Bad attitutudes at the Tri
karma:) most likely he was upset when he attempted to go around you, then fell... funny story, way to keep a positive attitude and brush him off.
i had a dude yell at me for boxing him in on the bike (not intentionally) during a race last year...pretty funny...the guy was a total ass...but, yeah, who cares? it is karma. stay cool.
I've been yelled at only a couple times. Once in a road race where another racer hit my rear wheel from drafting too close and thereby did an endo when they over-corrected. They bounced up and were ready to chase me down, yelling the whole time. I wisely kept racing, and waved my condolences. They were clearly O.K.
The other time was when the direction for the travel on a country road was swapped but the passing rules weren't. Logically I thought the whole thing should have been swapped, passiing and direction of travel. But the rules were that all passing was to be done on the left, regardles of what side of the road you were on. I stayed all the way to the left, hugging the shoulder of the road. This guy comes up behind me, clearly a stronger rider, and yells at me to move. I thought he was crazy. Move yourself... mover.
He stayed behind me to yell some more.
"On your left! Move a$$h***"
I thought that was rude and ignorant. So I stayed put. Finally the guy moved over, and that symmetrical cloud-pointing symbol emerged from his hand.
I was in the wrong. I didn't know that the rules would swap one rule, but not the other. So a guy got really mad at me. But he wasted so much time and energy trying to prove his point that I felt there was some kind of karmic reciprocity for the whole thing. It was a fun race despite the super serious passer.
After the race I looked up the rules and sure enough, Mr. Mad Hand was right. Doh!
Anytime you apply pressure to a system, steam will escape from the weakest seams. Rush hour traffic, tris, nuclear non-proliferation negotiations... It's all the same game. People trying to get ahead faster than their neighbor. Winners do it galantly whether they're ahead or in the back of the pack, losers seek to blame everyone around them except themselves for being behind someone else.
I agree that it is not good sportsmanship to be rude and yell at a fellow competitor, volunteer etc. Seen it happen a few times. I've also been in the position where another competitor whether knowingly or not was violating the rules usually by blocking and it caused me to have to work around the clods. However, I will not say anything - well not out loud anyway. Figure that I might as well use that energy on the race as opposed to wasting it.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
I too have been the cause of ire. It was my second triathlon...a sprint...and my chain came off. We had the entire road, so I veered over to the far left to try and remedy it. Some guy comes blaring by me on his tricked out Griffen and screams-- !@!#$%*...stay on the right...!@#$%&*.....idiot.........!@#$%&*
There was clearly enough road for all and it was obvious to everyone around that I was dealing with a mechanical problem, but he wanted to be a jerk.
My reactive brain won the battle in that moment...I was appalled at his blatant lack of unsportsman-like contact. I was his instant bad karma. I yelled as loud as I could "YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SUCH A FRIGGIN' !@#$%&* Everyone looked at him and then gave me approving nods.
He never looked back, but I felt better. Now that I am more seasoned, I notice people doing things wrong ALL THE TIME, but I always keep in mind that they probably don't know any better and to never get so caught up in the competiveness that I forget why I'm out here. To have fun and live the lifestyle.
Now that I am more seasoned, I notice people doing things wrong ALL THE TIME, but I always keep in mind that they probably don't know any better and to never get so caught up in the competitiveness that I forget why I'm out here. To have fun and live the lifestyle.
this is true for alot of people, it may be their first tri so discouraging them with abuse when they clearly dint know any better is bad PR for our sport.
i once passed a guy on the bike on the inside(left in Aust, right in US) and the verbal tongue lashing i got was horrendous, I just flipped him the bird and said "hold this for me, you can give it back at T2 if you can keep up"........he never did......LOL
Speed Kills. Strength Punishes
Well, this very past weekend I was also a "victim" of a bad racer.
It wasn´t a tri, it was a trail race at a park here in my city.
Well, this guy, middle forties, was running behind of me.
I was doing my thing enjoying that beautiful morning, my parents where there, even a couple of friends, a beautiful race day.
So this guy after 2k started to push...I could hear his labored breathing, I looked back, just to see where he was and to see if he was going to passed me, to be courteous and give him space. BAD CHOICE, he tooked as a defiant look. So he passed me, and hit me with his elbow on my left side.
