What we have here, is a total jackass. Obviously a roadie 
(I kid!).
Seriously though, it’s sad that we have pretty much all either witnessed this or had it done to us. As funny as it would have been for you to hand his ass to him right then and there, I applaud you for taking the high road. I’d have been temped to “arrange” for him to have a mysterious flat when he got out of the water…
Khai, your devious and I like that. How is the swim coming along?
Yeah…stick around the sport long enough and you’ll eventually have more than a few of these stories to tell. Sad truth. Makes one want to go all Dirty Harry on people don’t it? It’s taken me a long time to figure out how to avoid this one but I’ve got a few methods of doing it.
1)have a really expensive bike and put it in the number one spot. Most people tend to not want to have to pay for messing with something if it costs a small fortune. An added bonus is that mosts people will look at the ride and think you’re a serious competitor and move on. Some however are exceptions. go to option 2
2)Stick around long enough and you’re bound to make a few friends (maybe an enemy or two as well). Take your warm up while they watch your spot and vice versa. Make sure said friend is plenty big and able to enforce your spot. Note…having several friends who all know each other will compound the point should the offender become a persistent prick. Add options 1 and 2 and you should be pretty safe…but…there is always one who defies all odds. For that person I offer option 3
3)Get to the race as early (and I do mean early) as possible. Rack your bike in the best possible spot in TZ. Then help the race crew set up registration…get to know them…help body mark…schmooze with the RD…become really good friends with them…direct traffic for them when the guy who was supposed to do it doesn’t show. Become an invaluable member of the tri community. Get the RD to love you like the child they never had. Go do your warm up using whatever method you see fit. If you come back and reasoning, coercing, subtle persuasion, threats and nasty words from your back up all fail. Go talk to your RD friend. When MrFullofmyself asks ‘want to make something of it’ you say ‘sure, I’ll be right back with the RD and we’ll see what he has to say’ Knowing you were there first and you’ve done your time helping people out (actually did a coffee run for the crew at a race last year and came back to find my stuff…all of it…moved…needless to say it got moved back with a very sincere appology) there won’t be a person left in TZ who won’t have your back in removing this twit bodily for his indiscretions.
Bottom line you were right to just let it go. Who knows what the guy would have done if you’d gotten your back up on the matter. Granted you have every right to expect your spot to still be there as long as you make it clear that you were there first. Any athlete in their right mind who sees this and knows you were there first and says nothing about it is just as much a dick as the guy picking the fight.
As far as racking on top of another person in this case…rough waters ahead there. Saw a guy once in a Du throw the bike on top right to the ground so he could unrack. Sadly for him the owner (whose spot he had taken in the first place and who had kindly made accomodations for the offender anyway) saw him do it. He yelled out to the guy who flipped him the bird on his way out. Nothing like a rush of anger andrenaline to get the jets turned on. The guy catches up to him about 6km later and shouting ensues (I am about 100m back watching the fall out). Bonehead continues to get under the guys skin and refuses to admit wrongdoing…and continues to spew profanities at the guy. Who finally loses it. Throws his water bottle at the guy (missing unfortunately) who then tries to cut him off. Deciding he has had enough he takes out his frame pump (ahh the good old days of racing) and proceeds to retrue the dickheads front wheel…while still at full speed. I didn’t feel it was my place to stop and help the guy…he kind of did deserve what he got after all. Never saw him after the race either. Wonder if he got the point?
Hey - they give you all those pins for a reason, right?
The search for a technique coach is still ongoing, but has been really slow as I’m out of town so much. Got approval from the SAC for working out with a Masters group in the mornings though, and will likely try out the Fast Lane group on a drop-in basis for the Spring.
This work business really gets in the way of my training!
