Nice helmet - looks alot like Natasha’s! Yes, of course you can wear the helmet, but you have to wear it during the swim and run portions of the race! Z
I applaud you for doing this. You are the exception. From what I have seen going on in races, the shocked look on peoples faces and the stories of disgust and frustration they have after the races, vis a vis - the drafting, there are many who would seem never ride like this or race very often.
Fleck
Hey D yes I am the Denve guy. Only 8 beers - you must be getting old. Need some Theakstons Old Perculiar… 
Kevin I’ll look for you .
I’ll be the guy with the snorkel
just kidding i don’t dare after that thread a couple weeks ago:-)
Just got back to Hot Springs from Disney. Great race. I’ll definitely be back next year. I’ll agree with the number of people on the bike course it was difficult to be completely off of people at all times. But there was a tremendous amount of “group rides” going on. I saw a couple of people with their numbers tucked into their bike shorts so they couldn’t get tagged. I was disappointed in the drafting and lack of officials. Although I suffered on the run with cramps. Still not sure what that was a result of. And to a previous post - it is possible to bike 22.5 and follow with 10:30/mile pace with no drafting involved. Thanks to the numerous volunteers. I must have really looked in very poor shape because two different people gave me salt extra salt tablets-much appreciated. I was well prepared just something went awry between mile 2 and 10. Great race.
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There are blatant drafters, who draft to gain an advantage and improve performance, but my feeling this is a small percantage
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In many of these bigger races, the drafting rules are almost impossible to adhere to - too many people in too short a period of time on too little road.
I think you have a good summary of the people out there, but Sunday’s race proved #1 is a far bigger number than you think it is. Once people realized there were no marshalls, it became one big group ride except for a few honest people like myself, at least in the front waves (on either side of M30-34). If I really had the enthusiasm I could do an analysis of bike start time vs finish time, speed, etc. and find a few blocks of 20+ that were likely all drafting each other. It’d be more difficult than I have the enthusiasm to do though.
Regarding the high run time after a 22mph ride without drafting…trust me that’s easy! I have no problem running (if you call it that) a 10:30 average after a fast bike. That’s my specialty. Crush the bike, stumble the run is my motto. This year is the running training year for me, finally.
Drafting? What Drafting? For those of us slow swimmers in the last wave, there were some parts of the course that were hard to distinguish. Hell, I almost turned back because I thought I was off the course. Only complaint for an extremely well run course was that they could have marked parts of the bike route a little better.
Volunteers were great. A very well run race. And great National Anthem Singer too!!!
Like I said to one group that went by me on Lake Hancock Road, “Where do I get a ticket for that train?” grrrr!!!