+1

Same goes for blocking the pass lane as well. Oh and did I mention the woman blowing smoke in my face as she handed me a cup of water. WTF?

Yeah, those rules are total bs. At IMC this past year tons of people were drafting and I think I got passed by maybe 2 official motorcades during the whole 56 miles. INEFFECTIVE!

Better yet was when one of them officials was passing, he barked at a Female Pro to stop drafting, and she exploded on him yelling all kinds of stuff. His little wimpy ass shut right up.

That was the first thing that came to my mind, too.

I, for one, hate the drafting rules. I think it's good that drafting is against the rules for this type of race, but I hate anti-drafting zealots more than I hate drafters. It just seems ridiculous to me that people get so uptight over cheaters, and having the facility to report them is just going to make those people that much more obnoxious. Reporting someone who is riding unsafely, which could include hardcore drafting on someone they don't even know, for example, is one thing, but as a competitor, trying to whack someone with a penalty is just lame.

Also, how the hell are you supposed to record peoples' race numbers? I can barely remember my own number, so I'm not going to waste effort trying to file away someone else's in my brain. Maybe I'll carry a notepad and pen in a bento box from now on so I can report those dirty cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eaters.

This brings up a funny story from a guy at work. He didn't realize that someone was drafting (illegally) off of him and he started to take a piss. I'm guessing the guy behind him will reconsider drafting next time.

in IM Florida drafting very often does make the difference between a spot to Kona and missing out unfortunately. Drafting won't determine whether you finish or not, but it does allow you to finish faster. So if you are racing for a time goal or a certain place, drafting will help you to accomplish that illegally.

Drafting on the bike essentially takes away the importance of the bike like. If you watch an ITU race which is draft legal, you will see that the swim is very important because you need to get into the pack for the bike. But during the bike leg, everyone groups up and rides together in a peloton like in the Tour de France because it is the most efficient way to travel. Sometimes a small breakaway will escape (and often burn themselves out before the run) but usually the majority of athletes all enter T2 at the same time. Then the entire triathlon comes down to a running race.

For pros, this format can be entertaining but it would be very dangerous for most age group athletes who are not accustomed to riding in large packs at racing speeds. If one person makes a mistake and causes a crash, dozens of athletes in the pack can be seriously injured. Furthermore age group races often contain hundreds of athletes so packs would block the entire road. If you were a strong enough cyclist to ride ahead you might be held back simply because the road is blocked with other riders (which is called impeding and is also illegal)

I feel like if you take up a sport, you play by the rules. You don't bring your bowling ball to your baseball game to throw at the batter, you don't pick up the soccer ball and start dribbling, or kick the basketball. You enter a tri, you play by the tri rules. If it's a drafting race then great, draft. If it's not a drafting race and you're drafting, I think you should get called on it. I play on a volleyball team and I can tell you that if a player hits the ball in a manner not consistent with the rules, they get called on it. I don't see why triathlon should be different, nor why triathletes should think they're above playing by the rules.

I also think that drafting is, by and large, dangerous when practiced by age-grouper triathletes on tri bikes on a tri course. I was run completely off the road by a big pack of drafters at IMFL and I wish to God they'd all gotten penalties. Nevermind if I'd been trying to qualify for Kona I would've been really ticked, because the 80-bike pelotons were sure cruising a good 4 mph faster than any of the folks in the middle of the giant pack could've done on their own. And that's a good hour difference in a race that long, which is plenty of time to make a difference in qualifying vs. not. So people have to decide whether they want to cheat or to qualify. That sucks, IMHO.

I think USAT and race directors should crack down on drafting and nip it in the bud. It's dangerous and really, it's just plain wrong. Now whether or not other racers should get to make drafting calls, I don't know. I think they should definitely be able to bring it to the marshalls' attention though and have the marshalls do something about it. I've seen people hollering at the course marshalls to do something about a drafter or pack and then nothing happens. It's discouraging.

Naw, from what I've seen, the course marshalls in many races can ride right up to drafters and the drafters don't even change position! At IMFL, the marshalls rode right past huge packs of drafters, and didn't do a thing (which kinda makes me wonder what they're there for anyways). I don't think it would be hard to start writing penalties. Some races still really do penalize drafters and you know what, it works! People don't draft in those races because word gets around. A friend of mine got a drafting penalty at Pacific Crest 1/2 iron, for instance. In her case, she doesn't draft on purpose, I think she got a little too close to someone who had passed her and didn't drop back fast enough. But at least the marshalls are doing their job. And once people hear about it, they pay attention.

A shame penalty would be much more effective.

Drafters are announced on the loudspeaker at regular intervals throughout the race and a list is posted next to times (at smaller races). It would be amazing if my local tri organization (3 disciplines) maintained a list on their website of caught drafters/cheaters caught in the races they organize.

You'll never get away from it though, even at the highest level in all sports competition brings out a different side of people. Steroids, EPO, human growth, etc people want to win and will do whatever to get that edge if the benefits outweigh the possible risks.

Now I got my new bike I don't think I should have problems with passing people. Just ordered my new Cervelo P2 SL Dura0Ace....I love new toys

+1 to ironmom. I also hate how the backing off technically makes it so that you have committed a positioning violation if you never got your front tire in front of them.

Well, I agree that it's totally irritating (not to mention unsportsmanlike of the other rider) to try and pass someone who keeps speeding up, especially up a hill! But I think drafting rules are there not only to ensure fairness but also safety. It's just not that safe on a tri bike with aerobars to be riding right next to or right behind someone, especially since a lot of triathletes never ride in groups and don't really know how to ride close. If one rider reaches for a gel or water bottle and swerves a little, then you have an accident. I actually give people I'm passing a lot of room because many triathletes swerve more than a little when grabbing a water bottle!

In any case, I agree that it's a bummer you got tagged with the penalty, but I also believe the rules are there for a purpose and if you break 'em and get tagged, I'd still much rather see that than be at the races where they're not being enforced at all. There are many races these days that are downright dangerous (not to mention unfair) due to non-enforcement of drafting rules.

The bicycle is the most mechanically efficient mode of transportation ever devised. A huge percentage of your energy output simply goes to moving air. (In the 95% range) The rest of your output goes to moving the bike...so actually only 5% or so of your energy goes to making the bike hit speeds of 20, 25 or so MPH on the flat. Pretty awesome. If something, anything, blocks air for you, even at slow speeds, you use less energy because you have less air to move. So drafting at 12 mph does have benefit...grinding up mountains at 12 mph during "The Tour" or the Giro....the riders draft if they can. The energy saved can mean so much later on.