| Subject: | RE: more centerline discussion |
| Date: | 03/29/2004 03:35 AM |
| From: | Woodcock, Thomas C |
|
Good e-mail, I think the point of rider responsibility and sportsmanship needs to be called out. When the race started, the starter clearly defined the rules specifically for that stretch of road, and everyone was cool for the first lap. Things got dangerous when a group of riders went off the front (which was a nice move) and people back of the pack were eager to bridge that gap. Those riders did two things. 1. They blatantly broke the rules for centerline violations creating a dangerous situation for themselves and all around them. 2. They showed poor sportsmanship through breaking the rules and gaining an advantage over the other riders (created a large breakaway group). We as riders need to take responsibility to ride with integrity and most importantly safety. -----Original Message----- From: Nick Glazener [mailto:dirty-@attbi.com] Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 8:50 AM To: ob-@topica.com Subject: [OBRA Chat] more centerline discussion =========================================================== Are you looking for savings on products you use everyday? Visit Quality Health today and see the coupons, free samples and special offers our members enjoy each and everyday. http://click.topica.com/caab3ozaVxiDpa84p9la/ Ivo Interactive =========================================================== The POC presented some unique center line challenges on Dannon Rd.. I understood that the centerline rule still applied even on the narrow Dannon Rd.. That would have been very difficult since there was no clear center line. There was a lot of confusion about the issue within the pack (4/5). After a couple laps it was obvious to me that if I respected the rule, then I was going to loose position in the pack to those that were ignoring the rule. As most racers know, the safest place was in the front quarter of the pack. None of the riders that were attacking the left side of the road wanted to actually share the pace workload. I broke the rule on the third lap to get up the front third. It didn't do me any any good because there were 3 times as many offenders that passed me. There was a lot of verbal bantering. One rider was quite verbal about pointing out the offending riders by number. It was annoying but appropriate to use peer pressure. It was potentially a very dangerous situation if there had been a car up. There was also some frustration with a team sending riders up in a break away and then blocking at the front (another topic). It would have been a very difficult job for an official to monitor and enforce. There wasn't even a safe place for an official's car to come along the side and warn offending riders. I wonder if it would be safe to have the official car travel on the left side of the pack for those narrow roads. The same situation exist for those races that use Forrest Service roads. However, those roads tend to be in the hills which thin the pack out. I don't think there any easy answers for this. I expect the official response to be, "the rule was in effect and officials should have enforced it." The application in reality may not be so easy. In the end, it all sorted itself out for a good finish and no injuries from a center line violation. =========================================================== **** Bounces like rubber! Shatters like ceramic! **** Discover Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty in grown up handfuls. It's the creativity unleashing, mood enhancing desk toy! http://click.topica.com/caab4CEaVxiDpa84p9lf/ Crazy Aaron Enterprises =========================================================== To respond to the whole group send to ob-@topica.com. To respond to the list manager send to cmur-@obra.org To unsubscribe send to obra-uns-@topica.com |
