Have you ever met a triathlete that actually "wanted" to be cited for an infraction of the Rules of Competition? I never have. Worse is to be disqualified for a major infraction, or worse yet to accrue 3 or more infractions in the same event (the other way to get disqualified).
Our AA Sports Course Marshalling Referees have two primary roles on the bike course:
Note: For the record - Course Marshals routinely make U-turns. So in addition to traveling with the flow of traffic, the next thing they are going to do is make a U-turn. Expect to see it happen.
Our Rules of Competition enforcement is based on two principles:
In all of this activity, the attention of the referees is driven by the behavior of the athletes. In many cases an experienced referee can see the infraction coming before it happens. The behavior of the athlete predicts that it is very likely to happen. An athlete that is repeatedly pushing the limits of the rules, or who is clearly lacking situational awareness of their surroundings and fellow athletes, or both, is a rule infraction waiting to happen. Oblivious, inattentive, or overtly aggressive behavior that disregards the rules or the safety of the course, themselves, or the safety of the other athletes is behavior that captures the attention of the referees. It visually separates that bicyclist from the rest of the competition who are riding in compliance with the Rules of Competition.
With the exception of unsportsmanlike conduct and equipment requirements, triathlon infractions are position errors. You must know where you are, where your immediate fellow athletes are, and where the course boundaries are, and respond correctly in order to have a "clean" infraction-free race.
Remember - It is NEVER about whether or not you "intended" to break the rules. Unintentional infractions still count against you, whether you were aware of the infraction at the time or not. Noncompliance is still noncompliance.
If you do get reported for an infraction on the bike course and accessed a penalty, who can explain this? Who can you (should you) inquire to? There is ONLY one person to talk to - The Head Referee for AA Sports (No one else can do or explain anything.). No other event staffer, not even the Race Director can help you. Since they did not witness the infraction, record or report the infraction, going to any other staff member only wastes their time and yours. And they all have standing instructions to simply refer your inquiry. Please contact the Head Referee for AA Sports, John Goff, or his designated representative at the results table. Or send John Goff an email inquiry.
So what are the most common infraction mistakes ?
To my mind drafting is one of the more challenging aspects of the sport of triathlon in North America today. The referee is not under the same stress as the athlete in competition. So it is easier for the referee to accurately keep track of that 15 seconds. And more than 15 seconds in the Drafting Zone (DZ) will earn you a time penalty.
If you are still in the DZ at 16 seconds that is the 1st infraction. At 31 seconds in the DZ, that is your 2nd event infraction. At 46 seconds in the DZ, that is your 3rd infraction, and you are disqualified, and you will NOT get your recorded performance time.
One common mistake is in the circumstance of being passed, because as soon as you are passed and in the DZ envelopes you, the 15 second clock starts on you. The rule states that you have 15 seconds to re-pass or fall back to 3 bike lengths, and you are required to fall back within 15 seconds. In any circumstance, more than 15 seconds in the DZ earns you a time penalty.
Another common drafting mistake is not understanding the width of the DZ. It is one bike length or 6 feet wide. And that is measured at the shoulder of the "passing" bicyclist (not at the centerline of his/her tire). ALL of your body must be outside the DZ, or you are still in it. You want to be well outside the DZ when passing to avoid attracting the attention of the referees.
A third common mistake is not understanding the 3 bike length distance behind the bicycle in front of you. You really need to lay the DZ out on the ground in chalk and practice this. As referees, this is something we practice and drill on frequently. 3 bicycle lengths = 18 feet. But the total length of the DZ extends to the leading edge of the front wheel of the bicycle in front of you, for a total length of 24 feet. And you are not "out" of the DZ until the trailing edge of your rear wheel clears the leading edge of his/her front wheel.
My advice is to train to ride at 19 feet behind the bicycle in front of you. Anyone gambling that the referee lacks the confidence to cite you for a drafting infraction at 17 feet deserves the time penalty.
This is YOU adversely affecting, impeding, or otherwise diminishing the time of another bicyclist. This is entirely about your situational awareness. A blocking infraction can happen in less than one second. If you trap, block, impede, or force a change in the established line of travel of another bicyclist, that is blocking. If you are engaged in this behavior in a static holding position for more than 15 seconds, that WILL attract the attention of the referees. Time penalties apply.
Remember that unless you are actively passing someone, you are supposed to ride single file, with 3 bike lengths of separation, well to the outside of the roadway, on the shoulder of the roadway, outside of the car lane if possible.
If you are maneuvering in or through a group or cluster, and you "block" 3 other bicyclists in succession, that would be 3 infractions in the same event. You would then be disqualified and you will not get your recorded performance time.
On an open course where the local public car traffic time shares the race course, the directive to keep outside of the car lane, outside of the fog line and on the shoulder becomes even more imperative as it relates to your personal and on-course safety during the race. If you are riding in the car lane in an oblivious manner impeding local car traffic, race officials, or worse emergency vehicles, that too is Blocking under the Rules of Competition. Time penalties apply. And if you are out there for 46+ seconds blocking traffic, guess how many blocking penalties could apply? (Answer: 3 = DQ)
Major Safety Violations (other than required safety equipment) -
Just don't do it. - EVER!
This is a major safety violation on the bike course.
If you have not yet re-trained your mind to think in terms of the "inside" and the "outside" of the lane space of the roadway,
please, do so.
Most of the time Passing Outside means passing to the right of the bicyclist ahead of you. But since we do occasionally have bike courses where you will be riding in the on-coming, left hand lane, the terms "left" and "right" are confusing.
It does not matter which lane you are riding in, because you are ALWAYS required to ride to the outside of the lane space (outside of fog line and on the shoulder of the road when ever possible) and always well away from the centerline.
