Candi Murray/Oregon Bicycle Racing Assn
The way it should work.
the slower group, the one being overtaken should slow to a crawl and ride as
close to single file as possible. They should be enclosed by their lead and
follow car. The overtaking group should be able to pull around on the left,
almost without crossing the centerline and ride clear of the slower group.
The slower groups should not start racing until the faster group is no
longer in danger of being caught. If the riders are in a group off the back
of their main pack and come up to a pack that they can pass, a little
communication with that group, Like "I'm going to pass you on the left,
please make some room" or something similar. The overtaking group is not
allowed to ride with the group that they are passing so it should be done in
a neat clean fashion.
Candi
ps Nick: for your future info the obrarace group is for flyers and results
only, discussions should be posted at the ob-@topcia.com group thanks
-----Original Message-----
From: Nick Glazener [mailto:dirty-@attbi.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 10:00 AM
To: obra-@topica.com
Subject: race etiquette? King's Valley
It might be helpful if someone knowledgeable could take a few minutes to
explain what is appropriate etiquette when overtaking another Cat. field
and support vehicles.
I am new to racing. At the King?s Valley race, I got dropped by the
lead Cat 4/5 field and was in ?no man?s land? or ?women?s land? for most
of the second lap. I think I handled it appropriately. I assumed that
if I was going to pass that I needed to do it aggressively. I got a
little bit confused when I had to swerve around the support vehicles.
The women kept a clear passing lane on the left for me. At one point, I
was catching the women?s field but I knew they would pass me on an
approaching hill climb. I felt like I was a little too close so I just
backed off to feed and drink. It was difficult in a race situation not
to speed up a little as a group or someone passes me.
The finish was a little challenging. There were about 4 of us that had
to hang out behind the women?s support vehicles towards the finish. It
was no big deal for me. I was not in contention for anything.
Apparently, we were following too close to the support vehicles. What
is the appropriate distance to ride behind a support vehicle in a
situation like that. In this situation, we were not going fast enough
to gain any significant drafting advantage.
In order to improve communication between officials and riders, I
observed a couple things.
For the riders: The official may be yelling out of the car because the
ambient road noise in the car seems loud. The official may not be
yelling in anger.
For the officials: Allow for some rider ignorance due to inexperience in
the Cat 4/5 field. A calm brief explanation can be very effective. If
a brief explanation is not possible at that time on the road, let the
rider know you will be available to answer any questions after the race.
It was a great race. Awesome course. Thanks to the promoters and OBRA.