I am restarting this thread...
I remember reading about the Alex's Bicycle guys working together in 2018. This past weekend at IM Chattanooga 2019 I was moving along and passed a guy in an Alex's Bicycle Jersey around mile 75/80. I noticed he was in my AG and the moment I went by he grabbed onto my rear wheel. I let him go for a min or two as the second loop was a bit busy and it might have been difficult to navigate back. Looked back again and he is still there. Another guy that I was playing cat and mouse with for part of the second loop passed me and I asked if knows this guy and if he sees what he is doing. He quickly states "Nah, don't know him, but he has been hanging behind you for a while". I back off the power big time (I basically stopped pedaling) and wave him to go by. I say a few words to him and he acts like he has no idea what I am talking about. Sure enough he finds someone else to grab onto and speeds ahead. I regrouped and then went back to work passed a number of riders, pass this rider and again he is back on my wheel. I eventually dropped him before the 10 mile return to T2. He probably drafted off me for 20 miles or so... As I head into the transition tent another guy mentions the guy and his blatant drafting. As we are speaking about him, he rolls in. I point at him and say "Yeah, that's the guy." I left transition and he never ran a second with me and obviously cracked in the first couple of miles. I was coming over Barton around mile 11 and he was just starting the back loop. I looked him up. Number 2195, sure enough he was one of the guys this thread spoke about last year. Looks like he is still trying to be dishonest, but it ain't working for him.
On side note, the 2019 race was great. Race Director did a great job with keeping people out of the medic tents. Never saw a shortage of water, ice or nutrition. A+ race. I think Chattanooga is one of the best host cities I have been to.
I remember reading about the Alex's Bicycle guys working together in 2018. This past weekend at IM Chattanooga 2019 I was moving along and passed a guy in an Alex's Bicycle Jersey around mile 75/80. I noticed he was in my AG and the moment I went by he grabbed onto my rear wheel. I let him go for a min or two as the second loop was a bit busy and it might have been difficult to navigate back. Looked back again and he is still there. Another guy that I was playing cat and mouse with for part of the second loop passed me and I asked if knows this guy and if he sees what he is doing. He quickly states "Nah, don't know him, but he has been hanging behind you for a while". I back off the power big time (I basically stopped pedaling) and wave him to go by. I say a few words to him and he acts like he has no idea what I am talking about. Sure enough he finds someone else to grab onto and speeds ahead. I regrouped and then went back to work passed a number of riders, pass this rider and again he is back on my wheel. I eventually dropped him before the 10 mile return to T2. He probably drafted off me for 20 miles or so... As I head into the transition tent another guy mentions the guy and his blatant drafting. As we are speaking about him, he rolls in. I point at him and say "Yeah, that's the guy." I left transition and he never ran a second with me and obviously cracked in the first couple of miles. I was coming over Barton around mile 11 and he was just starting the back loop. I looked him up. Number 2195, sure enough he was one of the guys this thread spoke about last year. Looks like he is still trying to be dishonest, but it ain't working for him.
On side note, the 2019 race was great. Race Director did a great job with keeping people out of the medic tents. Never saw a shortage of water, ice or nutrition. A+ race. I think Chattanooga is one of the best host cities I have been to.