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Drafting - should you report it ?

trudgertrudger Posts: 61
in General Chat
During my last race, i was permanatly 500-600m behind 2 guys. No matter how hard i pushed I could not seem to get any closer.

On a long straight part i noticed that they were cycling together, sometimes side-by-side, somtimes in a line.



While this initially got me wound up (as I am not a big fan of anybody cheating at anything), i concluded that my level of tri is a personal challenge, and therfore what these guys were doing shouldn't affect my performance.



But am I just ingoring the issue, should i have said anything ??





Comments

  • WannabetriWannabetri Posts: 219
    It's always a difficult one. I have raced London the last two years and the amount of drafting is ridiculous. I sat about 20m behind this group of 15 riders for a good 30mins last year, with a marshall watching them and have no idea if they were reported or not. The marshall certainly didn't make an attempt to break up the group either. I could only hope that something was done about it.



    But you are right in that most people race themselves or the clock, but I personally also enjoy saying it was an honest race and i finished 54th in my age group, than bleating on about drafters and finishing 70th in the age-group.



    I'm sure I read it's good to be competitive somewhere!!! [image]http://forum.220magazine.com/micons/m9.gif[/image]
  • Tiring Tri ingTiring Tri ing Posts: 242
    If you (or they) are challenging for prizes then it is definitely cheating. I'm not so sure whether it should be reported if they're just normal age groupers riding for a personal time. I'm instinctively against drafting in a non-drafting race, particularly if it's pre-meditated, but I have a slight sympathy just because I've ended up unintentionally drafting in the London tri a couple of years ago - after my first lap a few riders came directly out of transition and, together with myself and a couple of other riders on my lap, ended up in an impromptu group. I tried to speed up and overtake but as soon as I got past them I found that they caught me up quickly. Likewise, whenever I dropped back I found that I stayed with the group even when I was barely pedalling. I genuinely don't think that either myself or the other guys were trying to draft - we simply couldn't get away from the pack (mainly because the benefits of drafting meant that the pack always caught the breaker). I eventually dropped back on one of the uphills out of a tunnel after about 5km and, once I'd lost a few metres, lost touch with them incredibly quickly. Shows why drafting is an unfair advantage, I guess. I'm not sure why, but it's never been a problem in any other triathlon I've done - maybe it's just that London is so crowded that you can't avoid the groups.
  • hound doghound dog Posts: 293
    Report it!! Makes my blood boil to see it purposely going on. Creates such an unfair advantage not only on the bike but leaves the drafters fresher for the run aswell. Having said that by the time ive finished Ive usually forgotten who the culprits are[>:]
  • millwardpmillwardp Posts: 20
    What do you do if you overtake riders, but they then fail to fall back? Do you let them overtake you then you drop back yourself [image]http://forum.220magazine.com/micons/m15.gif[/image] , or do you keep hammering away hoping the drafting swines will weaken?[image]http://forum.220magazine.com/micons/m16.gif[/image]
  • gaterz1981gaterz1981 Posts: 233
    maintain speed and swerve to stop them passing.
  • Bristol newbieBristol newbie Posts: 149
    A few people copped 2min pens @ Dorchester for drafting, i guess you have to trust the marshalls are doing their jobs properly cos its just your word otherwise!

    I personally believe drafting should be illegal in any triathlon, triathlon shouldn't come down to the best 10k runner!!!!

  • TTX PROTTX PRO Posts: 225
    Thank god im a time-trialist.I dont have to go through that punishment.Some of my friend have had simular experiances and really does hack em off but unfortunently not much can be done about it apart from shadowing in other words trying to get in thier windstream by keeping on the back wheel of the last rider,will cut a lot of air resistance however youl have to be carefull you dont stick to them all the way just do it on and off otherwise you could get done yourself.make a tactical move say overtake them and try to get an advantage over them.
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