Like many of you, there are few things in triathlon that get to me as easily as people being incapable of following the rules. Drafting and blocking are my all time biggest pet peeves. The issue has driven me insane. I’ve gone full cycle. But now I swear I’m enlightened, I’ve reached my seventh stage.
I know you’ve been through it yourself.
Shock: “What the hell are all these a-holes doing??”
Denial: “There is no way cheating can possibly be this rampant!”
Barganing: “Everyone, please race clean. I’ll promise to stay clean if you promise too.”
Guilt: “Have I missed something? Maybe I need to get involved, become a ref, coach newbies… What am I doing?”
Anger: “Drafters are cheaters, a-holes, drug abusers, wife beaters, and deserve to rot in hell.”
Depression: “What happenned to the good old days? I guess I’ll have to find some unknown races, maybe try my hand at Parcheesi. Triathlon is dead to me.”
And finally, Acceptance and Hope. I swear, that’s where I am now.
Whenever this subject comes up, there are two distinct types of solutions that come up: Enforcement, and Reduced Field Size. While these two camps have their valid points and, I believe, play a part in whatever the “drafting solution” will be, I don’t think either one is a total solution.
The enforcement camp advocates that more officials are needed and that rampant and widespread DQs are needed to curb the problem. To a certain extent I agree. I have seen many races where I have never seen a single official on the bike. Like any sport, triathlon has rules. And RDs, I believe, have an obligation to take REASONABLE steps to enforce those rules. Remember however, that this is a business. Officials are expensive, and we will NEVER be able to have perfect officiating. (Look at the NFL and instant replay and all of the problems it has “solved”)
Talk of more officials always brings the response that, in certain races, the course is just too crowded to ride legally the whole way and still finish with a reasonable time. This is were I side with the Reduced Field Size camp. Some races are overly crowded and there are simple things that contribute to this: large numbers of participants, bike courses with multiple loops, and mass starts. I take it as given that eliminating mass starts and multi-loop courses would reduce crowding on the course. I’m not so sure that we’ll ever see reduced field size. Again, this is a business and RDs don’t want to see the reduced revenue/increased expense associated with fewer racers, or more road to monitor.
So I do believe that RD’s ought to be pressured (in the form of us not registering, and maybe in the form of changes to the USAT sanctioning guidelines) to provide adequate officiating, and take steps to eliminate multi loop bike courses and wave starts. Bui I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t something else that can be done.
I’m thinking we ought to eliminate the requirement to always keep right and modify the drafting rules. (I don’t want to eliminate the no-drafting rules.) Now, stick with me here. I know everyone goes ballistic at this point about safety, I’ll get to that in a minute. What is important to me is to keep the spirit of draft free racing. I absolute hate blatant wheel suckers. That is the sort of drafting I want to see stays out of the sport. The problem is that true draft free racing requires small fields. The fact is that many people are not trying to cheat, instead they are put into a situation where they have to try to keep from cheating. There comes a point in some races where riding your pace can get you into real trouble. I think this is a bad thing.
I’ve ridden in races where no-drafring rules were in effect, but riders were not required to keep right. This allowed loose groups to form. (Sort of the stagger rule, but still different, a bit more relaxed. Remember, I’m talking about age groupers here.) Sure there was some advantage gained in riding in relative proximity to one another, but for the most part, racers did their best to stay separated. Riders could pass on the right or the left. Most would pass on the left and call out that they were making a pass. I swear that I didn’t see any close calls on the bike. As a matter of fact it was one of the most fun and stress free bike rides I’ve had in a race. There were some blatant pace lines, but they stuck out like a sore thumb. It was my experience that the average racer was doing their best to ride clean. Oh yeah, they were enoying themselves at the same time.
My point is that I get pissed when someone doesn’t stay to the right, mainly because there is a rule that says they have to stay right and I have to pass left. When that rule disappears, so does my frustration. In these rules I still see a need for some sort of blocking rule, competitors must be allowed to pass, but one that is much less restrictive. I much prefer racing under these less restrictive, though still draft-free, rules. The biggest drawback to this is that it requires a closed course.
I strongly believe that the current set of rules are too restrictive for the size of the fields and the courses that we’re racing on. Maybe it shouldn’t be only up to the RDs to address the drafting issue.
Sorry, but the strung out line of single file racers streched out for miles down the right side of the road is a thing of the past as far as the big races are concerned. So let’s think about how we can keep our sanity, allow for these bigger fields, and still keep the spirit of draft free racing.
