Tri Etiquette - what are your pet peeves? (Page 3)

I'll add one more.

Clueless spectators.  Not only those that wander in Transition with their SO that just finished but more importantly those idiots that wander cluelessly onto the race course.  ESPECIALLY the Bike Course.  Recipe for disaster.

I've yelled at my fair share of idiots for doing that.  Drives me up a friggen wall.

Edited by crowny2 2009-09-23 1:52 PM

We don't mean to make you feel like a second-class citizen, it just works out that way!

Ditto on people mis-seeding themselves in the swim.  I'm not too concerned about getting kicked/bumped as that happens, and I support doing whatever stroke is best for you.  Just make sure you start where you should.  There are few things more frustrating than having to pass a clearly mis-seeded swimmer.  There's a difference between having an off day, which we all understand, and simply being at a different ability level.

It also sucks when you try to pass someone in a lane and they refuse to move to one side or the other or let you pass at the wall.  It's disrespectful.

I have no complaints on the bike and run.  I'm a biker who gets passed so I live on the right side and just pray I don't get a flat and that no one crashes because it's likely I'll go down with them.

I got strollered in my first ever tri.  Lady went right by me, kid just wavin'.  If I could have caught her I would have taken her down.  Turns out she was part of a relay tem, but still. 

Clueless can almost be forgiven. Deliberately entering the course is something else entirely.

and M-Dot tattoos

In a recent triathlon here the guy who seeded himseld second was backstroking by the third length. Not the "look how fast, world class" kind of backstroke but the " do it this way so I can breathe" backstroke. Probably two dozen people passed him.

I have to call some justice fo those who breaststroke.  I can swim breaststroke fairly fast.  Faster than many who do the freestyle, though not like top-10-finishers fast.  So I don't seed myself in the front. 

It's your right to swim however you want, and I guess I can't really complain about it. The thing is, breaststroke takes up quite a bit more space than freestyle, and in open water, you can't see or feel a breaststroker's feet because they are farther under the water.  For this reason, you can be swimming up next to a breast-stroker and not realize it until you get that forceful, out-of-nowhere kick in the gut that is a breast-stroke kick.

It would be different if breaststrokers had a different color cap or something, so I could predict it. But you see a head in the water a couple feet ahead. You think, well, I'm BESIDE them. No problem. Then BAM! Kicked in the gut!

It's just part of the race, but that's where I'm coming from as a freestyler. Even backstroke is easier to pass than breaststroke. With backstroke, I can tell while I'm sighting that this person is doing something different. With breaststroke, I can only see your head, and I have no clue that your feet are way out to the sides just about to kick really hard.

So that's why it sucks for me. But it's your right to swim how you want.

i've been kicked and dunked by backstrokers, breaststrokers, and other freestylers.  throw 450 people in a river, it happens.

um I guess th only peev I got is when you on the run and people are screaming  how much  you got left you go and they always wrong.

Agree with most what you said.  I do freestlye 90% of the time as it's more efficient.  But I see being kicked and slapped as part of the OWS/mass start experience.  During one race I got literally pushed under the water by someone doing freestyle when his (was a dude) hand slapped on my head, he continued his stroke with my head under the water as I was trying to breathe.  Another race last year somehow I hooked arms with a girl going backstrokes.  Many times I got kicked on my chin by someone swimming freestyle. 

What I want to point out is one would get kicked and pushed etc, even when everyone was swimming the same stroke.  Not fair to call out those who swim breaststroke, and not fair to assume them to be slow/less of a swimmer. 

I guess this is a peeve of mine.

1. the seemingly popular IM brand hatred. if you think it's an overpriced, overhyped event, don't do it. If I'm going to race for 14-15 hours, I want the hoopla. so sue me.

2. the annoyance with the "IM as a bucket item" people.  why does anyone CARE how many IMs someone does?

There hasn't been too much in triathlons that have bugged me race to race.

However, at the local track people in lane 1, walking or even running with headphones on and being oblivious to people around them.

Edited by smilford 2009-09-23 4:03 PM

As newb I gotta agree with Bear- Most of these pet peeves would go away if athletes just followed the rules... & used common courtesy.

-Don't mess with another athlete's gear in transition- or anywhere else. if I were USAT God this would be strictly enforced with automatic DQ, and year-long suspension for 2nd offense- Don't ask about strike 3
-Don't litter. Gives the sport a REALLY bad image among the townsfolk.
-No blocking
- No iPods- especially on the bike.  And yes I have repeatedly seen those little white wires snaking up under each side of the helmet in riders acting deaf. Almost got crashed by one of these clowns during an Oly this season who couldn't hear "On Yer LEFT!!!!".

Don't recall if it's a USAT rule, but don't re-enter transition to collect your gear while many others are still entering T2.  This can be a problem in races with both Sprint & Oly participants when the start times are not properly spaced. Some organizers restrict transition to racers ONLY until a pre-set time (i.e. NO re-entry to transition once you've finished until most others have passed T2).  

But gotta say- My peeves are WAY less than the FUN of my 1st season of tri!!!!!

I don't know if this is cool or not but it pizzed me off at my last tri.  Somebody wanted to sleep in so they chained their POS bike to the end rack spot the night before the race.  He didn't show up until minutes before the race.  I always get there for transition to open so I can get a rack spot close to the end. 

my peeves have been mentioned

breast strokers who don't have the sense to start in the back, people who continue to slap your feet instead of moving 4 inches one way or another (even following me when I adjust)

GIAGANTIC transition area layouts (you don't need the bag and all that other pre and post race stuff in trans)

slow moving athletes from waves that started before me walking through t1 and blocking the exit and mounting on the mount line in the center at full stop.  i haven't done it but i feel like yelling MOVE!!!  if you haven't come to race that isjust stay out of the way.

one posted hear I haven't had to deal with but I think it is really RUDE to wander around transiton area when others are still competing.

on the litter issue:  i HATE litter bugs (my all time peeve- cigarette butts are litter) I have not seen a litter problem on the course or in transitions at races but everyone does need to clean up after themselves and others.

ooo that would burn me!

but i haven't done any races that even had the racks set up the night before 

it's not an issue of speed as much as the force and trajectory of your feet 

I have to disagree with your bolded statement above. Everyone pays their entry fee and it is a mount line, unless it is seperated to "FOP flying mount people on this side, MOP-BOP stand and mount people over here" it does not matter. Run the 4 feet past them if you have to before hoping on or you move over slightly. They are not blocking they are legitimately participating in a portion of the race. And just because they do a stopping mount vs. moving does not mean they are not racing.

It might be more polite on their part to stand to the side a little bit but it has never bothered me.

pardon for me for not doing a flying mount ! ... and perhaps I got to T1 before you because I beat you in the water, not because I started in an earlier wave. ... you never know.

I run through transition but I DO mount from a full stop, and, well, your peeve peeves me !

Edited by trishie 2009-09-23 6:26 PM