I’m just curious how many folks have experienced this in a race. I was heading out on loop 2 on Jay road this morning and the one stop light on the stretch b/w there and 28th I was cruising along ~22-23 mph or something and am coming up on the intersection and am about on top of it and the cop starts waving 2 (the only 2) cars there through the intersection. I yelled that I was there and he yelled at me to stop! I had to come to a dead screeching halt while while he waved these 2 cars through. I was more than a little pi$$ed and expressed my feelings very clearly. There were several intersections with way more traffic and they were managing fine. When I go through a controlled intersection I almost always wave and say “thank you”. Never had this experience before.
Have to say though, fantastic race and great event. With the exception of this particular cop it was one of the best run races I’ve been to. Fun course and excellent volunteers.
No stops for me this morning.
Glad to hear it. I guess I should clarify, I know at least one other person at the race who had the same thing happen with that intersection. I don’t want anybody to think I’m whining about some random miscalculation on the part of the guy who was attempting to help. Overall it didn’t ruin my race, but lost time is lost and I was floored as I’d never seen/heard of/experienced anything like that in a race before.
Didn’t happen to me on either loop.
Which intersection are we talking about? Were you close to the front of the pack?
It was on Jay Rd, I want to say the light between 51st (where you go to the reservoir) and 28th (where you make the right turn). I was heading out on loop 2. Define “front of pack”. =) I was in wave 6, swam a weak 35:xx, but was half way through a 2:19:xx bike. Not “in the mix” but not off the back…
didn’t happen to me today, but It did happen to me at the boulder peak just last month. I was stopped by a cop for just under a minute at the turn on to 36 off left hand canyon. By the time I was allowed to resume there were well over 30 racers waiting/screaming with me. The cop stated: “this is a state highway and we can’t keep traffic stopped forever.” crazy, I never imagined this would happen in a bike race.
Notify the race director. Politely suggest that more cops who are also cyclists be included next year. And smile.
That’s a total drag, sorry to hear about your bad luck. In my first triathlon ever (Findlay Lake triathlon in Ohio, 2006), there was a railroad crossing on the bike course. Right after I went over the tracks, a train came through, and everyone behind me had to wait for the train to pass. High comedy (well, for me at least… I’m sure the athletes who had to wait were pretty frustrated!)
Glad to hear you have a good perspective on it. I was out there today with you at the 5430, and saw nothing but first-class work by the volunteers and police force. Hopefully it was just an isolated incident by a cop who got a little confused/stressed.
They have stopped people at Boulder Peak at 36 for years. Barry covers that every year and explains that you may be stopped to let some cars through. Never heard about it happening at LC
Notify the race director. Politely suggest that more cops who are also cyclists be included next year. And smile.
Don’t. ONE cop (out of 35?) stopped to let people through. Be glad that it was two cars at 48th and not 50 cars on 36th. They had traffic stopped on 55th for us! FIFTY-FIFTH! That’s a BIG freaking road.
Better yet, do notify Barry, and mention that the ONLY THING that you can complain about in a four and a half hour race is that you had to slow down for two cars. 
Better yet, do notify Barry, and mention that the ONLY THING that you can complain about in a four and a half hour race is that you had to slow down for two cars.
This was pretty much my perspective, I was pi$$ed when it happened but given the overall quality of the event didn’t feel the need to make a big deal out it since it isn’t within the control of the RD anyway, and what was he going to do for me if I did complain? It’s like a bad call in tennis, you’ll do yourself more damage letting it get in your head. Mainly just curious how common this is.
At least the cop was doing SOMETHING! At Triple T Ohio, there was a left turn in race #2 onto a somewhat major road and upon seeing a cop at the intersection, there was a bunch of us thinking it was safe to proceed. WRONG! Almost got t-boned by a truck and the cop never even flinched. She was just leaning against her car! There was a bunch of pissed off racers including myself!
I had a similar experience although I wasn’t told to stop. I was coming toward that same intersection. There were big SUV’s blocking me from the cop. I could see (yes, I definitely pay close attention even when cops are stopping traffic) cars starting to creep forward so I hit my brakes. The volunteer that was a little bit up the road before the light started yelling at the cop that I was coming so he stopped the vehicles but they stopped right in the line I was taking. Had I not hit the brakes, I would have cut it really close or possibly even hit one of the vehicles he had let through. I looked back after I got through the intersection and saw why he was so eager to get some cars through. Traffic was backed up as far as I could see. While it stunk having to stop during a fast section, the cop couldn’t see me well enough and was just overeager. I was just hoping it only happened to me and not any folks behind me but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I hope no one got hurt.
Like you, I found the race to be a typical 5430 event. Fantastic race. Even the cop incident wasn’t totally his fault so I think today was another banner day for the Siff’s and their entire crew.
good point. Safety first. As far as 5430, no RD better than Barry
All the 5430 races are top quality
This happened to me in Orillia 10 or 12 years ago. It was a sprint race that was out and back on the bike. I was in 3rd place overall and coming to the base of a hill with a crossroad when the cop guarding the intersection decided that the cars had waited long enough so he stopped me and everyone else coming the other way. Pretty frustrating experience. I was stopped for about 1.5 minutes and got caught by a couple of other racers. On the run, I was too far back to catch anyone and ended up in 3rd.