In the majority of triathlons, drafting is illegal, yet I consistently hear this term used at the tri-shop (not by the owner), but by patrons, talking about ‘dropping’ someone on the bike, or being ‘dropped’. I was kibitzing with a couple of beam bike owners who were getting a ti roadbike, talking about how the beam was so comfortable for long course triathlon.
I jokingly pointed to my long wheelbase recumbent that I had ridden in on (yes, I also have upright roadbikes and a TT bike that I use for triathlons), and said, ‘too bad they won’t let me race on that’.
The guy looked kind of put off, and said, ‘well you’d get dropped as soon as you hit the hills’.
hmmmm. Doesn’t this imply that he’s drafting with a group of people on his bike? How can you be dropped in an individual time-trial (which is what I thought non-drafting triathlon bike is supposed to be)? So he’s admitting he cheats, right?
My last, somewhat rhetorical question to all this is, every local triathlon I’ve been in is full of un-policed position violations of one sort or another, mostly drafting, but also plenty of blocking. Is it just me, but doesn’t this kind of ruin the sport? Why don’t the organizers police this? Or is this just because I’ve never done a big-time tri? are the major Ironman-length races relatively position-violation-free?
I don’t really care that I can’t use my reumbent bike for triathlon (because I would have a better bike split than people that are far stronger than I), but I don’t understand why, when I’m riding my tri-legal upright bikes I need the group riding skills and opportunistic aggressiveness of a road racer just to get a chance to actually use whatever fitness I actually have on the bike. I’d really like it to be just a time-trial, i.e., me against the wind and terrain. Is my experience outside the norm?