Gotta Love those Tri Athletes

It looks like it did not happen on Toro Canyon but on Goberador Canyon road. The problem apparently had to do with discarded water bottles and the heavily shaded area. Having ridden that road hundreds of times I can attest to the fact that the lighting provides serious challenges at times. I can't imagine it with empty water bottles strewn across the road. 209.85.173.104/search One thing I can't stand about triathletes--and I am one--is their propensity to litter. Gel packs, water bottles, bar wrappers strewn everywhere. I keep a jersey pocket dedicated to trash and never, ever discard water bottles except at the specified water bottle exchange areas. (Of course, sometime bottle fall out accidentally, especially with those bottle holders that go behind the seat because common sense dictates less drag if you put them there, although real-world testing shows they're actually worse, but that's a different story.)

"I was drafting behind someone and when someone was coming up on my left I picked up my pace using the wake of the swimmer in front of me to sling shot me past her and stay with the passing swimmer. I admit I did touch her feet a few times over the previous 100 yds. " Her reaction was out of line, however, drafting and touching the draftee's feet is a pretty agressive action. One must be prepared to take evasive steps for the reaction. Boy, that's blaming the victim. Anyway, the thing that really surprises me is when the idiot doing this sort of thing has absolutely nothing to gain by it. Maybe they move up from 178 to 176 or something. I once posted about watching an International Triathlon Union race and seeing a guy in mid pack slapping cups out of the volunteers' hands so the runners behind him wouldn't be able to hydrate. Someone then posted a story about a 10k runner on pace for running about 42 minutes--no threat to win the race--wiping out a whole table of cups for the same reason. I try to teach athletes to focus on things they can control and not to worry about things they can't control. If you're worried about improving your times and doing the best you can, it doesn't matter if some of the people are faster than you and you don't win the race. You usually can't control whether you win since you don't control how fast your opponents are, you can only control fast you go.

Yep, I can't say that OWS are any more ethical then Tri swimmers. I've been to a few swims that were really crazy including the swim that started this thread.. forums.usms.org/showthread.php

Yes it is a bit strange. I have swam many open water races over the years and have had my share of "experiences", like the first time someone used my body as a wall to push off as we rounded a tight buoy. Don't get me wrong I have no problem going stroke for stroke in open water inches apart from another swimmer. I definitely have no problem with someone touching my feet (too many years of too many swimmers in one lane during swim practice), although if someone grabbed my ankle and pulled it to get past me my elbow might find it's way to a body part. The strangest part is that triathletes, and I am one as well, are not fast swimmers. I am routinely one of the first out of the water and I wonder what the hubbub was at the start. Personally at tri races I start on the outside and ignore everyone on my way to the first buoy. I try to negative split the swim. Meanwhile everyone else is in the middle flailing about to be in the lead of a group that will take 30 minutes to swim a mile. Go figure. In true open water races I would be hesitant to employ that strategy because a group could get away and I would no chance to tag along.

Speaking of triathletes.... I did the 1.5K swim leg of a triathlon relay this last weekend. I can't believe the amount of deliberate hitting, shoving, pulling, kicking (once in the crotch - ouch), and general nastiness that went on in the swim. It was USAT sanctioned, so I assume this is the norm. I've never experienced anything even close in an open water swim event. It did spur me on to try a bit harder to get away from the pack earlier, if only to avoid dental surgery. Weirder still was that other than being a bit Type-A and OCD, most of the triathletes I talked to were extremely pleasant out of the water. Man, some people need to get things in perspective. -LBJ

...she intentionally scratched him and tried to pull down his suit. If someone ever did that to me, male or female, they'd get a nice kick to the ribs. In this case, if I had heard the girl complain, i probably would have gone over and :mooning: since she clearly wanted to see my nekked :mooning: (now where's the jailed smiley)

I've heard stories about people intentionally unzipping other people's wetsuits during races, presumably to slow the other person down and not because they wanted to see what was inside.

Man, I don't know what races you guys are hearing about, reading about, or doing, but I've done in excess of 20 tris in So Cal, and about 5 OWS in the last 3 years, never been kicked, punched, had my wetsuit torn off, had nails on me, or anything that I am hearing here. Incidental contact? Sure - Actually, trake that back - Crum Pier to Pier 2006, ha dhte most aggressive swimmer I've ever had, that was an OWS, not a tri. I am not the fastest, but I am a top 10% tri swimmer (which makes me a top 20-30% or so OW swimmer, depending on who shows up) So, what have we learned? There are jerks in triathlon. There are jerks in running races. there are jerks in swim races. Who knew?????

Actually, I have never had a problem in a triathlon either. While swimming is my strength, I have done 5 triathlons (and 2 open water swims) this year. The couple of incidences I have experienced were in OW swims. However, on triathlon forums people do complain when it is a mass start with a couple of hundred or more athletes. Incidental contact? Inexperience? Nut jobs? Hell if I know.