Just read this blog post: http://bencollins.org/blog/2009/02/santos-international-triathlon-race-report#more-1183 from the Santos International Tri. Sounds like it’s fairly standard to work together even for non-drafting races for the top guys by rotating the lead and dropping back 15m. Thoughts?
-Brandon
I do it when the situation presents itself.
If you have a group of 3 or more the last person singshots his way up to the front while passing in the legal amount of time. When he gets to the front he holds his speed and the last guy then does the same thing. Everyone rides outside the draft zone and passes legally.
jaretj
Do you find that the advantage in being in someone else’s draft, even though you keep a legal distance, offsets the power output changes from repeated surge and drops, as opposed to just sitting in legally at constant output for an extended length of time? Or might it be more psychological?
I didn’t have the opportunity to do it last year in shorter races since I’ve been comming out of the water much earlier than before. For Oly distance and sprints I just go as hard as I can while capping Power near 10% above FTP. I have only done it in the shorter races and I’m able to feel the difference just outside of the 7 meter zone. It’s like a reduction of about 10 to 15 watts out that far.
For my HIM’s the only chance to do it was at Steelhead but I chose to ride my plan instead. I don’t know which would have been better but I’m inclined to think my plan was the better choice. There were a lot of 2:25 people there that I could have worked with. My other HIM’s (Triple T, Muncie and Toyota challenge) didn’t have the opportunity to work with people.
I did not do an Ironman last year.
jaretj
If you have a group of 3 or more the last person singshots
Classic sling-shotting is best done when their is a larger differential between you and the riders around you and who you are passing. It’s not as effective when riding with more equally matched riders - reason: The power surge needed to over-take may be excessive. It may even be counter-productive if too much of a surge is needed and this is repeated over and over.
Now as to the OP’s question, sitting a legal distance back from the rider in front does have some advantages - both physical and psychological. The physical advantages at this distance are not huge, but none-the-less, it’s still an advantage. The smart triathlete knows where this distance is and uses it to his/her advantage.