What's the problem with drafting?

Woddle

I will obviously follow the rules on Sunday for my first tri but what really is the problem with drafting. It seems impossible to police, it seems to irritate fello non drafting competitors, so why not just do away with it and make all races draft legal.
I don't know alot about the sport of triathlon but having watched a few of the recent ITU events Hamburg and London were drafting is allowed, I just don't see the problem, if groups want to work together then why not let them.

mitresize5

drives me mad to be honest - how there were no drafting penalties on some of the tri's I've done I'll never know

anyway to answer your question some one told me once that non drafting at non pro races is an insurance issue .... i.e. a lot of people dont have the necessary bike handling skills or experience to ride flat out at in a large pelaton .... I dont know how true it is but it made sense

on a sportmanship level if drafting was allowed in my opinion triathlons would become a 10K run with an elaborate warm up!

there is huge benefit to cycling in a group compared to cycling on your own

Hope this answers your query

tunney

Woddle wrote: »

I will obviously follow the rules on Sunday for my first tri but what really is the problem with drafting. It seems impossible to police, it seems to irritate fello non drafting competitors, so why not just do away with it and make all races draft legal.
I don't know alot about the sport of triathlon but having watched a few of the recent ITU events Hamburg and London were drafting is allowed, I just don't see the problem, if groups want to work together then why not let them.

Alot of people would view drafting akin to riding a bike for the first 8km of a 10km running race and then running the last 2km and claiming to have run a 10km.

Also head over to the cycling forum and ask them about the average triathletes bike handling skills(ignoring the fact that the average triathlete is a stronger cyclist with better bike handling skills and adheres more to the euro rules than most ther ) By and large they cannot ride a bike in groups.

Drafting can be avoided if the organiser cares. Most don't.

mloc123

tunney wrote: »

Drafting can be avoided if the organiser cares. Most don't.

I raced in Mullingar back in April and they made a huge effort to stamp down on drafting, so much so that I had a motorbike escort following me for most of the race. They must of had 20+ draft busters out on the bike course. It made a nice change.

The contrast of this was a race in Dundalk, no race numbers meant that the drafting was a piss take and I considered pulling out half way through.

I know which of the two races I'll be back to next year.

robinph

Mostly to do with safety I thought and had heard that if aero bars are allowed then drafting isn't. But most amateurs doing tris wouldn't be able to draft properly anyway, the guys you see doing the tris on the telly can, but I guess even they would still get a bit nervous if you stuck them into the middle of the TdF peleton.

Watching the London tri at the weekend though and it is really just a bit of a splash about and then a relaxing ride before a 10km running race.

mloc123

London on sunday is a perfect example of why draft legal races are a 10k run. They all sat up on the bike and waited for the run.

shels4ever

It's like sticking a toe bar on the bike infront... and just against the rules . But no problem doing it in the water for some reason ?

mloc123

robinph wrote: »

Watching the London tri at the weekend though and it is really just a bit of a splash about and then a relaxing ride before a 10km running race.

It was a very relaxed looking bike alright.

tunney wrote: »

Also head over to the cycling forum and ask them about the average triathletes bike handling skills(ignoring the fact that the average triathlete is a stronger cyclist with better bike handling skills and adheres more to the euro rules than most ther )

And also check out the race reports/pictures over on cycling from the a3/a4 early season races, never seen so much broken carbon on the roads

onimpulse

London on Sunday is also a perfect example of why drafting isn't allowed... One of the competitors - I think it was a Belgian rider? (can't think of his name) fell in the middle of the pack when his front wheel touched the back wheel of the bike infront. If the pros make mistakes like that imagine your average sprint!

too much trifle

triathlon is a race for individuals, not teams,
once drafting is allowed it turns into a team event, one or two memebers of the team sacrifice themselves on the bike so the stronger runner has good legs for the run,
if you saw the joke that was the olympic triathlon [bejing] you would understand,
3 competitors per country started but only one member had the slightest chance of actually winning, resulting in the other two taking part but even though they have contributed to the result only the winner recieves a medal,
how long before i.t.u. goes the same way?
if you saw the london tri, because of drafting no one wanted to lead out on the bike and put in the work while the stronger runners sat behind leaving them fresh for the run,
strong bikers are left dis-advantiged, making it a glorified 10k

kennyb3

As said above it makes sense from a safety point of view. When riding in a group people will generally ride with their hands on the hoods so that they can react if someone else breask.

Reaction time on aero bars is obviously significantly slower. This could lead to a nasty pile up.

I never fully realised this until a car tried to take out a few of our swords group last saturday morning by not looking right, thankfully everybody reacted in time

MrCreosote

I did a draft legal tri once. Spent the 20k on the bike at the back of a bunch trying not to crash, while one or two guys did all the work. I found it pretty boring, none of the sweat of honest endeavour! A Swim-run is more fun.

From what I've heard the ITU races went draft legal partly to make it more spectator friendly and partly because people losing races for fairly subjective drafting penalties got to be too contentious. The strong cyclists had to chose to lose their advantage or move to longer nondrafting distances.

Krusty_Clown

I can understand the gain in a race environment, where you get to conserve energy and sneak past the the hard-working wind-breaker, but why would you want to draft while training? Surely this negates some of the reasons for doing the training in the first place?

I had a guy draft behind me for a couple of miles along the N11 recently, into the wind. Obviously it didn't bother me, as it would have had no detrimental affect on my own cycle, but surely the X mile cycle is somewhat belittled, if you don't do any work into the wind? He was obviously out for a spin, rather than a commute, as he was bedecked in the appropriate gear.

robinph

I've had someone on a bike drafting behind me as I was running before.

