In the last month, twice I have been fortunate enough to be the leader on the bike in some smaller tris. One race I was sent off into the boondocks by a cop and just yesterday, I approached an intersection where the traffic was doing 50 mph. The lead vehicle went across the road and I slowed up having checked the course the day before.
As I came out of my bars, a truck flew by BETWEEN the lead vehicle and myself. I locked up the disc wheel and took a hard left into the oncoming breakdown lane almost slamming into the cop who was standing next to his car instead of IN THE ROAD where he should have been. You should have seen the look on his face. Honestly, had I stayed in my bars, I would have been squarely hit by the truck and I would not be writing this post.
For all of you who are going to be leading the pack in the race, realize that you are a guinea pig for the bike course. 90 percent of the cops & volunteers for that matter will be surprised at how fast you are going and there is a good chance they will not be there for you when you cross major traffic.
Open roads are just that…open roads. Slowing up just a bit could save your life.
I had this happen for the first time in a race recently. Usually I am in the last wave. This time it was an all women’s race and I was in the first wave. I was directed by a cop to do a VERY tight turn around through deep sand and had to suddenly brake and walk through it. On my next loop it was all swept up.
At another race the Pros did the swim first in a dangerous current. When they had to rescue a few Pros and a lot of them could not make the buoy turns, the race director canceled the swim. Again the FOPers were the guinea pigs.
Your situation was much more dangerous than mine. I am glad you are OK and survived it.
I always figured that would be a hazard of being fast. A problem I don’t have, but I’ve heard too many stories of the front guys missing turns, etc. because they were mis-directed or course staff wasn’t in position yet (LA Triathlon in 2006!). I always just follow those in front of me and it’s work great for the 38 races I’ve done to date (with one exception where I got lost on the run at one race). A great cautionary tale!
Unfortunately this is a problem in the MOP too !! I was in a Sprint race several weeks ago that had a bike section that started and ended with a steep hill as it was an out and back. Leaving transition, I went through the intersection at the base of the hill with several other people, no sweat. On the way back, we came out of a residential section, and I was hard on the gas heading to the hill, making up for a dropped chain at the start of the ride (grr!). Luckily for me, I have a very aero setup with a disc on the rear, and I passed all the guys that started the descent with me. As I approached the bottom of the hill and the intersection, at about 40 mph, I looked up and I realized that traffic was not stopping! I sat straight up, and started waving my arms back and forth, and yelling !!! The cop saw me, after I had scrubbed oof most of my speed, and went into the middle of the street to stop traffic. I was like, “oh thanks, sorry to wake you” to the cop. I was a bit rattled to say the least heading into T2.
Yep, I hear this all the time. It is not just he bike, but swim and run. But, unless we want to give
the volunteers a raise , they do the best they can. Still up to us to be in control, and NOT
count on others for our safety, or directions.
When cops are being paid to work extra shifts (which is what race support nearly always consitutes) they get paid 2.5x their normal wage. One woud hope that that would be enough incentive to do the job properly. Unfortunately, as many have witnessed, that is not always the case. No-one forces them to do this, nor are they “volunteers” in any way, shape or form. They are being paid handsomely for their time (and uniform), and have elected to take on the extra shift because it is relatively “easy money” (compared to regular cop work where they might be getting shot at or something like that).
This isn’t to say that we aren’t all responsible for our own safety and well being - but it sure pisses me off when I hear about someone narrowly missing being killed because a highly paid, on-duty cop was napping.
That is not what the OP posted, and not what I have seen and heard. The FIRST person is where a lot of folks get caught off guard.
And, since there can be a lot of room between the FOP’s at times, it is tough. No excuse, it is just another thing FOP’s
need to look out for.
Had that happen many years ago in the Solvang Century. Passing through some town’s intersection, the traffic lights were set to flashing and a cop was controlling the intersection with another cop on the corner. I guess he was relaying when bikes were coming so the traffic cop could stop the cars to let the bikes through. So, I’m coming up to the intersection about 20 mph and at about ten feet from the corner the cop says,“OK Stop!”, while the traffic cop is motioning for the cross traffic to proceed. I couldn’t stop no way, no how, so I yelled, “I can’t!” and blew through. Tires screeched, horns honked, and I nearly pissed in my shorts (not doing it to save time, either.)
As I came out of my bars, a truck flew by BETWEEN the lead vehicle and myself. I locked up the disc
wheel and took a hard left into the oncoming breakdown lane almost slamming into
the cop who was standing next to his car instead of IN THE ROAD where he
should have been. You should have seen the look on his face.
Given your history on this board I’m going to post one reply and call it a day.
