O. M. G like i totally can't believe there was drafting on a flat IM course.

Grant

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Grant
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Loved the comment "you guys are going on slowtwitch, smile" LOL!! In fact, double LOL!!

Just sad... Kona spots have become a runners race.

I love it! You should've had a sign.

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The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.-Pre

I liked the comment to the guy off the back of the group, all by himself "Good job, honest rider"!!

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

sheesh.

In a sport as competitive as ours there will always be cheating, but this type peer pressure will be useful in addressing the drafting issue.

I should make it clear - MOST people rode honest and despite the flatness of the course and the 3 loop format, there was plenty of room to ride a clean race.

You just sparked a thought - The IM organization should have "red-light" cameras at various points of the course that watch for drafters and automatically distribute penalties to drafters. Honestly this system couldn't be any worse than some of the officiating out there.

Too bad we can't see numbers at that resolution.

If you get numbers, post up some names!

Hey Clint -- nice footage. I also liked the shout out to the loegal riders. I'd like to see their numbers.

KP

Dude, that is so awesome!

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

Note that there was PLENTY of room before and after the pack to spread out. You can't make a case about it being too tight. All it takes is for passed riders to drop back they way they are supposed to and it would be clean.

To those of you arrogant b*stards who won't drop back when passed, go take up another sport.

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Hey Kevin,

I checked out the original footage, which has a much higher resolution but numbers still can't be made out.
There was another pack about twice the size. I wish I'd gotten footage of that one - 3 wide and 20 deep!

CL

Former rasslin' champion Nick Bockwinkle was known to say it was perfectly legal to choke an opponent up to the count of 4. It became illegal at the count of 5. So it was not cheating to choke your opponent for 4 counts.

The pack riding AG's in triathlon apparantly have that same mentality. It is "legal" to draft for 14 seconds. Trouble is, these same riders don't know how to tell time.

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http://noel-ironman.blogspot.com/

YES AZTEC!!! That was exactly what I was hoping people would notice! One of the other voices you hear in the video is 115intheshade. We both agreed, there just was no need for it. There was room - and the "lapped rider" problem is a non starter. If you're passing a guy on his second lap and you're on your third lap, chances are you're going 4-5 mph faster!

The size of the pack is really quite disheartening, but the old pix of you further down the page are really quite uplifting!

 
"Uplifting" is one word you could use. Another is - hilarious.

That truly was a disguisting video to watch........was that pack at the front - in other words were they on their way to a Kona spot?

Paulo wrote about this state of IM recently and had some really great points about competition in todays IM branded events...you can read it here in his two part sequence called "Beating the Cheaters"

http://thetriathlonbook.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

It really is too bad that people do not know the rules or have complete disregard for them......and then I'm wondering if they feel ok about their effort after the race or if they have this "emptyness" ............I'm guessing a little of both.

Glad you posted that, and it was good to meet you and hang out for a while while we heckled the peletons.
Yes unfortunately that was one of the front age grouper packs. No attempt by athletes on the left to move forwards. I dont get it, if you are riding at the same speed you could still do a legal distance "paceline", but that would be much more work.
According to others it was just as bad on the Beeline.

Kevin

Thanks for posting that,

After the video rolls for a few seconds, I noticed that is me, the very first guy (white rudy helmet, black tri clothing, my bib # is 556) leading that enormous pack out for a ride.

Had I known there were that many riders behind me I would have asked to get paid from each one so I can cover next years entry fee. It is very discouraging to see that and I rode a clean ride I can proudly say so at least this video helps justify my good feelings about my ride. I can't count how many times people latched on to my wheel and it did get frustrating. This is not a hard course to ride cleanly on, IF you want to.

On a side note, I had a nasty crash at the very last aid station when a woman veered into me. We both went down pretty hard but she seemed to be O.K. If by chance she sees this post I hope things worked out O.K. for you and you're alright!

I worked the intersection of Alma School and McDowell and there were a few groups that I was a little disappointed to see, but these were mainly on the first lap. For the most part I didn't think the drafting looked too bad, given 2000 riders on a three lap course. I really don't think your 15 seconds worth of video (on a tigher part of the course) is a fair representation of what happend in the other 111 miles of the bike.

As I posted in a follow-up note - most people rode clean - it was easy to ride clean and I only saw one other REALLY bad group besides this one - though the other group was much bigger. There was a handful of smaller groups but as I say, over all, a pretty clean race.

Well... some of the guys were close.. and certainly didn't look like they were passing any time soon... but tough to make a drafting call on that short video.
Still... I'm sure the drafting was bad...

I noticed the female pro who was BLATANTLY drafting at Soma had the slowest bike split today. Interesting....

I'd like to think that calling her out at Soma guilted her into riding clean today... but who knows...