This is sad but 100% true. Double standards.

I personally get more startled by someone yelling something just before they pass me than if they would say nothing and just pass. But to each their own I guess.

I never say “On your left.” If I say anything I might say “Passing on your left.” I’m firmly in the camp that saying anything is more of a startle to the person being passed and leads to them turning to look to their left which makes people tend to veer to the left. As was mentioned… it’s a race so the expectation is that people will be passing you on the left the whole bike ride. If you’re riding on the right and going in a relatively straight line I’m not going to say anything. I’m just going to pass you with as wide a pass as possible. If being passed on your left in the middle of a bike race is surprising to you that’s your problem and you’re in the wrong sport. Usually the only times I say anything is if the pass is going to be a tight squeeze because the lane is more narrow or I’m passing a rider who is passing another rider so we are basically going to be three abreast.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I only say something if it's needed. If the person is far right and it's a safe pass I just keep going.

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I think this is all great. but as someone who isnt American can someone tell me what the difference between pro and elite and AG and how it could help rider safety?
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Pro= Stupidly fast people racing for money and have their pro license
Elite= People racing for the overall awards but no professionals
AG= The rest of the riff raff like myself

Here's how it works at some races:
The Pro Race is the pro race. They go first.

If you want to race for an overall podium award, you sign up for the Elite race. In some philosophies, they become ineligible for age group awards. In others, they are the only ones who get AG awards. In doing so, they get their own wave behind the pro race. Some have proposed that these racers are subjected to increased levels of officiating and are eligible for onsite drug testing, if available. Some people sign up for the Elite wave just to get a more clean race.

Age Group is the rest of the field. The people who are doing sport just for the fun of it. Finishing is the goal. Time may or may not be important. Some have suggested that this group could have more relaxed rules.

If there's an elite wave, these (in theory) would be the blokes that would be overtaking the female pros. But, since they are a smaller group, the race organizers would be able to police them more effectively. Even further, they could adjust the send off times behind the pro race to help keep the race more clean.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Except, for the most part (read: your non-IM branded events as they're the only events that usually do this), if there are officials, they're usually with the pro race with a single one roaming the entirety of the AG field.

There's a huge gap for needed officials in the US -- so most races make do with the very few that exist.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Food for thought.

1.) If you have not seen the exact description of the behavior The Guardian is describing, congratulations. For those of us who unfortunately deal with this on a regular basis...it is exhibited, by men, *all the fucking time*. It's sadly accurate. It happens in damn near *every* race I participate in, and it's *always* fellow men.

2.) I would hope you're able to see the difference in the use of language in the original post (because it is specific to certain individuals as opposed to an entire gender), versus how you have described in your comment.

TL;DR -- the comment stands as is.

Carry on.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

By USAT definitions, Pro and Elite's are the same thing. "Pro's" as we consider and call them, have a "USAT Elite License" or a Pro card in other words. In USAT's eyes, they are Elite's.

Age group is everyone else. There will be on occasion (at some non IM branded races) an "Open" category and dedicated wave (first to go off or directly after the pro's) where the FOP age groupers will typically race for the overall win or overall age group win. This allows a fast 20 year old to race head to head with a 35 year old and not try to race each other from different waves that could have started 30 min apart. If you race in the open category, there are awards for the open category but you are ineligible for your individual age group award. Since olympic non draft legal races have significantly declined over the last several years and the adoption of rolling starts, I see less and less "open waves" for FOP age groupers. It's not nearly as common as it once was 10 years ago.

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blog

There's a huge gap for needed officials in the US -- so most races make do with the very few that exist
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Of course. Part of that reason is that we pay race officials at the average race like crap. I had a friend who was interested in USAT officiating. She went through the motions. However, she had to work several races before she was eligible to get paid for her work. Then, she would have been eligible to collect money for her work to the terms of like $100 for several hours of effort (I might have the number wrong but the concept is that it's insultingly low).

I'd pay an extra $5 per race and have all of that money go to the officiating team. Even in small races, that's enough of a fee to get more officials. But if USAT continues to make the process of becoming an official AND continues to pay them like crap, we're never going to have enough. It's another improvement idea for the clan to consider

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Yep.

