Just looking through the results because a very fast young lady that I know raced today and kicked some serious butt beating her time from last year by about 18 minutes! And she still barely cracked top 20 in the AG. This woman got 2nd overall female at a smaller HIM and only lost because she tripped while sprinting for 1st place against another woman.
And I notice … that more than 20 ladies in her field (25-29) broke my HIM PR bike split of a 2:24 (at Eagleman) in which even with the stacked pro field that the event brings in only 3 woman beat my split - all pros!!
As my title states, I’m not trying to single out anyone specifically, just grabbed a time to put out there for consideration (as her bike time seems to be close to the norm for a lot of the front running AGers):
98 F4044 00:33:28 02:16:18 01:52:54
You are not reading that wrong … this 41 year old was the 98th overall lady and SHE put up a f-cking 2:16???
Now I’m not one to get all up on a high horse about drafting as I know it happens. But this (and the 100’s of other sub 2:20 bike splits) just screams “mockery and sham.”
How else in the H E double hockey stick do so many non-professional ladies post up times that would rival PRO MEN times in most 70.3’s???
And don’t give me that “quality of field” or “it’s a fast course” bullshit. There are only a handful of pro ladies that even came close to that. Joanna “barely” broke 2:14.
Just cements the reason I will never take a slot to it …
Just cements the reason I will never take a slot to it …
Dude, c’mon. A course that fast, you could go 1:30 easy! Why would you not want to ride there!?!
I stopped giving a shit shortly after all the IMFL drafting hubbub started. I was super pissed on the course when it was going on, enough to even want to be a ref. But all the talk after it just got annoying. And don’t even get me started on Captain Douchebag and his FL/NY double.
I think it speaks volumes to the “flexible integrity” of our society as a whole. If we have such a large percentage of folks who will cut corners and bend the rules to get ahead in what really amounts to a hobby for most, what will happen when things like money, power, and priviledge are on the line? If you think about it, we’re lucky our economy isn’t in the toilet… oh, wait.
what will happen when things like money, power, and priviledge are on the line? If you think about it, we’re lucky our economy isn’t in the toilet
Well, the economy is in the toilet and I am sure you see people in your work place who lack honour and integrity in trying to get ahead. That’s one thing that I appreciated from my time in the Armed Forces…on the balance, the guys were up front and honourable compared to the average in the rest of society…you have to be, if you are going to jump in front of a bullet to save your buddy, or carry him on your back across an open field with sniper fire coming at you…guys like that don’t cut corners, cause there is no corner to cut when you put your life on the line… (shit, I am sounding like Col Jessop…damn right I ordered the code red!!!)
My wife and I walked out along the course on the bike course today between the 1-2 mile and the packs were forming early. The conditions were mild for Clearwater very little wind. At the spot we were at smaller backs were forming some people really try to get out of the draft and some really stay in the pack. The problem on that course is the smaller groups turn into larger groups as the miles go on. The pros are pretty clean as they have open road but the age groups start with the older groups move to the younger age groups which leads to faster athletes going through slower athletes. To some extent it is hard to keep the packs from forming one lane each way for the field to ride but a lot of people really don’t even make an effort to avoid it. I turned my spot down knowing the course and for me it is a local race. While it is a great site for spectating it is does not offer any chance for the age group field to break up.
…let’s just say that even Nina Kraft only biked 2:24 and Erika Csomor did 2:20. I’ll give the W40-44 person the benefit of the doubt that a big chunk of time savings can be achieved, riding completely legally as you are sheltered from the wind as large numbers of faster men blow by, all the while dropping back…but that assumes that these men at riding 10 min faster and what I see in the M40-44 2:13 to 2:17 range and interestingly M45-49 is 2:11-2:14…the older age group top 20 actually road faster…she would in theory have had all these guys blow by and given shelter.
Yeah, 2:16 by a female (not meant to be sexist, but female times ARE, on avg., slower then males) certainly raises some eyebrows. Then, when there are multiple times like this and by NON pro women … I guess if they were all on Cervelo P4s powered by InfinIT
I’ve certainly never biked anywhere close to that fast!
I’ve said if before and I’ll say it again (and I’m a chick) AG WOMEN are the worst drafters out there. I saw it Boise 70.3 and called it here. Honestly, it was the first time at the front of the race (old ladies went first), so I a bit surprised. Some girls were actually sittin up waiting for some guys to come by and jump on their wheels.
BTW, this “bike split” is up there with the 5:02 some 45-49 woman rode at IMFL last week. R I G H T. Only 4 minutes slower than Bella, the pro winner. And beat Bree Wee’s split by 3 miinutes. Sorry, but I don’t think so.
I don’t know Rick, Florida is FLAT - which makes it easy to go fast.
I can believe that they were holding 22-23mph which would give this time…
That first race I did in florida last year (only a sprint but it was my first tri) I held 22.5 mph - granted much shorter, but much less training involved…
Cat, I too can hold 22-23 on a flat course in a sprint, but come on, 56 miles is a whole different level. I’ve ridden sub 6 at Placid before, so I’m not a tremendous slouch on the long distance.
2:30 yeah, I buy. 2:16, no way. Most guys can’t hold this. Funny, a local who did CW went 23 minutes faster than her qualifying split.
Cat, I too can hold 22-23 on a flat course in a sprint, but come on, 56 miles is a whole different level. I’ve ridden sub 6 at Placid before, so I’m not a tremendous slouch on the long distance.
2:30 yeah, I buy. 2:16, no way. Most guys can’t hold this. Funny, a local who did CW went 23 minutes faster than her qualifying split.
I am holding 22 as a goal for Patriot HIM - not so sure about Timberman…NH hills scare me…but sure hoping to hold it on Patriot…
