Help for pros during Kona?

Neutral support is part of the race.  Like aid stations.

There is bike support on course and participants can use them for help.  Chrissie could have chosen to wait on them for help, but sometimes it can take a while for them to get there.  Keinle appeard to be on tubular tires, which are a pain to change.  It looked like he was going to try and start to change it just in case it took 20 minutes for them to arrive (for an age grouper, I have heard it can take 30+ minutes), but much easier for him to just wait on a new wheel.

Weird to see a flat on the front tire though, you hardly ever see them there since all the weight is on the back.

They do patrol the course.  I forget exactly how many vehicles they said they would have at Kona but it was something like 5-6...each assigned a "zone".  I stopped to see if I could help an athlete that was on the side of the road...she wasn't US though and all she kept saying was how both tires blew or something like that.  She had aero wheels and I knew my tubes would not have a long enough stem (she didn't seem to have crack pipes, she had long valved tubes).  I offered help and she was totally incoherent so I promised to tell the next aid station to send tech support back for her and I left.  About a mile down the road I saw the tech van heading in that direction and hoped they would go all the way to where she was (didn't know where their zone ended).

So, anyway...they patrol the course but NO telling how long it will take them to find you.  Best be prepared to at least change a flat...if you need anything more than that you may need to wait awhile.

He was running clinchers.  I was curious as to why he couldn't make the change quickly himself, so I paused the video and did some slo-mo and you could clearly see he had a tube with a tire lever taped to it...and on the tube you could see it said 700x18-23 on it like a normal tube.  The whole thing fit in the palm of his hand...where an entire tubular tire would have been much bigger.

i got a 404 at imtx. 

edit for my poor grammahr and spealling. 

Wasn't it just a DA C50 wheel?

not sure about other races but IM has a couple guys on mopeds.  i think he told me they were assigned to patrol between certain mile posts, but not certain and texas was one loop, so this might be different on looped courses.    i blew a spoke and ended up on the side of the road for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was probably no more than 15-20 minutes.  it sucked, really bad.  especially when i got off the bike and stood in a fire ant mound.  i was so happy to see the tech.    hopefully history won't repeat itself this saturday down in florida!!!

If you listen carefully, that Kinely dude was having a hissy fit with the support guy.  Learn to fix you're own flat instead of whining like a little .

If I can change a tube in under 10 mins, so should Mr. Pro.

dp

I tend to flat on the front as often as the rear, if not more.

Yes, at least for IM WI.  I was doing Bike SAG wagon this year.  There were 4 on the route designated along the route course and using walkie-talkies.

I actually patroled the loop twice.  It's tough getting through, but with proper identification on the vehicle and running the blinkers, you're identified and allowed through over normal traffic (even though there are a few idiots that think otherwise or don't know any better).

The coverage said his entire pit stop only took 4:29.  So, I think in his opinion tech support should have been right behind them as the leaders.  Of course, that's dumb, but it's probably what he was thinking.  And he was extra frustrated because he and Vanhoenacker were in an awesome breakaway and that little pit stop probably cost him a spot on the podium.  He shouldn't have taken it out on tech support though (obviously).  Tech support can't be everywhere.  Anyway, he probably CAN change a flat in under 10 minutes...he just hoped tech support could get there faster with a spare wheel.

So, when I first saw the pro men coming back from Hawi I knew the guy all in white (didn't realize at the time that it was Vanhoenacker, but know that now) was all by himself.  When the two of them were together on the coverage I was sitting there going, "But I know what I saw and he was alone...what happens to make him alone?"  Poof.  Flat tire.  Now I know how Vanhoenacker ended up alone!