I am relatively new to the sport but incurred a penalty this past weekend that has me scratching my head. I received a 2:00 penalty and upon further inquiry, I was told I violated Rule 3.4h which covers “Abandoned Equipment”. Apparently, the race number on my bike came off at some point during the ride and was picked up by a volunteer or official, and I was cited for “leaving equipment or personal gear on the race course”. I’m not a pro and life will go on but I have a hard time believing this rule was meant for this type of occurrence. Should I just come to grips with the fact I am a cheater or is this over the top and not normal? Thanks.
Yep, not so much cheater, because you gained no advantage, but that rule is so people get invited back next year. Townfolk don’t like to see the town littered with trash after an event.
I am relatively new to the sport but incurred a penalty this past weekend that has me scratching my head. I received a 2:00 penalty and upon further inquiry, I was told I violated Rule 3.4h which covers “Abandoned Equipment”. Apparently, the race number on my bike came off at some point during the ride and was picked up by a volunteer or official, and I was cited for “leaving equipment or personal gear on the race course”. I’m not a pro and life will go on but I have a hard time believing this rule was meant for this type of occurrence. Should I just come to grips with the fact I am a cheater or is this over the top and not normal? Thanks.
Seems like the correct call was made. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring you don’t leave anything out on the course.
Or at least nothing quite so incriminating as your race number.
/pink.
From the information presented above then that to me seems a harsh call. I speak as an individual, but one that happens to be a referee. However a few thoughts. First, I’ve yet to ever have a discussion with any athlete when reffing where their side of the story 100% matches what I’ve seen/been told by marshals / other competitors / other officials. So whilst I’m not suggesting your fibbing, then I’m leaving open the possibility of theuir being something else that you may or may not be aware of that factored into the referee’s decision. Second, my view on the interpretation of that rule is that it is to prevent advantage (dropping helmets / bike tops etc in the first 500m of the run instead of in transition, or most often tossing goggles to their coach / team mates /supporters on the exit from teh swim before getting into T1. The littering issue is 100% valid too, and dropped gel packets and the like are a blight on our sport. However, a number coming unstuck isn’t the same really. And as the marshall pickedit up then no harm was done. I think in that situation I would have, as ref, talked to you and discussed where it was stuck, how it may have come off and discussed how that may be prevented in future . Now one situation does come to mind where I think most would agree the ref made the right call. The athlete had stuck the number to the rear of the top tube, got out onto the course and found that the number was rubbing on their leg, so ripped the number off and tossed it. There then I would probably agree a penalty was the right decision.
If you are interested then I’d suggest you send a polite email to the race asking them to forward on to the ref for further details (assuming you didn’t check before leaving the race and discuss with the ref). I’ve had that a few times and my take is that rules are there for the safety and to help the enjoyment of the race for all, and penalties are to encourage people to play by the rules. A penalty that an athlete doesn’t understand is no benefit to anyone at all.
Rememer that in most cases the ref is relying on information from other people and making the call based on what’s been told to them. They are giving their time to make races happen, and continue to happen. Just like any sporting official then the calls they/we make are never universally supported, but I’ve only met one ref that seemed to want to give a penalty, and most treat a successful race one where they gave a few bits of verbal ‘advice’ but no penalties.
I did the Bang’s Lake Aquabike on August 14 and the bike course was littered with race numbers (including mine). Problem was that the wind was pretty stiff and the organizers had told everyone that the #'s HAD to go on the top tube. Net result - your leg was knocking the number of every stroke because the wind was rotating it on the TT.
Made it about 200 yds before I ripped mine off…
I flatted on the course and DNF’d so I have no idea if I would have been given a penalty or not.
Why didn’t you just rip it off and keep it with you?
Styrrell
The people who’s property your bib# ended up on don’t care why it got there; they just see it there and they have to pick it up. Some folks will just pick it up and nothing more will come of it however others will be a bit more vocal about it. If enough complaints come in, the event will have to find a new venue. Local race or big WTC event; it doesn’t matter.
One more reason why I generally try to “forget” to put it on before the race.
Now cue the angry mob of flamers…
Why didn’t you just rip it off and keep it with you?
Styrrell
Where?
I’m not saying it was the right thing to do, just pointing out how it can happen.
I would say that getting called for it is not over the top; as others have said, littering can be a major obstacle to renewing race permits at some venues. On the other hand, you aren’t a cheater. To cheat is to do something with intent, or deliberately break the rule. You just broke the rule, and got a penalty for it.
I would also say it depends on the course format is well. In a lot of races you are required to have your run bib on the ride. Depending if this was or was not the case, it makes it harder for an official or anyone else to report an infraction when there is no number on the bike. Helmet tag is more for the photog or when you have a bad cluster and the bodies and bikes are separated
How did your race number fall off? They’re pretty sticky.
My bib # was 123 and I got a 2 minute penalty for drafting and I was out front the whole race. Turns out it was bib# 321 and the race official was dyslexic. So now what do you do if the race official is dyslexic ? don’t laugh its not funny. I know being dyslexic is a serious thing. But there needs to be some sort of test given for it. There could be 6" to 8" plastic trophy on the line.
Right result, wrong rule?
f. Race Numbers. Participants shall plainly display their race numbers at all times, and shall maintain the race number in an unaltered, unobstructed and readable state at the start and finish gates, in the transition areas, and on the course. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.
h. Abandoned Equipment. No participant shall leave any equipment or personal gear on the race course. Any violation of this Section shall result in a variable time penalty.
It possible that the bike number is not considered a “race number” under (F) so they decided to write you up under (H). Anyway, you violated at least one of these rules so suck it up and take it like a man 
I am also a USAT Official and when recording any infractions we have to record three separate distinguishing facts - such as race number - type of bike and color of race top- so you can ask the Head Ref for the descriptions recorded and they do not match you then the Head may over rule the penalty.
This happend to me a while back - a woman was awarded a penalty - the description was she was wearing a black top - however her race pic showed a green top – I over ruled the penalty.
Hope this helps.
I’ve done a couple other sports besides triathlon that involve displaying race numbers, most notably bike racing, sailing and car racing. Its universal in all these sports that messing with your race number or not displaying it properly (or losing it mid race) is a major no-no and will incur at least a penalty if not an outright DQ. At a basic level, its just being kind to the officials so they can do their job. So, instead of thinking about a 2:00 penalty, think how hard it would be on officials if they could not figure out who was who on the course. That’s why officials (in any sport with numbers) get pissed if you lose yours.
“Where?”
You really can’t think of anywhere to stash it other than the ground? How old are you?
jersey pocket or under your jersey? in shorts pocket, or under the leg of your shorts?
do you toss gel or bar wrappers when you’ve used them?
When doing the Duathlon Nationals in Richmond a few years ago, USAT gave us numbers and suggested that we just “stick” them to our jerseys/trisuits, so thats what I did figuring then that I did not need a race belt, the number came off within 400 yards of the start, I grabbed it and ran with it in my hand, stuck it in my tri suit on the bike and again in my hand on the second run. I was fearful of USAT rules of littering or not having a number on. They had the same type at Tucson but I wore a belt and doubled up on the number and added pins, just to stay “legal”. Making sure that I kept the responsability of staying within the rules.