike. I think ITU racing has its place, but I also think there should be a non-drafting race on the olympic level. The athletes who EXCEL at non-drafting races do not necessarily excel at ITU. Why should someone like craig walton not be able to race on an international level, just because he can't run a sub 31 10k? I see ITU as essentially different sports...

Actually, it was the 2.5 hours at 30+mph that was a bit over-the-top. The fastest crit in the US (and maybe the world), the Tour of Somerville in NJ, is 50 miles; the record is just about 30mph. And that's 150 Pro/1/2 racers. The only way a TdF stage is ever 30mph is a point-to-point with a strong tailwind. I'm sure these people are really, really fast, but let's get serious.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I don't feel like getting into it, but these athletes know each other EXTREMELY well and will not let a good runner coast in the back on the bike.

BTW, did you see Jarrod's finish? Priceless...If not you can watch the clip on the NYCtri website.

Did you notice during the women's race on the cheating leg when the race leader got pissed cuz no one else would take the wind?

Yeah and Jarrod's finish was pretty gross, he is definately the man though.

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

I don't think it was cool that Ulrich crashed - I do think it was cool that he and everyone else was going like mad in the rain.

What I meant by the bike looks cool is that the time trial/tri bikes look a lot cooler to the avg person.

Walton is basically the only example of a short course non-drafting elite. But, he doesn't even win non-drafting races anymore. He can race at the international level in ITU, but he gets beat in those too.

The ITU guys don't train for non-drafting. If they did, they would dominate Alcatraz, Life-time fitness, etc.....oh wait, they already do.

Craig Alexander had a great race and beat Kemper, but it's generally a toss-up. To say that Kemper lost because he had to bike hard on his own is just not true. If it was, Kemper wouldn't have won Alcatraz, one of the hardest non-drafting bike courses in the US.

Says Randy Moss.

[reply]Actually, it was the 2.5 hours at 30+mph that was a bit over-the-top. The fastest crit in the US (and maybe the world), the Tour of Somerville in NJ, is 50 miles; the record is just about 30mph. And that's 150 Pro/1/2 racers. The only way a TdF stage is ever 30mph is a point-to-point with a strong tailwind. I'm sure these people are really, really fast, but let's get serious.[/reply]

Actually Lance is averaging 26.12 mph for the whole tour right now.

The stage speeds have been:
1 - 33.97 mph
2 - 29.23
3 - 28.69
4 - 35.62
5 - 30.19
6 - 29.34
7 - 28.05
8 - 28.40
9 - 25.67
10 - 22.77
11 - 22.42
12 - 26.80
13 - 28.98
14 - 23.92
15 - 20.90
16 - 24.15

Stages 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 were all mountain stages too.

While I'm not arguing one way or the other, averaging 30+ for 2.5 hours is completely realistic.

No, I did not watch the coverage or see the race. But I get pissed off sometimes when no one comes off the front with me.

Watch who you say is weak. :)

agree.

There is a draft legal sprint/Oly series here in summer, and...I just hate the draft. As a moderately strong cyclist I feel it negates my competitive advantage.

ITU is a form of triathlon I just dislike. The racing might be close, but it is certainly not that interesting.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

I agree - ITU athletes are amazing (and the best clearly have the ability to win big non-drafting races or develop into IM stars) but its not as exciting for fans when a big group rides and finishes the bike together and its comes down to a straight running race, which you cannot deny happens alot.

Also, I think the drafting format puts a premium on running and then swimming over cycling. Because alot of us either come from cycling backgrounds or enjoy/excel at it the most, we just don't like it when a strong cyclist has much, much less of a chance than he would in a non-drafting format.

In the end, drafting and non-drafting races seem to be two different sports with distinct skill sets - sort of like rugby union v league.

You really know what your talking about jsmith!

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Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY

Got to support a fellow Brooklyn triathlete. I mean, how many other people have to lay out their interval sessions so you change tempo based on a safety assessment of the neighborhood? We are a rare breed.. though less so every day!