makes me wonder…do any of you ever say anything to those who are cheating?,…SCREAM NO DRAFTING at them or something. What about blocking? Just curious as to how some of you more experienced guys handle this…
I’m not one of the “more experienced guys” but I made up my mind right from the beginning when I got into this sport to not let what others are doing mess with my head. I don’t yell anything at them, I don’t go hunt them down after to get in a schoolyard shouting match, I just do my thing and if I finish further back because of people not following the rules then I just finish further back. I’m not happy that someone who didn’t follow the rules beat me but I’m still happy with how I ran my race. If the race officials aren’t going to enforce the rules (or didn’t see whatever happened that shouldn’t have) then nothing I say will change that so I don’t like to mess up my day stressing over it.
my husband screams at them but i don’t. I try to keep myself out of all that as i start losing control of my concentration. That being said, in June i did get into an “altercation” with a guy in the swim. I felt like a jerk afterward and probably lost some time. it’s not worth it to me and i have to keep reminding myself.
I’m not one of the “more experienced guys” but I made up my mind right from the beginning when I got into this sport to not let what others are doing mess with my head. I don’t yell anything at them, I don’t go hunt them down after to get in a schoolyard shouting match, I just do my thing and if I finish further back because of people not following the rules then I just finish further back. I’m not happy that someone who didn’t follow the rules beat me but I’m still happy with how I ran my race. If the race officials aren’t going to enforce the rules (or didn’t see whatever happened that shouldn’t have) then nothing I say will change that so I don’t like to mess up my day stressing over it.
Your’s is the voice of reason.
“God grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change;
COURAGE to change the things I can;
and WISDOM to know the difference.”
I tell 'em they should get closer to their wheel if they want to do it right.
Jon
Good timing on this thread. Just did a race this morning where a pack passed me that stayed together for miles. The first time they passed me, the tail end was slowing down so after I had dropped back to follow the rules, I re-passed everyone, and since they were a pack (not just a paceline) I had to also yell “on your left” numerous times to get them to even move over a little bit so I didn’t have to cross the center line. And, as I passed them, I did comment to them on their nice pack and on how well they were working together. I was pissed. I had to slow down a lot to let this large pack continue to pass me and follow the rules and drop back, just because they wanted to cheat.
I figured they’d catch me again later, and on a slight uphill, I knew they were coming, so at that point, I decided to no longer spend my energy dropping back and repassing them. As opposed to one racer near me who resolved this by jumping in with them when they went by, I figured this was a good chance to sit up, grab some water, and let them get far enough ahead that I no longer would be able to pass them, and they would no longer impact my race. So I did. They stayed together for miles. After a little bit I caught a guy who couldn’t stay with them, and I was this close to commenting to him that it looked like he couldn’t stay with his pack, too bad he now had to do some work, but I didn’t - I just said “on your left” and left him in the dust.
I got a few of their numbers, but was riding pretty hard and knew I wouldn’t remember many of them later, and anyway, what would I do with that information? The officials can’t officiate by racers complaining. Officials did come by the pack in the opposite direction once, and I’m not sure if they saw/did anything. They later came back the other way, and appeared to pause for awhile by some members of the group, but I was too far back to know what was going on, and by that point, the pack was finally breaking up a little.
The main reason I didn’t mind too much dropping back the second time for good was I was part of a relay, so was pretty sure I was not really racing any of those people. Had I been doing the whole race myself, since I knew at least one person was in my age group, I think I would have continued to be pissed off, and I’m not sure what I would have done then. Going back and forth with them all day is a waste of energy, but it really annoys me to see people cheating and just not caring.
I’ve never yelled at anyone drafting, but I’ve been tempted. I did complain to 2 folks who passed me on the right at Lake Placid this year. Each time, they scared the cr*p out of me. I said something like “There’s plenty of room to pass on the left you know”. The first one was a woman and she said there was a guy to my left, so she had to pass to the right. I guess she didn’t understand the rules. The second one was a guy and he apologized.
Just curious, why was there room for them to pass you on your right?
I’m not that experienced (1 x IM, 1 x 1/2IM, 2 x long course, several Oly’s and Sprints), but one thing that is crazier than drafting packs/people, is those that waste energy and mental focus screaming at them. I once had a guy ride up and just behind me scream “DRAFTING!!!”, as he drew level I said “Are you talking to me?”. He screamed “NO, THEM, THEY’RE DRAFTING!!” and motioned to two riders ahead of us (who were riding side by side, not drafting, blocking…but, as it happens, no one was being effected). I said “whatever”, he screams “BUT THEY ARE IN OUR AGE GROUP!!!”, he then tried like hell to catch them, blew up and faded never to be seen again.
As for IMLP this year, I can only speak for what I saw, but there were a few “groups” where people actually seemed to be trying to keep their distance reasonable…
I called a guy (in my age group) a drafter yesterday at the Mountain Lakes Tri in Guntersville, AL as he came past me late on the bike with 2 other guys. He gave me some lip back and moved immediately to the front of the group. I saw them then ahead of me trading places again and I mustered some more energy to come cruising past them and I again commented about the blatant drafting, after which I got a big F… you.
A few seconds later he comes racing past me and screams something about “so is this drafting?”
