We went to the Patriot's Half-Ironman yesterday. After last year's event was cancelled due to a hurricane threat, Kara came back to exact some revenge.
This race is a topnotch event. Kudos to set-up events crew and Greg Hawkins.
Since this blog is about the DRAFTING problem in triathlon, I will not mention the swim and very cool run course. Having raced the road for about twenty years I know what drafting is. Getting back into tri's this year I know and see what drafting is. That being said, here are my thoughts on Patriots'.
There will be some people that have zero respect for their competitors and the spirit of triathlon. I was following the race, about places 20-50 for the first twenty miles. There were no issues in this group. Everyone went out of their way to ride a clean race, on some really tight roads. Once I finally caught up to the top twenty, to follow Kara, I could see there was some funny business going on. There was a line of eight that was rolling along, at least four were flat out drafting. Granted at that level there is very little difference in talent and speed, however a rule is a rule. The top guys were clean, from what I saw. Three things stuck out, Lucas McCollum is a stud, is that not correct Trdina? Ira Gallagher is an even bigger stud. This kid rode the fastest bike split, WITHOUT AERO WHEELS! Spoked wheels and the fastest split over 56 miles. If you can call a woman a stud, then Kara fits the bill. She had the fastest female bike split by 5 MINUTES, and top 10 overall out of 700ish. But, this blog is not about accomplishment. It is about stopping cheaters. I wish I knew the number of the Masters male who called Kara a BITCH, because she called him out for drafting her and then another guy in front of him. I followed the last 35 miles of the race, and saw this guy blatantly draft on 4-5 seperate occasions. I actually yelled out to him, " a little close are we today?" He heard me, and kept on cheating on. Poetic justice is when I saw him on the run, he was reduced to walking.
So how does this get fixed? More moto refs is a start. Less entrants is a solution. I am sure Nation's Tri in DC with 6,000 people will be a clusterfuck today.
Ultimately it comes down to respect for the race, yourself, and your competitors.
Think about it, THERE IS NO MONEY IN AMATEUR TRIATHLON. You just cheated to get a medal that is worth $2.39. So when your wife and kids ask how you did, smile wide and say. "I cheated my ass off and even called that fast chick a bitch when she called me out, isn't my medal cool?"
Drafters suck.
www.drafterssuck.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment