General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Ever see a cheater? (venting) Rss Feed  
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2004-11-08 9:30 AM

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Champion
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Two seat rocket plane
Subject: Ever see a cheater? (venting)

Here's the situation.....at my local off-road duathlon Sat. I was second in line in a group of about 6-8 folks who got stuck behind a slow biker on the single track (it happens when folks are faster runners than they are bikers) . This was on the first lap of a two lap race.

The course crossed over a fire road and made about a 3/4 mile loop of singletrack before re joining the fireroad (kind of a backwards "P" shape section. The slowpoke drops straight down the fire road and cuts out the whiole 3/4 mile of sincletrack. While I was glad to have him gone from in front of me,  I managed to drop the group I was stuck in. I was quite pissed to see him coming the other way in the lead pack at a turnaround. Ironically enough I got behind him at almost the same point on the second lap, so I know he didn't make up his mistake (I'm assuming it was a mistake)

I DID report him to the race director, as did the guy who was in front of me. I don't know if they took any action or not. The funny thing is, I overheard the cheater talking to his friend in the parking lot afterwards. The friend said "I don't kow HOW you got ahead of me!? You never passed me" He HAD to know.

An even funnier thing is that I know this cheating guy. A couple of years ago, at a big multi-day group ride, several friends and I were hanging out at the motel, quietly having a few beers on the sidewalk in front of our block of rooms, when this same guy comes along and bends our ears for about half an hour about how he's just riding the ride without registering "If I don't take any water or food from their stops, what difference does it make?" was his excuse that time. So in my book, his character is pretty well defined. What a sleaze!

Thanks for listening.



2004-11-08 10:24 AM
in reply to: #80224

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Elite
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Racine, WI
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)

my thought for people like that is "People amaze me".  They really do.  Some attitudes I just can't understand no matter how hard I try. 

I tend to be extremely pacifist by nature, but I've heard it said another way... "The things you see when you don't have a gun"...  Where is the fun in this if y ou have that sort of "getting what I can for nothing" viewpoint?  Athletics in general are all about working toward a goal, imho. 

I would have had a very hard time not saying something to the shmuck.  Sounds to me like you have a cooler head than I do. Pat yourself on the back for that, and avoid that person like the plague if you have the misfortune to run into him again.

2004-11-08 10:38 AM
in reply to: #80224

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Pro
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Broomfield, Colorado
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)

it's so disappointing when this happens!  At least YOU know that YOU did everything the right way - so you are the better person.  Sounds like this other guy is going to get a reputation if that many people noticed.  He's gotta live with it now.

2004-11-08 10:42 AM
in reply to: #80224

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Elite
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Chicago
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
yeah, i caught 2 guys cheating at 1/2 IM in Racine, WI last year.

they were both wearing the same jersey and were drafting off each other...I saw them a few times so guess what I did?

I came out of my HR zone and rode up to them, slowly pull passed the 2nd guy to insert myself between them (to break them apart) because I knew the guy in back was the weaker of the 2 athletes, then proceeds to slow down behind the 1st guy to get my 3 bike length distance.

when I saw the guy behind me pass me to get on the tail of his buddy, i repeated it.

anyway, i ended up getting a 4:00min penalty (which I really can care less about) and did manage to keep them separated for a good portion of the bike.

then during the run the 1st guy was like WAY ahead of me but the second guy was sucking wind....

that was kind of a mean thing to do but i was pretty pissed off that they were so blatently drafting.

the reason why I reacted at this past 1/2IM was because at the same race a year before I had groups of 3-4 bikers passing me riding in packs (no sh!t) there were at least 4 groups drafting....so when I saw it again the next year I did something about it.

it probabaly ruined my run split as the 1st guy was a stronger athlete than I but I still beat my 1/2 IM PR by over 1 hour and 10 minutes...
2004-11-08 11:15 AM
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Champion
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Ottawa, Ontario
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
I've seen people cheat during races and could not care less about them.  Who cares about jerks like that?!?  These guys are losers and will never be in a position to win anything.  They try to bolster their own ego by cheating and only really succeed in cheating themselves.   
2004-11-08 11:26 AM
in reply to: #80224

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Regular
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Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
If 1,000 people toe the starting line of a triathlon, maybe 25 of them have legitimate hopes of winning the race. The remaining 975 of us are running primarily against ourselves. Whether our goal for the day is to improve on last year's performance, set a new PR on a leg, or just finish the race, cutting the course is just plain stupid. I'll bet he cheats at solitaire too!


2004-11-08 12:13 PM
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Elite Veteran
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northern Illinois
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
I haven't seen it at a triathlon, although I see it regularly in my job. In some ways I really don't care. These people are sad cases, who are only cheating themselves. I'm there, working against my limits -no intention of even trying to win, just moving myself to MY next level. When students do it, I stop it -because if the grades are curved, they all ARE competing against each other, and it does hurt other people. I don't usually curve the grades, though, because then, by definition, some people have to fail. And I only want people to fail, if they DID actually fail to meet some objective standard.

Andrea
2004-11-08 1:02 PM
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2004-11-08 1:03 PM
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Pro
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Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
I've seen a lot of un?intentional drafting. Most of the races I've done are Oly and Sprint combined. Not the most experienced athletes, and some of them likely don't realize they aren't supposed to. I give them the benefit of the doubt. And then I pass them.

I'm competing against everyone else out there, that gives me the motivation to push myself to new levels. I'm not in danger of ending up on a podium anytime soon ( 29 year old male age group is rather competetive! ). I know they are cheating themselves, and they're not pushing me out of a podium spot. But that would still drive me crazy if I saw someone who should and does know better blatantly cheating like that.

I think I'd do what Steve did, or yell at them (taunt them for drafting), try to get the attention of a race official, etc. I know race officials have a lot of work on their plates just keeping the normal stuff going, but something should have been done about that blatant a cheat. You'd think if it was that easy that a courseworker would have been posted there. Maybe you and/or a buddy can volunteer for the next event as course workers, and report the guy when/if he does it again? A DQ would be sweet revenge indeed.
2004-11-08 1:28 PM
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2004-11-08 1:31 PM
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Master
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Harvard, Illinois
Subject: RE: Ever see a cheater? (venting)
I had a friend cheat in the swim portion of a tri. This was 20 yrs. ago so we didn't wear chips on our legs. We just got our overall time. They connected lane lines that went our 750 yds. into the lake. You were suppose to swim with them on your left. About 300 yds. out he ducked underneath the lane line and swam back in with the first group of swimmers who were all woman. I was shocked nobody said anything. He was terrible on the bike and run so he dropped back and blended in with the pack by the time he finished.

Mike


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