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Tacks at Santa Rosa
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A little past Chalk Hill there were thumb tacks strewn all over the roads.

How often does this happen? I've done 15 or so fulls and halfs and 3 of them have had attempted sabotage w/ tacks and/or oil on the roads.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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People are a$$holes
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [ninagski] [ In reply to ]
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Is it dumb high-school kids with nothing better to do in life, or local residents with an ax to grind with the event for inconveniencing them for the day?
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah I saw about 5 people there changing their tires.....I kept checking mine and wondered if someone sabotaged the course...
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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peace242000 wrote:
A little past Chalk Hill there were thumb tacks strewn all over the roads.

How often does this happen? I've done 15 or so fulls and halfs and 3 of them have had attempted sabotage w/ tacks and/or oil on the roads.

wow. what a bummer. I had a "start number" ~10th from last, which in this case may have been an advantage - most of the tacks were likely gone at that point. maybe.

I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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I had a flat around that part of the course as well and assume it was a tack. My bib number was in the 1200s and I spent some time on the side of the road, but thankfully a group of support cyclists were relatively close and helped me change it quicker than I would have done alone in the heat of the moment. Sad that this even happens....
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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I hear of this happening A LOT, but have never actually seen any evidence. Does anyone have any pics?
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]
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A few of my friends saved the tacks and showed me after the race, but i didn't take pictures.

I still have the tack that caused me to flat in my first IM (chatt 2014) but can't find it right now.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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I should add, other than the tacks and the logistics of a point to point set up, the race was great. The roads were well controlled, the run course was scenic and close to spectators, good food, etc and the tacks won't stop me from coming back.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]
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"I hear of this happening A LOT, but have never actually seen any evidence. Does anyone have any pics?"
I don't have pictures but I can assure you from personal experience that this is not "urban tri legend" and does happen. At the old World's Toughest in Lake Tahoe, I was the AD and was giving the bike course a last look before the race. In one area of the road you could clearly see the "seed sowing pattern" of roofing nails. Not something that had fallen from a truck or other accident. There would be a arced swath of nails and then a ways on another and another, etc. Obviously driving along, reaching into a bag for a handful, throwing them out and the reaching back into the bag repeatedly. The area was a major downhill and could have caused multiple serious accidents.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, can confirm - my buddy DOUBLE-flatted at this section and lost an hour on his bike split while waiting for support... said he waited there with another guy, and they both found them in their wheels. Not sure what can be done about this unfortunately
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Just about every year in the Seattle-to-Portland ride there is some jackass(es) who strews tacks and/or glass on the roads. Even as far back as 1988 (my first STP), there was a lane-wide by 20 yards field of crushed glass on the road early in the ride. I fortunately escaped puncture, but the next half-mile of road was lined with people changing one or two flats.

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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [brider] [ In reply to ]
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Didn’t see any tacks, but I believe it. At mile 40ish, when we went back over the 101 into the Widnsor area, I probably saw upwards of 10 people changing flats. It was insane.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [TriSpencer] [ In reply to ]
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I had a friend crash just past Chalk Hill when her tire flatted, she broke her elbow and was sent to the hospital. I let her know about this.

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [Bryancd] [ In reply to ]
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My girlfriend flatted her disc at mile 36. I wasn't there to see, but i suspect she may have hit a tack. Then, when we went to get her bike out after the race, mysteriously her front tire was flat. However, I did not find anything in the tire, so I don't know....

Team Zoot-Texas, and Pickle Juice
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [brider] [ In reply to ]
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brider wrote:
Just about every year in the Seattle-to-Portland ride there is some jackass(es) who strews tacks and/or glass on the roads. Even as far back as 1988 (my first STP), there was a lane-wide by 20 yards field of crushed glass on the road early in the ride. I fortunately escaped puncture, but the next half-mile of road was lined with people changing one or two flats.

Wow, hard to believe this happens even in this area, i thought tacks/glass on the road were strictly a southern red-neck thing, e.g. IM Choo. :)


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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Dang, was not aware of this. So a greater than usual incidence of flats being changed Sat but did not suspect sabotage till now. There were lots of flats being changed all over, not just around that hill.

Anyways my start number was nearly 3000 so I was one of the last to get released on course. Did not see a female until the 2nd hour [I avg'd 21.n mph]

//Noob triathlete//bike commuter//ex-swimmer//slower than you

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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [Freddo] [ In reply to ]
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Freddo wrote:
Dang, was not aware of this. So a greater than usual incidence of flats being changed Sat but did not suspect sabotage till now. There were lots of flats being changed all over, not just around that hill.

Anyways my start number was nearly 3000 so I was one of the last to get released on course. Did not see a female until the 2nd hour [I avg'd 21.n mph]

I was 3035 and for a while thought it was a male only race!

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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This has happened at the Louisville IM in the past. Some of the locals hate that race. They changed the bike course since I last raced it so maybe there are less disgruntled locals...?
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [Kentucky Mac] [ In reply to ]
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I was hit with this too. Flatted after coming off Faught road. Wasn’t a nail. Was a 1/4 inch tack with a really wide head. Seemed odd it would be on the road but now it makes sense. Luckily I could fix it and only lose six minutes and still run.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [jcdandkvd] [ In reply to ]
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Never had this happen during a race but there is a local road that gets tacked from time to time. The road is fairly quiet and plenty wide enough to pass cyclists riding two abreast so I really can't understand how anyone could be so aggreived that they would resort to this.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [peace242000] [ In reply to ]
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Seems like the IM management would see the potential danger to the future of their business model if this bad behavior spreads. A $25K reward for info that leads to an arrest would be a good start. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine...
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [VO2MAXJR] [ In reply to ]
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VO2MAXJR wrote:
and lost an hour on his bike split while waiting for support...

I double-flatted this saturday on a ride. I wasn't in a hurry and was up and running in 15 minutes.

Why don't people carry their own kits anymore? I am a small town boy, but an hour wait for a bike flat because they didn't have a kit seems insane to me.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [lifejustice] [ In reply to ]
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This happened again at Saturday’s 70.3. A few people changing flats, 1 pro. I had a tack and somehow managed to ride the last 20 miles without a flat. Tire flat when picked up bike. People at Tri bike transport said it happens here every race.
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Re: Tacks at Santa Rosa [GRASH78] [ In reply to ]
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It does not happen "every race" here but yes it has happened the last two years. Similar to a number of other races where people think it is funny to do that kind of crap, when of course it is far from it. There have been other Ironman races globally that have suffered form apparent sabotage.

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com
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