Legalized draft - Triathlon Week

04-01-2005, 11:19 AM

I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about wanting
a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw from for the US
Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this turns out; I think
a lot of races will renounce their USAT affiliation.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

04-01-2005, 12:52 PM

It says this where?

"Harold Buck" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].giganews.com...
>I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
> age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about wanting
> a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw from for the US
> Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this turns out; I think
> a lot of races will renounce their USAT affiliation.
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson

04-01-2005, 02:05 PM

What's the date today again?

Mark wrote:

> It says this where?
>
> "Harold Buck" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].giganews.com...
> > I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
> > age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about
> > wanting a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw
> > from for the US Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how
> > this turns out; I think a lot of races will renounce their USAT
> > affiliation.
> >
> > --Harold Buck
> >
> >
> > "I used to rock and roll all night,
> > and party every day.
> > Then it was every other day. . . ."
> > -Homer J. Simpson

04-01-2005, 02:18 PM

I thought that as well, however, I thought that would have to be the lamest
April Fool's joke ever. Plus it was posted after the "12 deadline". At least
from where I sit it was.
M~

"Steve Anderson" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:AIi3e.11386$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].prodigy.co m...
> What's the date today again?
>
> Mark wrote:
>
>> It says this where?
>>
>> "Harold Buck" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
>> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].giganews.com...
>> > I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
>> > age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about
>> > wanting a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw
>> > from for the US Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how
>> > this turns out; I think a lot of races will renounce their USAT
>> > affiliation.
>> >
>> > --Harold Buck
>> >
>> >
>> > "I used to rock and roll all night,
>> > and party every day.
>> > Then it was every other day. . . ."
>> > -Homer J. Simpson
>

04-01-2005, 07:23 PM

A classic, Harold.

Harold Buck <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].giganews.com:

> I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
> age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about
> wanting a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw from
> for the US Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this turns
> out; I think a lot of races will renounce their USAT affiliation.
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson

04-06-2005, 08:25 PM

Harold Buck <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:no_one_knows-
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]:

> I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
> age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about wanting
> a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw from for the US
> Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this turns out; I think
> a lot of races will renounce their USAT affiliation.
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson

That was pretty good. . . It reminds me however that everytime I hear about
drafting being accepted I think that the next thing some would want would
be to use flippers on the swim.
Dale

--
Take out my bike to e-mail.

04-06-2005, 08:34 PM

On Wed, 06 Apr 2005 21:25:51 -0500, Dale <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>
wrote:

Harold Buck <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:no_one_knows-
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]:

> I just spotted this on the USAT website: effective June 1, all USAT
> age-group events will be draft-legal. They said something about wanting
> a larger pool of people with drafting experience to draw from for the US
> Olympic team. It will be interesting to see how this turns out; I think
> a lot of races will renounce their USAT affiliation.
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson

That was pretty good. . . It reminds me however that everytime I hear
about
drafting being accepted I think that the next thing some would want
would
be to use flippers on the swim.
Dale

You're comparing apples and oranges. Drafting is a very natural and
logical result of a large group traveling in close proximity to one
another. Birds flying through the air in a flock practice a form of
drafting, but when was the last time you saw them start strapping on
extra wings?

04-06-2005, 08:49 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
Radioactive Man <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> You're comparing apples and oranges. Drafting is a very natural and
> logical result of a large group traveling in close proximity to one
> another. Birds flying through the air in a flock practice a form of
> drafting, but when was the last time you saw them start strapping on
> extra wings?

It depends on how you look at it. Another way of looking at it is that
people who want to use flippers or who want to draft are both looking
for a way to get through the race with less overall effort.

My thought: if you really want to allow drafting, put the bike first so
that everyone starts out on equal footing (instead of allowing a pack to
negate the lead someone worked so hard to get on the swim). But this
will never happen, for a number of reasons (safety in both the swim and
the bike being the most important factors).

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

04-07-2005, 08:17 PM

Harold Buck <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].giganews.com:

> In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
> Radioactive Man <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>
>> You're comparing apples and oranges. Drafting is a very natural and
>> logical result of a large group traveling in close proximity to one
>> another. Birds flying through the air in a flock practice a form of
>> drafting, but when was the last time you saw them start strapping on
>> extra wings?
>
>
> It depends on how you look at it. Another way of looking at it is that
> people who want to use flippers or who want to draft are both looking
> for a way to get through the race with less overall effort.
>
> My thought: if you really want to allow drafting, put the bike first
> so that everyone starts out on equal footing (instead of allowing a
> pack to negate the lead someone worked so hard to get on the swim).
> But this will never happen, for a number of reasons (safety in both
> the swim and the bike being the most important factors).
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson

And not to pile on but, if the point of drafting is not to make the
event easier or put another way less of an individual sport and more of
a team challenge then why do we not see the same tightly packed groups
of runners? Would that "naturally occuring" tight group not occur on the
run as well? Dale

04-07-2005, 08:32 PM

In article <Xns9631E2E039DEBvanlew@66.26.32.7>,
epson <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> And not to pile on but, if the point of drafting is not to make the
> event easier or put another way less of an individual sport and more of
> a team challenge then why do we not see the same tightly packed groups
> of runners? Would that "naturally occuring" tight group not occur on the
> run as well?

