Just having that constant feedback reduces penalties/drafting though.

First the professional series now race ranger! Got to be exciting news for Joe Skipper for Florida.

Felix announced the other day that RR will be used at Roth next year.

Just for pros. Say that because they make is sound like it’s going to be on 2000 age group bikes but it will not be.

.
.
They were pretty quick to answer everyones questions on Facebook about who will be using RR on race day. Totally not possible to use it for age groupers in Roth (or anywhere) and that was clear.

If he learns what the respective light colors mean.

If he doesn’t - then he is going to absolutely lose his shit when everybody is “red”.

This was 150m before a turn, but it's still obvious these guys behind Ben could have passed, would have gotten a penalty if Race Ranger was being used for that purpose.

Definitely too close there. If the cones are set at 20 meters they have no excuse regarding spacing unless they were told beforehand that no calls would be made near turns. I do notice that Ben is up off the bars as if he's getting ready to brake for the turn.

I'm not certain of the light pattern or color they're currently using but do know that the unit will "light up" once a following athlete begins to get close to the draft zone and then changes the pattern or color once they've entered it. So the initial "light up" isn't damning of drafting unless you're aware of the pattern/color that denotes too close.

To be honest, this was the background of my request for photos. I was also alluding to one of my earlier posts re: Skipper's complaint about red lights. The sequence is: yellow - red - blue, where blue = illegal drafting.

Yes, that's if they're still using the same designations as they mention on their web page. I'm not positive that they are.

The lights give 3 different signals. If no-one is within range the lights are off.

SIGNAL 1 - When you reach a threshold distance eg 16m behind the rider in front, the first light signal comes on; a yellow light. This gives you an indication that you’re in the safe zone.

SIGNAL 2 - When you cross a second threshold eg 14m, the signal changes to a red light. This tells you that you are now getting close to the drafting zone. If you get much closer, you’ll find yourself in the drafting zone.

SIGNAL 3 - If you then continue to progress towards the rider ahead and cross over the 12m threshold (if the event is working off World Triathlon’s common 12m drafting rule), the colour of the light changes to blue.

It's pretty standard to not enforce drafting in braking zones and at the bottom of hills. It would be a mess. You'd have to guess how much the front rider is going to brake and back away prematurely. Either that or slam the brakes harder than the leader, which would quickly precipitate a pile up in a group of any size.

If anything this should make it easier to draft. Previously you needed to guess not only where you were but also how close the officials thought it looked like. Pretty simple now, keep that light flicking between yellow and red and it confirms you're getting the max effect.

I don't show these pictures to attack these guys. I don't think ANY of them were trying to get a free ride but just the normal course dynamics. Frodeno absolutely showed by his body language "F%k I'm in the zone and need to pass this guy, but don't want to burn a match to do it right here..." and backed out.

I could see an IM official in Kona nailing him for that and giving the other guys a break.

My main point in showing the images though is in regards to enforcement. I would assume the detail any official has monitoring a computer knows for sure a light went off and a zone was entered. But doesn't know exactly where in the course. And if they even have GPS position, likely the delay makes it irrelevant unless you're on a long stretch of road. They just expect to see lights turn on as athletes bunch up around hills and turns...and the athletes knowing this? Enter the draft zones more aggressively around hills and turns.

Anyway, race ranger seems like a nice tool for helping athletes police themselves. An official with a judgement call is still needed. And the PTO hasn't shown a willingness to the latter.