Stopping to help

If there was no one who was not racing available to help, absolutely.....and if asked to help, even if I was racing and there was other help, yes. 

Kind of a vague question.

Would I stop to help if someone had a flat tire...no.

Would I stop to help if someone just went over the guard rail, and into a ditch...and I was the only one that saw them...no doubt.

Then there is sort of...it depends...in between those two scenarios.

x2, depends on the severity of the situation.

For people stopped with flats (and when I used to race 650 tires) I'd yell "do you need a 650 tube" as sag wagons don't always have those.

It's good karma to help if you're in a position to do so.

Once during an Ironman Arizona race I gave away a tube to a guy who was saying his spare tube's stem broke.  I had three spares with me (paranoia, having flatted the day before while riding just 20 miles on the course) so it was no risk to me at all.

Another time during Lake Stevens 70.3 I gave away my multi-tool to someone who had a derailleur problem and no tools.  I was on the last lap with 20 miles to go, and figured chances were high I wouldn't need that tool even though it was the only one I had. I finished the bike without incident.

What she said.

Yeah, inflating his wheel with your inflator is over and above the call of good sportsmanship.  If I handed someone a CO2 cartridge and they couldn't use it do to equipment mismatch, well that's when the "sorry, dude, I tried but I can't help you" attitude comes out.

As others have said, medical emergency I wouldn't add to the noise.  I can't help other than to get someone who can.  Mechanical failures, well helping a little as I've done before is just good sportsmanship in my book. 

Dropped chain?  Well that's too trivial to bother.

Flat tire, and you don't know how to fix one?  Well too bad so sad that's a learning experience for you.  Don't race without knowing how to fix a flat, or be prepared to DNF.

I volunteered at IM Arizona in 2008 and worked the bike corral and witnessed something that convinced me there is something special about our sport.

I guess this is extremely common and almost mythical. There are ~2,500 bikes in the corral, almost all of them had their tires filled with air just before the race started. As the air warms up, more than a few of those bikes experience tube failures. If I could guess, I would say over 100 that day.

The volunteers in the corral already know this and they walk through the corral and replace the tubes. Some of the individuals who were really good replaced 3 or 4 tubes in a 10 minute period of time.

When the racers got out of the water, we handed them there bike and they never knew the difference....... :D

Anything we do to make someone's race a little easier, is certainly well within the spirit of our sport.

Would I help a competitor?

Really the question is, would I want to beat someone because he had some sort of issue and I decided NOT to help him. I always carry enough spares to be able to throw one down in a hurry if it would help someone. IF it is medical, I would surely delay my race to render assistance if no one else was around.

But that is just me

I always ask if they need help especially in an IM race. If they do, normally I am not in position to help. I recall situations like broken chain, broken seat post, stuff like that my goal is to let others know someone needs the mechanic. When someone is changing a flat I will ask, if they need something I'd give it to them but no one has ever needed anything. I always wish them good luck as well.

On the run in an IM, it is likely a mental thing or struggle. Just talking to them and encouraging them can be a big boost to someone. The aid stations are close enough that normally they can get them.

I have ridden by crashes with other athletes stopped to help waiting on nonracer official help. Me stopping then wouldn't help as I have no medical training and would be in the way. If it seemed like it just happened or I was first, absolutely I would stop and try to get a more medical person to help but I would do what I could in the meantime.

Socks here on BT tried in on IM swim to get someone's shoulder back in socket after she dislocated it, but she is an ortho so knows all about that.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone in a race stuck on the side of the road needing help that hadn't been helped by others or waiting for the support staff to come.

what was said above... it depends.

like... if they were in my age group or not.    

Sums up my answer.

Certainly if the person was seriously injured or in danger. 

As a BOPer I'm probably in a position to encounter more situations than the guys out front.

I stopped to help a guy during a swim a couple of years ago and ended up dropping out of the race since I lost so much time.  My only DNF so far, but no regrets.

I've stopped a couple times on the bike to check to see if folks were OK after crashes, then continued on when they said they were fine. 

Also stopped once to help a newbie put their dropped chain back on.  Only took a few seconds.

Mark