I guess I'm not sure what point you're making here. Air resistance is
not a factor in running, but it is in biking, so running in a big group
doesn't really save you energy (unless there's a strong headwind, in
which case you do see people draft).

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

04-07-2005, 08:43 PM

Harold Buck <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in news:no_one_knows-
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]:

> In article <Xns9631E2E039DEBvanlew@66.26.32.7>,
> epson <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>
>> And not to pile on but, if the point of drafting is not to make the
>> event easier or put another way less of an individual sport and more of
>> a team challenge then why do we not see the same tightly packed groups
>> of runners? Would that "naturally occuring" tight group not occur on the
>> run as well?
>
>
> I guess I'm not sure what point you're making here. Air resistance is
> not a factor in running, but it is in biking, so running in a big group
> doesn't really save you energy (unless there's a strong headwind, in
> which case you do see people draft).
>
> --Harold Buck
>
>
> "I used to rock and roll all night,
> and party every day.
> Then it was every other day. . . ."
> -Homer J. Simpson
>

Well, actually that was my point. I guess I was trying to say that the
tightly packed groups of bikes were not naturally occuring and logical as
Radioactive man asserted. That they only occured because it made the ride
easier. And IF they occured naturally on the bike then why not on the run.

Great tag like by the way. I can relate.
Dale

04-09-2005, 02:11 AM

Harold Buck wrote:
> In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
> Radioactive Man <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>
>
>>You're comparing apples and oranges. Drafting is a very natural and
>>logical result of a large group traveling in close proximity to one
>>another. Birds flying through the air in a flock practice a form of
>>drafting, but when was the last time you saw them start strapping on
>>extra wings?
>
>
>
> It depends on how you look at it. Another way of looking at it is that
> people who want to use flippers or who want to draft are both looking
> for a way to get through the race with less overall effort.
>
> My thought: if you really want to allow drafting, put the bike first so
> that everyone starts out on equal footing (instead of allowing a pack to
> negate the lead someone worked so hard to get on the swim). But this
> will never happen, for a number of reasons (safety in both the swim and
> the bike being the most important factors).
>
> --Harold Buck

Hi Harold,
My personal opinion: drafting causes triathlon to change from an
individual sport to a group sport. Personally, I like to occasionally
hang out with others during a ride, but I prefer the sport remain an
individual effort. Go ahead and have draft legal races, as long as
non-draft races remain dominant.

04-09-2005, 03:41 AM

"epson" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> a écrit dans le message de news:
Xns9631E7204DE45vanlew@216.196.97.131...

> Well, actually that was my point. I guess I was trying to say that the
> tightly packed groups of bikes were not naturally occuring and logical as
> Radioactive man asserted. That they only occured because it made the ride
> easier. And IF they occured naturally on the bike then why not on the run.

Biking in packed groups IS the natural way to bike.

If one wants to go as fast as possible from point A to point B with a bike,
he drafts.

I made my first draft-legal race (duathlon - waiting for the water to warm
up!) last week, and this was such a pleasure!

No permanent suspicion of cheating, no accusation, no risk of being unfairly
disqualified: simply go as fast as you can to the finish line!

This was such a relief from my other draft-illegal races...

There is a virtue in making the rules as stupid simple and straightforward
as possible: take your bike and go as fast as possible is the best rule. No
more endless discussions on who drafted and who didn't.

And don't believe the race was easier: it was much faster that a draft
illegal race, I needed sometime to switch to anaerobic mode / explosive
strength (to stick to the pack), and I can guaranty you that if you try to
follow people faster than you are, you will find it very difficult. Almost
all bike road races are draft legal, and Armstrong and the likes are not too
shabby!

And the argument that it is a disadvantage for good swimmers doesn't hold.
One can argue that a good swimmer will have his advantage cancelled when the
biker pack will pass him, but conversely, one can argue that only good
swimmers will be able to catch the right pack.

Keep triathlon simple.

Legalize draft!

-- Olivier

04-09-2005, 06:05 AM

In article <4257a279$0$1302$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].fr>,
"Silver0l" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> And the argument that it is a disadvantage for good swimmers doesn't hold.
> One can argue that a good swimmer will have his advantage cancelled when the
> biker pack will pass him, but conversely, one can argue that only good
> swimmers will be able to catch the right pack.
>

So, the fact that bad swimmers and good swimmers can both potentially
get screwed makes it fair? Didn't your momma ever tell you two wrongs
don't make a right?

I'm sorry, but I think if I can swim the course one minute faster than
you can and our cycling and running skills and conditioning are exactly
the same, I should beat you by one minute, not lose because you caught
up to me--and got to rest while doing it--by riding in a peloton.

Drafting is great--for road cycling races. Let's leave it there.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

04-09-2005, 06:44 AM

John Forrest Tomlinson <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]:

> What does this mean? Does one group beat another group? I've heard of
> team sports -- that;s where a team can beat another team. What is a
> group sport?
>
> JT
>

It's a sport where a bunch of folks race together until the last minute,
then see who can outsprint the rest!

Tom