Oh well, rough guy, wearing a race jersey from the PD...
I had my own game plan, I was not going to rush, do my thing, have fun.
First hill, he was almost walking, I passed...not a look this time...
a few hudred meters again...boom! his nice elbow in my left hand side....On well, nice dude, is putting some guts and sweat on the race...right...?
Next hill the same thing, him gasping of air...almost walking...I passed...
Next K, he passed me with the elbow thing...what a funny fella....
So it was on...running is my thing....so I stayed behind him, for the next 3 K....breathing in his ear...intoxicating his convative mind....
When we hit the 12k mark of the 15 K, I just smoked away from his sight....
End of the story, I had a beatiful race...good times, awesome day...dad and mom, at the finish line with a chilled bottle of Gatorade....
Him....12 minutes behind...crossed the line...and bum!!! He blew chow right there...he was burned....
So.....who was the Karma that day for who???
These type of guys are everywhere you look, racing, trainning...at the grocery shop....sonner or later, they bang the floor....
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
Racing naturally seems to attract a few hyper-competitive types without an ounce of humor and total Alpha complex. It has nothing to do with how good they are either. You see a few of them at every level. Best to avoid and ignore. I've found Xterra racing to be the friendliest so far. Then mountain biking and road tri close behind, then maybe running, and last would be road biking. Being that road biking has the most serious consequences for error, people always seem to get a little uptight.
I can't believe someone actually ELBOWED you as he went by. That is just too much.
I can't believe someone actually ELBOWED you as he went by. That is just too much.
Yeah my friend, this super competitive dude elbowed me....funny thing....but he paid for that...right??:D
-Santiago
"Man!! Defeat is worse than dying, cause´you have to live with it" -My Dad
"It ain´t about how hard you can hit...it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward"-Rocky Balboa
Shoulda given him one little bitty elbow to the stomach, right after he finally stood up straight after blowing chow. That would have been sweet !
It is so unfortunate that the default mode for many people is "anger."
I've seen it... been a target of it.
To be sure,stress brings our strengths OR our weaknesses to the surface. Sometimes both.
I feel that those who are angry on the course though, are angry in life. It will come back to bit them in the a$$. I'm with Beldrueger...avoid and ignore.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
I thought that your tri might be the Triangle Triathlon that was 7/9. I was part of a relay team. Hope you had fun!!!
I thought that your tri might be the Triangle Triathlon that was 7/9. I was part of a relay team. Hope you had fun!!!
Yep....I actually had fun except for the hills on the bike and what's his name.:)
Unfortunately, most of the bad behavior I've seen in races, and posted in this thread as well, comes when folks are on bikes. There's just something about bike-centric folks that sets them apart from others in this sport.
I see it in our local cycling club...and they're supposed to be geared toward newbies. Just an attitude of superiorness through gear, I guess.
hak
The Outdoor Journey: Exploring the multisport life through the crucible of endurance









I had a Sprint Tri this Sunday. It was a half mile open water(which is my pleasure) super hilly bike which is my true weakness and the Run which I very much enjoy sandbagging and catching those that sprint by me in the first mile.
It was slippery in the transition area's and this was my first time in road Shoes(I had been using my mountain bike shoes to clip into my road bike) I havn't learned that trick to leave your shoes clipped while you run to the line but I will know.
The transition lane was only one person wide and I was running the best I could without slipping. I heard a guy coming from behind me fast and went out side of the cones to get around me. An offical yelled at him and he jumped behind me, slipped and took the bike down with him. I felt bad for him but LOVED the 'o' face that offical made.
So I get to the line and clip in and hear from behind me with an angry voice "thanks for going so slow in the transition there BUDDY!" I was thinking...I don't have any friends racing today....ohhhhh...sarcasm. I let that bother me for the rest of the race but every time I saw the guy I would smile at him as he glared at me. I was thinking the guy was going to wait for me at my car. Good thing this wasn't my first race or I would have given this sport up.
Oh well.
I learned some things from this race.
I love open water swimming....even at the beginning with everyone clawing at everyone.
I suck at hills.
Running is fun when you're going downhill.
There are jerks everywhere.
Talk about said jerks on a website and you instantly feel better!
Thanks for letting me vent. I'm much better.