IMFL obviously had its share of willing drafters, but I can’t say I know the full scope of what is considered drafting. I found myself in a few questionable situations Saturday and did my best to negate the situation without blocking or falling off pace repeatedly.
If you jump on the wheel of a passing cyclist, pass the rider in front of you, then move back in line but are pinned between a front and rear rider, how do you avoid a draft here when the front rider slows and the rear rider stays on your wheel, without dropping right back to the place you started from? If I approached the 20 second window and nothing developed, that is what I did.
I continually found myself in this position & decided that the best course of action was to hold my position but to move as far to the right as possible to avoid any draft from the front rider. From the side view, I am clearly within 3 bike lengths of the front rider, but offset enough to the right to feel a full headwind. Is this drafting? I would think that the closer I was to the front rider, while still offset to the right, the less draft i would receive, right? I rode most of the race right-of-center in the shoulder, while the main flow was riding left of the line.
Yes, but if your only window to pass a slower cyclist opens up, and you move out of that position within 20 seconds, I don’t believe that is (if I understand the rules correctly.) I think that example is exactly why they give a cushion of time, because it appears to be unavoidable at times.
Many times I sat coasting safely behind a slower cyclist while I waited for a gap in the stream of passing riders, and took whatever opening I could to move around. I don’t think there was a rider out there who was not in the same position at some point during the ride.
By the rules, you cannot follow the rider who passed you until you have a 3 bike length gap. Once that happens you can follow and pass the next rider in front of you. If the rider you are following slows you have two choices…fall back or pass. You cannot stay in the middle if there is not sufficient space between bikes without being illegal and eligible for a penalty.
OK, then I broke that part of the drafting rule - I’ll claim ignorance on that one. The MOP position packs you in fairly tight, and I could have spent a good half-hour coasting while the traffic streamed by on the left if I didn’t jump in breifly to pass the rider in front. I never attempted to gain an advantage by jumping behind a passing rider, only to gain an opportunity to pass.
My question mainly is about being behind but offset within 3 lengths. How does that fit in?
My question mainly is about being behind but offset within 3 lengths. How does that fit in? \\
In cycling it is called the eschleon, and yes you get a draft. Moving off to one side or the other can be an advantage, sometimes even greater than a straight on draft if the wind is a crosswind blowing that direction. You will get less draft off to the side if the crosswind is hitting you first. It’s all about what the actual wind is doing at the time you are 0ff to the side.
Isn’t the draft zone a box? 5m long x 2.5m wide. 5m long is approximately 3m from the rear wheel to your front wheel. 2.5m wide is approximately 4 foot to each side of the rider. So if you were able to move 4’ to the right of the guy in front of you then you are out of the draft zone according to the rules.
Check my dimensions, I just pulled those out of my b… umm… head.
When I found myself in this situation, I maintained a position where I felt that I was taking on the full headwind, if for no other reason to appease my own conscience that I was not drafting. When I felt that I fell into the zone where an advantage would be gained, I passed or dropped off. 98% of the time, I maintained a position that wouldn’t be in question by any standard, but with the fluid nature of the event and 2000+ riders out there, it wasn’t always possible to be picture perfect. Just being honest.
Yes, you were drafting. When the person passed you, you are required to promptly drop back three bike lengths.
Of course, if you do that on a packed course, someone else will pass you and the cycle starts over. Your only real choices are to keep being passed (me) or to keep passing (Steve Larsen).
The rules as written are impractical in a packed course, but the refs know this and usually do a good job of not nailing you unless you are actually trying to get an advantage.
I would suggest that you acted with honor, in the true spirit of the rule and the sport. I think you can look at your race with a clear conscience (however you spell it).
The fact that you did not *willfully *engage in drafting speaks volumes. I would suggest that is the primary feature to this concern- you did not *intend *to subvert the rules and took steps to be in compliance.
I’m pretty sure that GTG rules require a single file position. Stagger is not legal, so the only time one should be offset is to pass or be passed. IMHO “cheating” requires intent to gain an unfair advantage. One can find oneself in a penalty position without trying. The key is how “hard did one try to get out of that position?”. Penalties happen in many sports without implying cheating. They even become part of the strategy at times, but hopefully our sport can avoid this.
Unfortunately for us whether you willfully do it or not does not seem to be an issue to the officials much of the time. That is why I started the thread the other day asking how the hell not to get a penalty - I have no intention of trying to cheat. My goal is to figure out how to ride without getting nabbed for one anyway.
My one penalty in 20+ years of racing came last year at Lake Placid when I got bumped 4 minutes for supposedly crossing the dismount line in T2. I saw the line, I saw them yelling where to dismount, and I did so well behind the line. I’ll swear on it to this day. Argued with Charlie but to no avail. As clear as my conscience is, this still pisses me off. You can do everything right and still get dinged. I’m sure it happens all the time. Small consolation if you miss a Kona spot or award because of it. (I didn’t)
I was on the extreme right - the main flow of traffic was just left of the line, people passed on their left. I didn’t see it as blocking, only that I took an outside right position (and didn’t pass from there.)
Yes, but I think that would come under the heading of “tell it to the priest”. The ref will only know what he sees, and he can’t see high-minded intent. And on his motorcycle, he will not be as tuned to the wind as you are. I don’t think they go through any terrific thought process when nailing you. There is so much violation going on, when they finally tag you, they are not interested in esoteric argument. And Johnnie Cochran is dead, so he can’t make the argument “If he felt the wind, he has not sinned!”
So yes, have a clear conscience, you had a pure heart, but as a future practice, probably a little chancey.
That said, why wouldn’t jumping on the wheel of the other guy have been a violation if you were in his draft zone?
Your situation is an example of why WTC decided that USAT was too inflexible in their rules and judgement. According to the new GTG rules, the only time penalties are for drafting, and these are served in the ‘sin bin’ at T2. Violators are stopped on the course and their numbers given a red slash mark and they continue on their way, knowing what awaits them before the run. That way, there are no surprises when results are posted. Crossing the dismount, for example, would result in your being stopped only long enough to slash your number. It would count toward the 3 penalty DQ limit, but that would be it.
That said, why wouldn’t jumping on the wheel of the other guy have been a violation if you were in his draft zone?
The only time I had to do this is when an entire paceline (or what seemed like one) was passing on the left, and the gaps between riders were already much smaller than 3 lengths. I jumped in line only long enough to pass, then moved back to the right. I was doing this with the understanding that I had 20 seconds to remove myself from this zone, which I did. Am I misusing the 20 second rule by doing this?