I am surprised this wasn't more of a big deal here. Or maybe not...

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

Agreed camera perspective always make these shots look worse than they really are. The three rear motos seem like they are drafting and they are likley way apart.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Well if the rules say you can do something, then why can't you do it?

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I was there as a spectator and watched the riders go down then back up Palani Road. There was definate non legal pack riding going on. Just about every spectator out there was commenting on it.....kj

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Awww, Katy's not all THAT evil. Only slightly evil. In a good way. - JasoninHalifax

Correct, but when you hear PNF repeating several times that they have done wind tunnel tests and there is NO ADVANTAGE after 7m, I wonder. Why not saying 'there is an advantage, but we compromise and try to limit it'? Wopuld they loose face?

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
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I am no expert but with the side winds... I don't see how you could draft efficiently. In still air, sure.

Alex

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First with the head, then with the heart. -- HG

one correction, I think that GTG parses their words a bit more finely, not saying there is no "advantage" but no difference between 7 meters and 10 meters...check the press release, which I can't get to from the new imlive.com page.

Also, two good points:

it is impossible to judge illegal drafting of a group riding the other way.

my best judge is the shadows vs. the traffic lines. I think if you can be "outside two lines" (i.e. further than one line and one space) then you are safe. Those shadows would seem to be just at the limit, but not clearly illegal.

am i missing something, but how is that someone yelling a split gets you a penalty for outside assistance but getting a whole new wheel like stadler did is kosher?

I believe at any race, as long as a person is part of the official support crew, they do give you lots of appropriate help.

Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I saw a fair amount of drafting out there as well , not many 1 metre jobs , but definitely some trains , with carridges within 7 x 3m.

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
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Cheers

Vernon

Back at ya.

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Awww, Katy's not all THAT evil. Only slightly evil. In a good way. - JasoninHalifax

Oops. I was questioning whether Palani was a good place to get a good understanding of the extent of drafting given how short and steep it was but I think the moment has been lost....

Cheers

Vernon

I think the point is ride within the rules and within those rules there is a drafting benefit. No one is advocating cheating.

If you absolutely want no drafting benefit from the person in front then stay back at least 10m from their rear wheel or about 12m front to front. Closer then that you will get some benefit.

If you feel better about making up your own rules then more power to you.

Also, Palani was very early in the bike course before the athletes had time to settle in and space out.

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Have you hugged Your Mom today?

also, the pack/pace-line is dynamic. riders are constantly passing and getting passed. it's hard to judge looking at one picture. simon was in that group, i think. maybe he should give us his perspective.

I was caught at about mile 30 on the bike, with out a doubt it was a huge advantage to be in the pack. (Especially with the new 7m rule.) On the way out to Hawi there was a lot of sitting up and soft pedaling (including me) I still managed to AV 42-43 km/h to Hawi

That's why in Hawaii, it is so important to have a good swim or at least come out with the main pack. If you miss the train you just make your day so much harder!

I guess that says a lot about Faris awesome performance...