To me that was like someone who is caught in the store stealing and then attempts to pay for stolen goods to make it legit.
Either way, I noticed his bib number later on the USAT referee list for “illegal passing”.
Karma
You people are the whinyist bunch of babies. There are rules and officials to monitor this activity. It is not your job nor is it anything you should take upon yourself to enforce/point out. Let the officials do their job and you worry about peddling your bicycle. If the drafters get away with their sinister plans then so be it. The last thing this sport needs is a bunch of self absorbed triathletes trying to enforce rules during the race!
The only person I’ve ever yelled at, and I WISH I knew her name, was this hottie - buff, tan, and powerful on the bike, but passing me just slowly enough that I could get a nice look at her (not in a perverted way - just admiring a hard-earned physique and wondering if I’ll look that good at 50) when ALL OF A SUDDEN I noticed a huge “50” on her left calf. FIFTY? This hottie was TWICE the age of BIGZACH, could easily hang with him on the bike, but unlike him she easily filled out her sports bra. Damn I hope I look that good at 50. So I had to do it - cheating or not - I yelled to her, “NO WAY YOU’RE FIFTY - YOU LOOK HALF THAT!!!”. She smiled, knowingly, and proceeded to drop me like an anvil.
Moral of the story (true, by the way) - have fun in the race, and if you’re like me and have no chance of winning, have a good time and forget about the cheaters. There are more important things in life. BTW - I hate drafting cheaters too - but not much you can do about it.
…and if you were the 50-yr old hottie this morning at the Sylvania Tri in Ohio, send me a PM - LOL just kidding!
This hottie was TWICE the age of BIGZACH, could easily hang with him on the bike, but unlike him she easily filled out her sports bra.
Apparantly you have not seen BIGZACH’s man-boobs lately…
I did a race today that was USAT sanctioned but had no officials on the bike. I passed 2 people on the bike who were wearing headphones (one who was blocking/weaving all over the road on a course open to traffic). There was a decent amount of drafting and blocking. I didn’t say anything to anyone today, but I have in the past. What do you suggest doing in this situation?
The first time, I usually say it nicely to people blocking. A lot of the time, they just don’t know the rules, which is a little annoying, but often they apologize and some people even say thanks for telling them that it is a rule to ride on the right unless passing. If people don’t move after I ask them the first time, then I usually yell at them to get out of the way–usually it is stupid men that don’t like getting passed by women. As far as drafting goes, I rarely say anything. I certainly don’t say anything that would provoke a fight.
I am really less about the drafting than I am about the blocking. I don’t try to police the efforts of others unless they interfere with my peformance.
In one of my recent tiathlons there was a thick phalanx of drafters that occupied the entire width of the road for lage portions of the race. It was virtually impossible to pass them without taking significant risks.
They were going relatively slow (less than 20mph) so their presence impacted my overall time.
I don’t say anything to one person drafting another person. I do say something to a large pack of riders who are drafting and blocking. For instance, the pack at The Sports Barn Sprint in Chattanooga, TN today was around 10 riders, in a double paceline. They were not holding a very consistent speed, so I would pass them, then they would pass me, I would drop back, and then pass them again. I didn’t yell at them in a confrontational way, just yelled that drafting is not allowed in triathlon. Several people in that pack were obvious roadies who could have been doing their first race. There were no officials on the bike, and honestly in this race it isn’t really needed. I am not going to get too upset about anything that happens in a sprint. I am not a fast enough runner to win my age group, and an not fast enough at anything to win overall.
I really just wanted the riders in the pack to know that what they were doing is a direct violation of the rules they agreed to follow by signing up for the race.
Now, in that group, there were several racers I recognized. These people knew the rules, and were cheating. There is no excuse for that. If you can beat me, great, I will congratulate you on a good race, just don’t beat me by cheating, there aren’t that many rules in triathlon, it is really so hard to follow them?
Congrats on the age group win today.
Just curious, why was there room for them to pass you on your right?
In both cases, I was riding just on the right side of the line for the shoulder for the road. The shoulder was quite wide, so they passed on the far right part of the shoulder. Since the entire right side of the road was shut down for us, I was as far right as I could get without riding in debris in some places. There was enough room for 2 people to pass on my left.
Wondered if it was the area where the shoulder is huge, sounds like it was…not that that makes it right. Hope you had a good race, congrats on being a part of Race4kids, I hope to do the same next year!
**You people are the whinyist bunch of babies. **
I don’t agree. I think it’s just human nature to get ticked off at things like this. Plus, most people here are just venting in this thread as opposed to venting at others in a race.
**There are rules and officials to monitor this activity. **
The officials aren’t often around to see what goes on or in some cases, they see it and still do nothing.
**It is not your job nor is it anything you should take upon yourself to enforce/point out. Let the officials do their job and you worry about peddling your bicycle. If the drafters get away with their sinister plans then so be it. The last thing this sport needs is a bunch of self absorbed triathletes trying to enforce rules during the race! **
You’re right that we should just get on with our own race and stop worrying about them, but sometimes it just feels good to vent. Plus for anyone who is doing something dangerous, I think it does warrant a comment, so they know. Many new riders don’t know about blocking and how to pass properly.