On the bike leg portion of a race today there was a group of 10 riders that slowly passed me, I looked to me left and was like WTF??? They were 3 wide and going the same speed as me, they were probably drafting off me and I didnt know it untill I slowed down to drink. so as they passed me I slowed down to let them go by BUT because we were doing the same speeds I now became part of this pack, I slowed down and got on the back of them trying to maintain my spacing from them but it was hard to do. I was embarrased because the other cyclist going the other way were calling them names for drafting as were passing motorists. I became pissed and tried to pass them but they were 3 wide and left no room for passing so I was stuck for a while, finally when I saw an opportunity to pass I did but had to go at top end speeds to get away which would make me tire and eventually they would catch up again. So I had no choice but to sit in the back sometimes coasting even though I was 3 bikes behind I was still in a draft. Im not the kind of guy to say anything to them or yell obscenitys so I just sat back there, finally I had enough and with 5 miles to go I had to go in the oncomming traffic lane to pass them and DUSTED them. What do you guys do in this situation???
Sounds like you did the best you could with a crappy situation. My solution is nearly always to pick up my pace for a few miles…nearly always puts these folks far behind… the three wide situation would be frustrating, though…they should have sorted that quicker…either pass or drop back… its probably likely they were somewhat frustrated with their own situations as well…but weren’t aware enough to do anything about it. Anyway…not to make excuses for them or anything…
When I get passed by a pack I always just drop off the back to stay out of the bullshit and then either let them go and keep doing my own thing or get pissed off and launch myself by the group and try to ride away from them. I did this about 8 or 9 times at IMFL in 2003 and had a great (for me) bike split due to my constant charging but it took some of the pep out of my stride on the run. At Kona last fall people were telling me that I’d get caught up in draft packs no matter what I did but the paved shoulders gave me a way to just move over and ignore the cheaters. I find it a huge cop-out for those near the FOP when they say it was “unavoidable” due to “insert excuse here” since a pack will not form unless someone gets passed and refuses to drop back but instead decides to cheat and hang on the wheel. For MOP and BOP riders where the race gets more crowded it can be difficult to stay out of the draft which must be hard since these are the competitors that are usually competing against themselves and a pb is pretty much meaningless if you just did the ride with 10 or 15 other people.
I think you nailed it with dropping off the back after being passed. This is what the USAT rules require. As a slow swimmer and fast rider, I do a lot of passing. The majority of competitors fail to observe this rule and try to stay right behind. I don’t think that most people intend to gain any unfair advantage but just get caught up in the competition.
At IMFL2004, a lot of penalties were called for failing to drop out of the draft zone after being passed and before repassing. That’s just an extension of that Johnny99 is saying about failing to drop back. For an official, it’s probably an easier call than counting off the 15 seconds.
Careful on the passing into oncoming traffic. Besides being potentially dangerous, it’s an automatic DQ. And I don’t think it matters whether or not the centre line is marked/painted.
Frustrating situation you describe. No doubt we’ll see more and more posts like your’s now that the racing season is in full swing.