Craig Austin

I can't speak for the other groups, but the official at the start line was very clear for my group; he said we could cross the line only where there were corner marshals and traffic controls; he specifically mentioned the start line as one of those places, as another team came by us while he was explaining. He also mentioned the corner between the finish and the start, the first marshalled corner after the start, and the hard left-hander before the run-in to the finish. He said the road was open to traffic everywhere else and that we should observe the centerline rule. It seemed pretty clear to me at the time that he was saying there were certain sharp corners where you might go wide, and those corners were all manned to make sure traffic was controlled. He never said anything about taking a shorter line elsewhere. Maybe he didn't say it to everyone, I don't know, but at least in our case there was no gray area over the centerline rule.

Craig Austin

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From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org on behalf of uma kleppinger
Sent: Mon 5/14/2007 3:30 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Rules? The Letter of Law, etc.

At the recent OBRA officials training, Candi was quite clear about the center line rule. I might say she hammered it home. In fact she said it about 12 different ways. My favorite one was: "Cross the center line and you're dead".

Having said that, I guess I'm dead or close to it. Our team had to cross the center line to pass a large group of riders and bystanders (officials, maybe?) fanned out across the roadway at the start line. (If you look at the photos you'll see some 4 person teams straddling their bikes at the start, taking up the entire lane or pretty near to it.) There was no way for our team to safely pass when we did without moving just to the left of center. There was an official there with the group of riders waiting to start who was motioning for us to slow down. We literally would have had to STOP in order to not cross the line at all. We rode the line and moved back to the right side of the road as quickly as possible after passing the team and officials on the roadway at the start. It was the only safe option. I noticed most teams did the same, and actually quite a few just moved well into the oncoming traffic lane around the start.

No instructions were given to us regarding how to deal with this situation prior to the race start. No special instructions were given regarding center line at all.

Still, being a good student at the officials training, I figured center line rule was in force. This assumption meant our team slowed for sharp corners rather than shaving valuable time off our score by flying across the road into a more shallow turn. It's the kind of maneuver effectively "straightens out the road" and chops seconds off your time by shortening your distance. I know this, but I chose to obey the rules. To find out later that SO MANY did not is maddening. Perhaps I am naive and should have known that rules don't apply to time trials where riders are going faster (it seems this is the logic several people have used in defending cutting corners).

Cornering that way would have won the race for us but I am absolutely positive it would have improved our time, and while I wasn't competing against the teams that *did* flagrantly violate this sacred rule, you can't have a rule go both ways and only apply to *some* teams. When I went online to look at the photos I was appalled at the flagrant and certifiably unfair disregard for this rule.

As to the comment "it is a race, they are riding hard as a team and trying to push the limit and get a championship medal. No one is hurt, no one is worse off for it." I have to say: It is not just a race, it is a time trial. Every second counts. Those teams who went shallow into the turns well into the oncoming lane knew exactly what they were doing. Had it been legal I would have done the same. Because every second counts and because I know that I could save time and maintain a higher speed by taking a corner that way.

As for no one being hurt, define hurt. If we don't all play by the same rules, it's not a fair fight, it's hitting below the belt. If you were racing, I think you'd agree, that kinda hurts a little. Time trialing is painful enough without adding insult to injury.

As for photographers editing their pics, I say, just post the photos. The work of the photographers is to document the races, not editorialize by becoming ad-hoc race officials while they are editing for picture quality.

Maybe everyone will have to be DQd to set the example that centerline rules are omnipotent. Rematch, anyone?
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