OK, so they probably didn't get much benefit, but they did have the shame of being bested by a runner going up a very gentle hill.

MrCreosote

robinph wrote: »

I've had someone on a bike drafting behind me as I was running before.

OK, so they probably didn't get much benefit, but they did have the shame of being bested by a runner going up a very gentle hill.

I hope you turned around and shouted "Drafting is cheating!"

robinph

I didn't actually know they were there until the top of the hill when they went past and thanked me, they obviously knew they were cheating and were being super sneaky about it.

Gringo78

Personally I would not draft to gain an advantage where drafting is illegal. Mid pack competitors who do it could a lot of the time be unaware of what drafting is, be unaware that it gives them an advantage and be even unaware its not allowed (e.g if the only triathlon you have seen before is ITU on teh tv).

However, competitors in the top 10-20 in any triathlon have to be aware its illegal and must be fully aware of the advantage they are gaining....its pure cheating. I can't understand how they can look anyone straight in the face afterwards. And yet we have top cyclists and athletes who dope so the best are not beyond cheating. They have a competitive mindset thats sometimes taken a step too far and some wrongly believe that the only reason they are being beaten is because others are doping or drafting so they do it too. So when a group of riders pass you and they're clearly drafting you have a choice to make....join them in the belief that if you don't, well you can't be competitive or else let them off and cross the finish line knowing you did the best you could do. Personally, I like to be able to take genuine pride in my achievements so I'll be letting them off.

Maybe in a few years time with technology advances, draft monitoring will be automatic via the timing chips? i.e proximity RFID's that would detect another chip in close proximity for too long a time?? maybe I should patent that idea....

hunnymonster

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I can understand the gain in a race environment, where you get to conserve energy and sneak past the the hard-working wind-breaker, but why would you want to draft while training? Surely this negates some of the reasons for doing the training in the first place?

I had a guy draft behind me for a couple of miles along the N11 recently, into the wind. Obviously it didn't bother me, as it would have had no detrimental affect on my own cycle, but surely the X mile cycle is somewhat belittled, if you don't do any work into the wind? He was obviously out for a spin, rather than a commute, as he was bedecked in the appropriate gear.

usually it's to help develop bike skills or because it's more social to cycle along chatting. In a good group, everyone will take their turn at the top of the chain moving up and over every 2-3 minutes.

zico10

Gringo78 wrote: »

Mid pack competitors who do it could a lot of the time be unaware of what drafting is, be unaware that it gives them an advantage and be even unaware its not allowed (e.g if the only triathlon you have seen before is ITU on teh tv).

Well then they should really pay attention, at the race briefing.

tunney

zico10 wrote: »

Well then they should really pay attention, at the race briefing.

Its not mentioned at alot of races these days. Nor is listening to iPods being banned and some other stuff I would have thought key.

longshank

making drafting legal wouldn't work if the race had wave starts either, which is the case for 99% of races i've done.

tunney

longshank wrote: »

making drafting legal wouldn't work if the race had wave starts either, which is the case for 99% of races i've done.

It does if the course is designed in a proper way. There are formula and methods for doing it but it does increase hassle and decrease profit.

hunnymonster

tunney wrote: »

Its not mentioned at alot of races these days. Nor is listening to iPods being banned and some other stuff I would have thought key.

but it is always in the rules which the competitors have confirmed they have read prior to registering. Just as with boards.ie, ignorance is not a defence.

zico10

hunnymonster wrote: »

but it is always in the rules which the competitors have confirmed they have read prior to registering. Just as with boards.ie, ignorance is not a defence.

100% agree with this, there is absolutely no excuse for not being aware of the rules of a race, in which you are taking part.

tunney

zico10 wrote: »

100% agree with this, there is absolutely no excuse for not being aware of the rules of a race, in which you are taking part.

A cop out really. if its not mentioned in the race briefing what impression does that give to the competitors? Thats its not important?

hunnymonster

no but the average triathlete in the 20 minutes before race time has the attention span of a 2 year old. The people giving the briefing have to prioritise the specific issues of that race and people should read the general rules. better to do it this way than have people not hearing anything because you've gone on for 40 minutes about stuff they should know.

zico10

tunney wrote: »

A cop out really. if its not mentioned in the race briefing what impression does that give to the competitors? Thats its not important?

Well I wouldn't swear on the Bible, but I'm fairly certain I've never been at a race where it hasn't been mentioned. And every single race I've been at, there are sh!t loads of people not paying attention at the race briefing.
If you say there have been races where it hasn't been mentioned, then I believe you. Think this is a failing on the part of the race organisers. Still find it hard to believe, the vast majority of the field would not be aware that drafting is illegal and would find it even harder to believe, they would not be aware of the benefits drafting gives you.

robinph

I'd guess most competitors do not know what drafting is, just like many people in running races don't know what time zone to stand in at the start.

kingQuez

hunnymonster wrote: »

The people giving the briefing have to prioritise the specific issues of that race

Was at a race this year where the director mentioned he didn't mind nudity in the transition area, and people wouldnt be penalized for it. Wasnt sure if he was serious or just trying to spice up the briefing

airscotty

Not a fan of the draft legal races at all....can be a bit dull. Its an individual sport so hiding on the bike, saving energy for close to an hour so you can do a quick run does'nt cut it in my book! Ironman races are savage tho cause you get guys who can hammer the bike and try hold out for the run or savage runners who burn through the field towards the end.