Drafting / Not drafting

It's not always 100% possible in larger races. If you stick around the forums long enough you'll hear people complaining about "pelotons" forming in big races. Sometimes this is done on purpose to cheat, but many times it's just a side effect of having so many competitors on course at one time.

however, if it looks like you are drafting to a ref... then I'm sorry to tell you, you ARE drafting.

The legal distance...

Understand that you have to complete your pass. Also understand that even though it's in the rules that the person you pass is supposed to drop out of your draft zone, it's highly unlikely very many people will.

You can go to the USAT website and download the rules.  They're pretty specific as to what constitutes drafting.

Mark

Other then that  They just announced that it is going to be much more rigidly enforced this year in our area then in the past and with a larger box then before, I can say that I have never been hit with a violation yet although I definitely could have and  maybe might have been thru no fault of my own.

In Close AG racing it sometime can get difficult not to allow yourself to get into a position where you might get called for it  sometimes because someone else is not following the rules correctly especially on a crowded sprint course where things sometimes tend to get bunched up all you can do is do your best to avoid getting in those situation's but sometimes its almost Impossible not to do, I got a quick warning from a course marshal at one race last year when I was slow on swim and   got into a pack of much slower riding women on the bike portion that were bunched up and I was trying to get thru but he could tell I was trying to get thru the mess as quick  as I could and that I was much faster then everyone in the group ahead, Most could have been tagged with a penalty because there were maybe 2 or 3 rider in each persons Box space at the time due to congestion on the course.

I have a feeling this year its going to be very interesting around here anyway because of the new stricter enforcement  of the rules.

I've not been hit with a drafting penalty. Last year at Boise 70.3 with the bike course shortened, it was pretty hard to not always be on someone's wheel it seemed. Always calling out on your left to let people know to move to the right so you can pass. Also I look to my left to make sure I am not going to be blocking someone either by attempting to pass and then a faster rider comes up.

At Lake Stevens, early on in the race, there were quite a few people and with the hills, it seemed like as well I was always passing (joys of being one of the last waves). 

I think overall the course marshals do a pretty good job to determine if you are trying to draft or you are just trying to get past the person and you are slower than the 20 seconds allotted to pass. 

Sprints are by far the worst and especially when you get stuck behind a bunch of people who are in their first race who don't quite understand the rules. Last year a kid was riding all the way to the left on the course. I kept yelling out to him on your left and he looked back and almost crashed into the curb. I ended up passing him while coasting on the right. There really wasn't much I could do about it.

Take 50 minutes out of your day and watch this video: USAT Rules Clinic

It will answer TONS of questions for you, some you probably didn't even realize you might have had.

I did one duathalon and I had just passed a group and caught up to a guy that was also passing them but slower.... I was right on his wheel expecting him to move over.  I was on his wheel for <10 secs and the woman I had just passed shouted "YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT ANY MORE OBVIOUS"

Anyway I shouted back that that dude needed to move over, he heard me and did.  I was not in his draft for more than 15secs

This STILL annoys me - it was non of her business what I was doing, I wasn't breaking any rules.