Firstly, I don’t care if it was the first, 50th, or last person through that intersection. The cop was paid (very well) to stand in that intersection and direct traffic - stopping it when necessary such that cyclists can safely pass. He was paid to be there from a certain time to a certain time, and whether or not he was expecting to see anyone so soon ought to be irrelevant. He failed to do his job as assigned, plain and simple.
Secondly, unrelated to the original post, there are hundreds of people with stories to tell of narrow escapes, thanks to cops that were not at their assigned posts. Many of these people are not FOP cyclists, but rather just victims of unfortunate timing when the cop got bored while “on duty” and decided to go back to his car/wander down to the next corner where his buddy was stationed/chat with the cute volunteers/whatever.
Yes, FOP athletes often are subject to hardships that none of normal folk ever encounter during a race - but those who are paid to perform a service for our benefit truly ought to provide such service, no?
Sorry, I have no desire to beat up on cops. We both know we can find the corner cases. I have also seem plenty do a first class
job. Yep, mistakes are made, lets just not blow it our of proportion. And even if all the help is PERFECT, we have heard enough
stories of drivers ignoring the COPS, so my comment stands, watch out for yourself first assuming worst case.
Being dead does not prove any point.
Last Saturday coming back from a ride we went by the Pleasanton / Livermore Tri For Fun and stopped to watch the leaders go through the Vineyard / HW84 intersection. They had 2 volunteers and 1 CHP officer in uniform. The volunteers were great but the jack ass CHP dude was directing stopped cars to proceed directly into the path of cyclists. There were at least separate 3 close calls while I was there one of which could have killed 3 cyclists when the CHP made a gardening truck go. At first he would not move his truck and trailer because any idiot could have seen the bikes coming but the CHP started madly waiving for him to go. We were yelling enough to alert the riders 50 yards out but he made the truck go right into the path and the 3 bikes scattered in 3 different directions. This was not the first bike to come through but somewhere in the high teens. The guy was paid to almost kill multiple cyclists. Fortunately enough people started yelling at him that he finally decided to start looking for bikes before he directed cars to cross. Could have been draft karma for the 3 bikes but for the others they were racing clean…
Happened to me at Eagleman and I was not FOP at all.
It didn’t involve traffic. No one visibly ahead of me - and there was a fork in the road. The road was GOING right and there was a left turn. We were suppose to go left - but I continued at the road and kept going figuring the volunteers and cops at the right would flag me if I was suppose to turn.
I kept going right. And someone who had stopped and entered the portapotty ahead of me at that intersection saw me go out to the right and hopped out as I went by and yelled. I didn’t hear or understand or even realize it was me he was talking to until I looked back 100m later and turned around.
As I passed by the cops who were blowing the volunteers (or vice versa - whatever they were doing they weren’t doing their job) I yelled at them to get out in the road and direct people.
I feel ya, nothing like being the course tester;) And everyone you tell about it is like “but it was so obvious…” and yes it probably was with a rider or two to follow.
Glad you’re safe. I’ve had to dismount at intersections, been led waaaay off courses by the police (actually turned around on my own and let the motorcycle keep going when I realized what had happened), and once watched as cones were actually frantically laid out to show the race course in front of us AS WE WERE RACING, catch the cone truck!!! But at least there’s rarely any bike traffic:)
FOP, MOP or even BOP - the bottom line is that because triathletes rarely race on roads that are fully closed to car traffic, no matter what sort of police/volunteer support is out there you should ALWAYS ride/race with a heads up and be thinking ahead as to what’s going on on the course. I have had instances over the years when I have had to take evasive action on the bike when I have been leading a race or been further bnack. When there have been cops at intersections or out on a wide open road.
Just last year I was at a race and as I was approaching an intersection where we were making a turn, and I saw that there was a cop holding up traffic for me and the other riders coming up to the intersection. However, out of the corner of my eye I also saw a car coming around the cars that the cop had stopped, essentially ignoring the cop. That car started to move out into the intersection despite the cop telling it to stop. The driver then swerved around the cop and rolled right out into the intersection just as I was entering it, but because I was watching the whole scene unfold I was able to take evasive action myself and get around the situation. Had I been head-down and hammering right through the intersection making the left turn I would likely have slammed into the car, the cop or both!
sorry to hear what happened to you and glad you are okay. That doesn’t happen here in France. There is a car leading out the first biker-lights flashing, sirens going. If anyone/anything steps into the path they are run over. If there is a time trial there will be a car for EACH person-same thing, lights and sirens. It’s a blast-pure energy-lot’s of serious fun!
