I saw a lot of drafting on Sunday despite the number of marshalls on the course.
Desiree Flicker had a 6 min penalty, was it for drafting?
A lot of disqualifieds too in results but have not heard why.
They need cameras on the course and few official phone numbers for viewers to call and report drafting if they see something (German autobahn way)… or better use chips with GPS
: )
I raced Austria a few years ago when Lori Bowden won it (2002). She blasted past me on the bike with about 8 AG men sucking her wheel. Then at about mile 80, a pack of riders the size of the TdF peleton rode up along side me. The pack just engulfed me and then spat me out the back. The worst part was that as they dissapeared up the road they were followed by a marshall furiously blowing his whistle at them to no effect. I hope they did DQ people for drafting, as they sure needed to do something.
I could not agree more. As a poor swimmer / better biker, I spent most of the day passing these pelotons. It really upset my race as I was racing on power and had decided to only go to threshold on a few occasions when the time was right. But instead I wasted watts passing out group after group of cyclists. Every time I came up on a group I had to raise my intensity to move past them as quickly as possible, sometimes I would have to move over to the other side of the road as they were 2,3 and 4 abreast and shouting “left” at them was having no effect.
With about 30 km to go I could see another one of these pelotons up the road and I remember thinking to myself , not another one to pass, this one looks big, I was half thinking of giving up and just staying 20 meters or so behind them, but then the rider in second place went down taking 4 or 5 riders with him, they were all over the road, I rode up to them and managed to zig zag through the bikes, bodies and water bottles, I can’t say I felt very sorry for them if they had not being drafting they would have had plenty of time to swerve in 10 meters.
Yes, Ficker’s penalty was for drafting
.
I was in the same situation as tog and it pretty much spoilt what was in every other respect a fantastic race day experience.
The cheating was a farce - come on Mr. M-dot… what you going to do about it? The fair play athletes are suffering because we either have to throw time down the drain by dropping back and staying clear or have to go above our steady riding pace to surge past which undoubtedly negatively impacts our running.
I think it’s fair to ask for en-mass DQs for bunches that are together for longer than 60 seconds. Get the video cams out I reckon.
The draft busters need to impose more power & have to be more aggressive. Instead of little black cards how about giving them little (or big) paint guns to blast the cheats legs as warnings… big bright purple paint sploddges that don’t wash off for a few weeks… maybe a little bit of acid in them too!
or… the fields need to be reduced back down; 2000+ is just too busy… good for the organisers bank balance though.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
When/if you sign up for many of the European IMs (esp Austria and Germany) realize that drafting will be part of the race, period.
Look at the bike times and watch the coverage. That’s just the way it is. I have Austria 2002 on tape, the drafting is shameless.
Good point well made.
Note to self: Don’t enter Austria or Germany.
I agree… these races don’t interest me at all.
I’d love to do Lanzarote or UK!
Not done Austria, but done Germany twice. I’m a poor swimmer (1.27) but a better biker (5.51). I saw lots of people get done for drafting, but didnt see any big peletons. The problem looked worse in Switzerland, but that was probably because it was an out and back course so I could see the fast swimmers, fast bikers riding together.
IMDE is a great race and with a Starbucks 5 metres past the finish line. What more could you want ?
Ironman Austria -
Swim: 1:01 - beat down ensued during the turn around and when the canal narrowed the field.
Bike: 5:43 - drafting was VERY popular on this course. Some people were getting popped for the offense…others rode in a peloton for MILES. In order to stay away from trouble I found myself passing packs or dropping back. This definitely impacted my second lap, which was roughly 10 minutes off of where I wanted to be.
I thought I got a penalty, so I sat in the box @ T2 for 6 minutes. It turns out I did not have a penalty…but 6 minutes of sitting is better than 15 minutes for not sitting in the box. The people in the penalty box had no idea whether or not anyone had rec’d a penalty…so that was a bit hectic.
Run: 4:20 - not a pleasant marathon at all.
I did 11:27, not my best…but a good race. Went with Ken Glah and Endurance Sports Travel. Overall, a good experience after some of the confusing hotel situation was calmed. I would recommend his services…for Austria or Brazil, as the mechanic, shuttles, and head-ache solving attitude Ken brings to the table.
–Now, begin to plan next years priority races.–
Brent
SlayerHatebreed,
I’ve done Lanzarote & UK.
I recommend Lanzarote as a must do for any one who calls themselves an Ironman. The smaller field & tough bike also helps reduce the drafting problem.
UK is a deceptively challenging bike but with all the rolling hills it’s also a good course for slightly minimizing the risk of MonsterPacks forming.
scmittb3b5,
I did a 1:03 swim at Austria so must have seen similar packs to you. I used a power meter and was a couple of minutes off even splitting the two loops in 5:02 (2nd lap slower). First time racing with power & recommend it… especially if you want to be a bit more subjective over how hard to go when surging past peletons. Also doing a good diet of SteadyState intervals conditioned me to keep well below the no-go redlining stuff when surging.
Drafting aside, I thought it was a great bike course though - loved the FlyingDescents.
You should let the organisers know about the penalty confusion - must have been nice to have a little sit down pre-run though.