Greyman 675 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I welcome the change if it happens. I have no problem riding with other riders in a pack. Been doing it for years. I've even raced road races at club level so have experienced that. I'm a half decent swimmer against others in my age group so reckon I can get with some half decent riders in group in a race. I'm keen to see what would happen in a race like this. The question marks over this type of racing that I see are: Aero bars - in or out. How does a race director manage groups and peletons on the course? Or is there no need to manage them? Order of wave starts? How do we manage these so the faster riding age groups don't run over the top of slower age groups? Are we destined to see a permanent starting order of pro male, pro female, M 30-34, M35-39, M40-44, F all ages , M 50+ etc etc? you get the picture. Are we setting this up for a scenario where weaker female riders can take advantage of jumping into a faster male group (just the opposite to what they're trying to stop in Hawaii). Time gap between wave starts? If we stretch them out this will affect overall times a race director needs a road closed for leading to increased costs or possible denial of a permit. The big one, is any race director or event manager and TA going to have a large enough insurance cover for all the possible injury scenarios etc that may eventuate? Will a move to draft legal racing finally price triathlon races into extinction? Hope not because I'm a bit excited to try one if someone puts one on. Don't say the world champs cause we all know I will never get there. Link to post Share on other sites
oldschool69 116 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Any of the race directors on here keen to give us their thoughts on it? Emo? Would you consider it in one of your races ? Could you do a couple separate waves before everyone else that wanted to try the concept and race differently with attacks /staying of the front etc mabye under 35 then 35 to 50 ,50 + . That way I would think you might get people with a bit more experience in racing having a go at it. Link to post Share on other sites
tortoise 859 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 My understanding is that you can only draft off the same gender, so there will have to be wave separation to sort that one for starters. I have no idea about drafting other AGs. It doesn't seem fair, but I can't see how they will manage races within a sensible time frame if they try to manage that as well. Come World's, they will close down a city for the whole day anyway, so they will just manage starts to suit their rules. Link to post Share on other sites
rory-dognz 805 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 If danger and hence insurance is such a big thing then how does cycle racing exist at the age group level?. Having raced draft legal tri here in Auckland I know others who won't race the series because of the perceived and inherient risks involved. I enjoyed it but used my road bike with no tribars as I like control in a group. Link to post Share on other sites
Esoteric 502 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 If danger and hence insurance is such a big thing then how does cycle racing exist at the age group level?. Having raced draft legal tri here in Auckland I know others who won't race the series because of the perceived and inherient risks involved. I enjoyed it but used my road bike with no tribars as I like control in a group. I've never raced cycling but do they get as many newbies as tris? WA gets close to 2000 participants in the state series round abd a LOT are first timers / newbies. Saw lots of crashes in the last round as conditions were wet and get a lot not keeping left etc ( not on purpose just very green ). Link to post Share on other sites
TrinewB 226 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Multi-Rider_Accident_Stops_German_Triathlon_5109.html Massive stack in Germany in teams division were riders "were allowed to ride in close proximity" Link to post Share on other sites
Mjainoz 1,039 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Multi-Rider_Accident_Stops_German_Triathlon_5109.html Massive stack in Germany in teams division were riders "were allowed to ride in close proximity" Two types of riders. Those that have fallen .... And those just about too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites
symo 116 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Not good According to the race website it appears that it was one of the league teams that was involved, such teams typically among the more experienced at riding in close formation. Link to post Share on other sites
MountainMan 894 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I fell off my bike on my gravel drive way a few weeks back.......... What!? Link to post Share on other sites
A2K 920 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Typical Duathlete. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
A2K 920 Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 From a TA email today "Some exciting changes to the calendar this year include two Draft Legal qualification races for the 2016 Age Group World Championships in Mexico, which incorporates a draft legal race. We will announce the National Calendar soon on our website, so watch this space." 1 Link to post Share on other sites
tortoise 859 Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Only two? Which poor buggers will be forced to travel interstate to qualify? Or will there be a non-drafting qualification option for a draft-legal race? Link to post Share on other sites
A2K 920 Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 It says "watch this space" lol. I know I had the same thoughts but so be it. Under the 'old' system you'd probably have to travel away at least once to be sure to qualify so if I have to travel once for a qualifying draft legal race I'm still keen. Link to post Share on other sites
A Zed 14 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 The cheats are gunna hate everyone else doing what they already do. Link to post Share on other sites
Mjainoz 1,039 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 The cheats are gunna hate everyone else doing what they already do. And if you normally/often get caught by a bunch of cheats, no cause for a dummy spit. Link to post Share on other sites
