Did anyone notice if exiting off the boat at Alcatraz if we stepped thru a Championchip station. If not I am disappointed to say some folks were a little eager to get off and slipped out in the waves 1 or 2 ahead of there own. This was very disappointing to see. It just shows that no matter how great the sport is there will always be “rednecks” as we say here in North Carolina. More than likely we probably caught those folks but it just looked bad to be on the boat waiting for your turn and to see your color cap 300 yards out off the boat before you even left. I know the great volunteers were doing their best but as triathletes we should not have to put the volunteers thru this. It was still an awesome day even with the “rednecks”.
I do know some people in the first wave had the wrong color cap because they ran out
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I didnt really notice cheating, but I don’t think there was a chip mat on the boat. I started my watch just before I jumped in the water with the first 30 percent of my wave. By my stopwatch I comleted the course in 2:40:00. My official time was 2:40:56. So I guess they just estimated your swim start based on the wave you were in.
Not a big deal unless you are contending for a top spot.
Dennis
The ability to get a 3 minute head start at Alcatraz is well known. Just jump off the boat early. Look at some of your friend’s swim times in comparison to how they normally swim. Cheating? Or taking advantage of poor race management. To their defense, that has to be one of the more logistically tough swim starts to pull off, but is also the reason I’d never do the race even though I’m on part of the course daily just to get to work. That, and the amount they charge is crazy. With all the SF area demand for races, I can’t figure out why someone hasn’t rebirthed the old Bud Loght USTS course in Livermore at Lake Del Valle. But that said, it is always fun to grab a cuppa joe and cheer my friends on without having to drive for hours.
I hope you had fun, cuz that’s what it’s all about.
I can’t figure out why someone hasn’t rebirthed the old Bud Loght USTS course in Livermore at Lake Del Valle.<<
Problems w/EBMUD and no riding out of the park on the roads. It’s been tried, but two years in a row, two different RDs have had to cancel races there.
clm
"Cheating? Or taking advantage of poor race management. "
Sorry, you lost me. What’s the difference?
Yeah there was a lot of early departures off the boat as there was clearly no one in control of the waves. I was inside and could see people in the pink caps that were in my wave, leaving with the yellow, and orange waves. Also the green caps that were supposed to be the wave behind us were in the water before us. No chip matt on the boat so we got screwed royal on the swim times, add about 4+ minutes. Bike ride was also a packed group riding draft fest, because of the shity swim disorganization it rippled through the rest of the course. When the swim starts like that everyone reaches T2 close together and the bike becomes a mess, and only clears out on the run. Too bad they didn’t take control of their race. Truely a classic course it a shame they don’t care to make it a fair start by using a chip matt that starts your time when jumping of the boat so it is a race against the clock, instead of playing catchup to reel in the cheatin’ wankers. Everyone I’ve talk with says it has been the same way every year. What ya gona do? Still had a blast on a challenging course.