You are ALWAYS required to pass the rider ahead of you to the INSIDE (towards the centerline), and NEVER pass to the outside (the direction away from the centerline) of the bicyclist ahead of you. (See diagram above.) And that is why it will ALWAYS be an instant DQ to ride in-between 2 other competing bicyclists. If you do, you WILL be to the "outside" of one of them. You may ONLY pass to the inside of the bike ahead of you.
There was recently an article in The Oregonian of a bicycle fatality caused by a bicyclist being passed on their right by another bicyclist. The rider being passed was surprised and so startled that they swerved into the car lane and was then struck by a car that had no time to avoid the collision. This was not during a race, but the principle is the same. In North America we are all accustomed to being passed on the left, to the "inside", toward the centerline.
During a triathlon competition, competing bicyclists (especially the slower ones) are supposed to have the right of way to freely move to their right toward the outside of the roadway, unimpeded, and without fear of being clobbered from behind in order to make way for everyone else.
The bike course has a beginning (an entry point and timing mats) and an end (an exit point, and timing mats). In between these 2 reference points the bike course is "contained" by boundaries. And as soon as you are "on" the course, ALL of the Rules of Competition apply. (You might think that would be obvious to everyone. And you would be wrong.) You are required to complete the race by staying on the entire bike course as it is laid-out, and within the boundaries as marked, including any specialty lanes created for the race. Riding your bicycle in a manner that short-cuts or exits the course especially over the centerline or the equivalent is an immediate disqualification and you will not get your recorded performance time.
Remember - Any legal departure from the course as designed and marked (swim, bike, run) requires the athlete to re-enter the course and resume their race at the point of departure.
NOTE:
All motorized vehicles on the bike course, including but not limited to: Course Marshals, Race officials, police, and other first responders, are NOT restricted to stay inside the defined course boundaries. Athletes are required to adhere to the published Rules of Competition through-out the race, and ARE required to stay within defined boundaries of the bike course, especially the centerline, which is an absolute boundary of the course, unless directed over the centerline by race officials or police. This ADVISORY especially applies to the leading bicyclists on the bike course. Any athlete departing the defined course is subject to the published penalties.
The role of the lead motorcyclist is a defensive role to alert the public and the course workers that race has started and is coming their way. This role may require brief, temporary departures to areas outside the defined course. Any leading bicyclist following the lead motorcycle outside the defined boundaries of the course is subject to the published penalties.
Each year at the Kirkland Triathlon an enlarged (wider) bike lane is created on the back side of the bike course using traffic cones. This is an example of a specialty lane created for this race. Riding or passing to the inside (left) of any specialty lane coned-off boundary markers is an instant DQ.
If you really do know the Rules of Competition, and you know that you will not be allowed to swim, bike, or run using any audio equipment, or any other hearing impairments. So what then would be the best way to train? Should you train under the same conditions that you will be required to compete under? I say: "Yes. You should."
Athletes who become so psychologically conditioned to training with their music playing in their ears, to the extent that they believe that their best performance can ONLY be achieved with that music playing in their ears, are doing themselves a disservice. They have put themselves at a psychological disadvantage even before the race begins, since the rules prohibit such devices. Hearing impairments are a major safety consideration during the race.
You are required to be able to clearly hear and understand the race officials and at the same time be aware of the presence of emergency vehicles.
And PLEASE leave your cell phone with a family member or turned "off" in your equipment bag. You should be devoting all of your attention and efforts to your race.
When you drive your car, and you make a mistake (regardless of circumstances) that is observed by a traffic officer, his job is to write you the traffic citation. Most traffic citations are real, and result in the penalty prescribed by law. It is not personal, it is simply circumstance.
During a triathlon, it is the job of the referees to record and report what they see. Our rules enforcement is as impartial as we can make it. It is not personal. (Most of the time our referees have no personal knowledge of the athletes competing.) The observations that we make are based on the circumstantial behavior of the athletes.
When an infraction is observed, the details are recorded: time, entrant number, location (often by GPS), infraction, gender, athlete description.
After the infraction reports are turned into the Head Referee, they are reviewed. If they are properly recorded to the satisfaction of the Head Referee, he or his designate, assign the penalties as prescribed in our published Rules of Competition at www.triNW.com
So if the reported infraction is this well documented, there is no doubt. It happened. We will happily share the details of the infraction with you. But sharing that information is not a discussion or a debate. Sharing that information with you will not change either the voracity or the occurrence of your infraction. And the penalty assignments will 99.99% of the time stand.
Sometimes athletes are unable to reverse the roles. It is difficult or impossible for them to imagine themselves as the referee. Reporting an infraction about which there is absolutely no doubt. Only then to have that recorded athlete come to them later in complete denial, insisting (intensely) that the infraction NEVER happened (and only because they do not want the penalty). It would be fair to say that we will not be throwing out infractions simply because the athlete objected to being caught red-handed.
If truly individual performance efforts (unimpeded, unaided and unassisted) are to be based on fair and impartial competition in North America, then there will have to be real rules governing the sport of triathlon. And that means there must be enforcement of those rules. Because without enforcement, there are no rules that protect the intention of the competition and its promoters.
Speaking for myself and all of the AA Sports referees, anyone that completes a duathlon or a triathlon has a real measure of accomplishment in their lives. All of these athletes work very hard for their recorded performance times. After all, it is only a small percentage of the population that competes in these multi-sport events.
We salute you! And wish you success in your future competitions!
John Goff, Head Referee
AA Sports, Ltd.
Copyright © 2008 AA Sports Limited
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