The Customer 2,194 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Cheats are always cheats, so in draft legal races, cheaters find new ways to cheat. I'll explain… Several months ago the National tri coach here in Bahrain, talked the Sprint Distance organisers into holding a draft legal race in order to give his 10 (or so) National Team athletes a taste of ITU style racing. Everyone who had entered the race got an email the night before the event notifying them of the draft legal rule. During set-up I spoke to the coach and told him that half the field owned Time Trial bikes and a draft lega race probably wouldn't be sanctioned by either the ITU or the UCI (unless it was a TTT). It was also short notice, so organsing a road bike was unlikely. His response - "it's up to you if you want to draft or not if it bothers you." I've raced many years at Footscray and Geelong CC, so no, it doesn't bother me, although it was the first time he'd met me and probably assumed I was a nervous middle-aged grumpy woman (all true except for the 'nervous' bit). Note, the overwhelming majority of the 140 or so entrants were BOP novices. I was also peeved that one of the women on the National Team is a former Olympic swimmer, who usually gets out of the water in the top 3 overall. I imagined her strategy would have been to hang on to a fast moving bunch and stay in front of me. Feeling pretty negative about the whole situation, we started. After T1 I was sitting in a group of 3 thinking that I could ITT faster than this but didn't want to make a move knowing there were some crafty wheel suckers who would take advantage. So we cruised the first 7km. I was surprised when we came across the Olympic girl riding on her own and as we passed I put in a massive 3km effort leading a small bunch. At the rate I was working, I was sure she wouldn't be able to hang on - I was right. At the U-turn she was nowhere and I knew I had the women's race won. My first point is, don't assume other athletes are comfortable drafting. This girl was scared and didn't even give it a shot. Now comes the interesting bit. With 10 kms to go I noticed 3 fast guys coming up behind us and I jumped straight on 4th wheel. We had a tail wind and at full power, I held 50kph back to T2. At the time, I thought it was weird that the 3rd wheel guy took no turns at the front. The two front guys did a massive amount of work. About 100m from T2 the first 2 guys pull off to the side of the road. I was deep in the red and didn't put much thought into it. Anyhoo, turns out the 3rd wheel guy planted the 2 strongest riders from the national cycling team just outside T1 to tow him around the course - they hadn't even entered the race. In summary, draft legal really sucked the life out of this 'club' event. It was sad to see beginners doing worse than usual as they were too scared or too poor in the swim to take advantage of the drafting. Very few people felt the results were fair as it was difficult to compare times of those who couldn't catch a wheel to those swims and skills were good enough to find an effective bunch. These people could easily be turned off the sport. The club decided it was the first and last time they would do 'draft-legal' as the atmosphere had changed for the worse and the cheaters still cheated. Everyone heard about the 3rd wheel cheater - he came 6th overall and collected a podium trophy in his AG. Link to post Share on other sites
Mjainoz 1,039 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 And more on Cheaters going to cheat cheat cheat .... A MOTO RIDE TO A http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/A_moto_ride_to_a_disqualification_5158.html After the Ironman Latin American Champs in Brazil folks noticed a picture of a competitor on the back of a motorbike, where she had finished third in her age group. 6.22.15 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites
MountainMan 894 Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 Cheaters would probably cheat at cheating if they could... Link to post Share on other sites
The Customer 2,194 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 It gets worse. At the following duathlon, the guy who came second planted a mate to give him a draft off the back off his car. At one point he was seen holding on to the side of the car. Not sure why he bothered bringing a bike at all Link to post Share on other sites
Tyno 2,403 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 If it's ok to get a sticky bottle at the Tour......... Link to post Share on other sites
Roman 99 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Anyhoo, turns out the 3rd wheel guy planted the 2 strongest riders from the national cycling team just outside T1 to tow him around the course - they hadn't even entered the race. Who? I find it hard to believe that riders at that level would do this in a way so obvious Link to post Share on other sites
The Customer 2,194 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 You're over estimating the standard of the national team athletes in these parts ? (Who knew pro cyclists were cheats ?) Link to post Share on other sites
Freak 53 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Yes. I can see this happening at a Gatorade event....... Link to post Share on other sites
MountainMan 894 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 It gets worse. At the following duathlon, the guy who came second planted a mate to give him a draft off the back off his car. At one point he was seen holding on to the side of the car. Not sure why he bothered bringing a bike at all That is surprising, I generally find Duathletes are more honest and attractive than Triathletes... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
oldschool69 116 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Didn't duathletes become extinct when the big K hung up the boots..haha Link to post Share on other sites
oldschool69 116 Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 Back to the cyclist on course and car etc now that is just stupid I would ban them for 12 months Link to post Share on other sites
longshot 96 Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I'm not attracted to the drafting format. Primarily just like the whole idea of (mostly) solo effort, and wave starts and new tech have sorted/will sort out non drafting drating. Secondarily don't like the elevated risks in bunch riding (and I did some bike racing for a couple of seasons, albeit not very well). Link to post Share on other sites
TheLogicDump 95 Posted June 28, 2015 Report Share Posted June 28, 2015 I would definitely do some draft legal racing except I am an average swimmer so would get out of the water well behind any pack. I race bikes regularly so love that style of bike racing but it would take too much time in the pool to make it worth it for me I will stick to the Ultra events for now. Link to post Share on other sites
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