But when USAT is in the level of financial crunch that they have sat in for the last few years...they need to both raise revenues and cut expenses.

They're trying the revenue thing (remember the Gold membership requirement to be a member of Team USA?) and, well, the members have spoken.

I highly doubt the pay is going to increase for officials given the current financial position of the federation.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

By USAT definitions, Pro and Elite's are the same thing. "Pro's" as we consider and call them, have a "USAT Elite License" or a Pro card in other words. In USAT's eyes, they are Elite's.

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For sure. But, there are races that have an "Elite" wave, which goes off just as I described.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Yes, its the same thing as I described as the "open" wave. I've seen the elite and open wave naming used interchangeably while no one in that wave is technically an "elite" by USAT standards.

Hence why people get so confused as everyone just calls them what they want to call them.

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blog

But when USAT is in the level of financial crunch that they have sat in for the last few years...they need to both raise revenues and cut expenses.

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I won't argue that. Does USAT block race directors from offering more money to the officials? Could the RD allocate some of the race fee to give directly above and beyond what USAT hands out?

If word got out that officiation a single IM distance race yielded $1000 on the day, I'd bet there'd be an increase in supply for referees.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I'm relatively certain that pricing is set by USAT for a daily stipend, with potential negotiation for payment of travel / lodging expenses.

It's $100 for sprint / Olympic events, $150 for middle / long course, with a bonus $75 for head officials.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

It's your house and I wouldn't want any post to be removed, everything should be there for people to make their own judgements. I enjoy the different viewpoints and discussion that goes on, I just felt in this thread some of the posts started getting towards mob mentality.

Raising the issue of poor behavior in races is good, painting with a broad brush on accusations is not. I have seen men race like assholes. It doesn't make me think men race like that *all the fucking time*. 99% of the time everyone is racing with great respect towards each other. There has been a fair amount of women in this thread raising their concerns about male racers. That doesn't make me think that women complain about men all the time. Some might define that kind of generalization as sexism. Some might also define the former generalization as sexism as well.



As to the language used, I don't see a meaningful difference. If someone posted about the amount of complaints from womens racers towards mens racers would this be allowed to stand? I would hope that it's allowed to be posted, but it would certainly be met with hostility. Language taken from the original post and added the snippets.



Compared to the original post for context:

I, respectfully, dissent.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Cycling has categories. It wouldn't be too hard to have a 3 category system in triathlon. Cat 3 is where everyone starts, basically reserved for first timers, they start in the last wave. Cat 2 is if you've done 1 IM or 2 70.3's or 3 Oly/Sprints. Cat 1 is if you reach a certain USAT score. Then Elite/Pro is can have a tighter entry requirement.

The issue right now is if you're not a Pro/Elite you're in the base category, along with people doing their very first race. Small races can say Cat 1/2/3 and just have one field. Other races can have 2 or 3 separate start waves. Idk just throwing it out there.

Hahah that is an excellent response.

You've hit upon the solution in your comment. Call out your pass from far enough back that it isn't startling. For my approach to work, I have to call it out well in advance to allow the person(s) I'm passing time to register that they've heard something AND to react to it before I get so close I don't have room to react if they do something silly.

I NEVER knew this, lol. I've wondered why people in my AG have race in an Open division and what that meant.

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

On a course like IMTX, I still don't see that as viable. I was in the front third on the bike on my second trip south on Hardy and it was just a long line of riders, to the point where I stayed to the left and was in a "passing lane," while keeping my eyes back to see if I needed to slot in so others could pass me legally.

During my marathon walkabout, I talked with a woman that had someone say "On your left" and she said she ended up veering to the right and running into another rider sending her to the ground.

Back in the day there used to be a ton of great short course races with an "elite amateur" or "open" division. Some of them even had prize money, and the competition was fierce. I remember one race I went 1:53 (20/56/35) on a legit Olympic course and placed 3rd behind two other amateurs. I believe I won 500 bucks that day.

Nice brag...but how does this contributes to the topic that is being discussed?