I did a triathlon a couple of years ago in SC. I racked my bike and then went back to the car to get the rest of my gear. When I came back to the rack two guys were setting up Beach Chairs next to there bikes! I guess that it was to much work to get the Lazy Boys into the transition area! Another time at a duathlon in OH when I came through T2 Mr. Speedy had got there first and rolled his bike under the rack and hung it buy the saddle, parking his front wheel on my towel where my running shoes and hat were. He got moved but he didn’t say anything afterwards. Most people are nice but every now and then you run into a jerk.
I read your description of the events a couple times and, unless I’m missing something, I’d say its very possible racer #xxx thought it was one of the owners of the adjacent bikes being the dillhole by hanging the bag on the rack. With bikes hanging in all directions and individual transition areas being in various states of set-up, it can be very confusing as to which stuff belongs to which bike and person and if there’s enough room to squeeze in.
Racer #xxx’s ‘so ya wanna fight’ attitude when you confronted him was clearly way out of whack and I’m impressed at the restraint you showed. But he may have had his hackles up about what he perceived as some jerk hogging the rack with his bike and bag.
I think you might be better served by following an above posters reccomendation to mark off your bike spot with an index card with a simple “warming up, spot taken” note while warming up instead of hanging a bag or shoes or a wetsuit over the rack. A wetsuit or a bag or other piece of gear is hardly a universal mark for saving a spot and most newbies and even plenty of experienced people may think you’re just trying to hog rack space and get upset.
Transition area etiquette dictates you should be respectful of other racers and they should be of you. I think you can reserve a spot, you just need to be a little more clear when that’s your intention. Its not always readily apparent what your motives are and there’s no way to ask what’s what when you’re out warming up.
I read your description of the events a couple times and, unless I’m missing something, I’d say its very possible racer #xxx thought it was one of the owners of the adjacent bikes being the dillhole by hanging the bag on the rack. With bikes hanging in all directions and individual transition areas being in various states of set-up, it can be very confusing as to which stuff belongs to which bike and person and if there’s enough room to squeeze in.
Racer #xxx’s ‘so ya wanna fight’ attitude when you confronted him was clearly way out of whack and I’m impressed at the restraint you showed. But he may have had his hackles up about what he perceived as some jerk hogging the rack with his bike and bag.
I think you might be better served by following an above posters reccomendation to mark off your bike spot with an index card with a simple “warming up, spot taken” note while warming up instead of hanging a bag or shoes or a wetsuit over the rack. A wetsuit or a bag or other piece of gear is hardly a universal mark for saving a spot and most newbies and even plenty of experienced people may think you’re just trying to hog rack space and get upset.
What you say isn’t likely, given that he said that he saw my transition stuff (my running shoes) on the other side of the rack, so he knew that the slot belonged to someone. I could have had the kitchen sink there, and he would have still done it (remember, he put his bike/stuff on the other side of the rack from my stuff).
Not that it matters, but he finished almost 20 minutes behind me :-). Also, a quick Google shows him to have been doing triathlons for at least a couple of years…
As for my restraint, he looked pretty mean. Sorta like steroid rage, or something. Anyway, I’m a lover, not a fighter.
I go out of my way to get to the transition area early and get my stuff set up. It is not my problem when someone shows up late and “can’t find a place”. I had someone move my bike from the pole position and shoehorn theirs in last year. I’m sorry, if you are late, you squeeze your bike in at the end of the rack, not the front!!! I was so pissed! People have a lot of nerve!
Next time wipe your butt on his towel or wiz in his foot wash.
This is a recurring problem:
There is no place for the type of rudness that you experienced.
A number of races that I have been to recently clearly did not have enough room on the bike racks for the numbers of people in the race.
It’s good to follow up right away with this sort of thing with the RD and say, “Hey, there is clearly not enough room on the racks. What can/should we do”. If not right away then do it after the race.
Fleck
In the duathlons that I have done, the RD’s require that once you rack your bike you cannot take it out again until race starts. This would help eliminate or reduce this type of problem. In this example, you would warm up on the bike prior ro taking into transition area 