I see not too many people have followed this thread! Does that mean that we honest triathletes are few and far between? I have seen many situations to include a young man here in FL drafting a CAR in an open road triathlon! He was, of course, in the lead, but was completly disqualified after posting an insane time and average speed of 30+ mph!

Honestly I figured that it was a new thread, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to throw a joke in! In all seriousness though, I watched the video you had linked on You tube. Were the riders coming out of a turn? One of the tri's I competed in had a U-turn on a two lane road. So there was a large number of people bunching due to the imperfections of the course. So I know that it would be considered drafting on the video, but would officials be forgiving due to "real world" conditions? Oh and in my U-turn tri, the people were pretty good about spacing back out and the officials were on the ball. Overall a great little race.

I raced in the Jacksonville Tri Series Races. They were put on by DRC Sports. All three races were excellent and the final race was a completely sold out event. Great fun and great exoerience. Oh they were sprint distances as well.

I have raced in events all over the country and have seen full out pelotons in races.  I don't think you see drafting in races that are sprint or international distance in more than a few instances and most likely it is by accident or caused by passing a slower rider. (Got my first drafting penalty in 6 years of racing at the Chicago Triathlon this year, caused by narrow passing lanes and slower riders from the sprint distance causing me and another elite athlete to be too close together)  I sucked it up and took the 2 minute penalty in stride and went harder for the rest of the race because of it.

I am from Chicago and Steelhead 1/2 IM and Spirit of Racine 1/2 IM have huge packs of people drafting (20 people). These 2 races in my opinion are some of the worst drafting races out there in the midwest. IM Florida is another race where groups form and they stick togther for a long period of time. Rather funny when they hear the rumbling of a motorcycle engine they are correctly spaced out. If only these people were so attentive to follow the rules as their acute ability to hear things in the distance.

I think people should monitor themselves better and know that triathlons are an individual sport. Drafting in a group is cheating and should be penalized by a time penalty or even DQ if done multiple times. Most of the same people that are in the groups drafting on the cycling portion are the ones being passed by the honest racers on the run!

Happy racing!

Unfortunately it is just like when you pass the cop through the speed trap. Once you know you are clear and your heart rate drops after about 5 minutes, you begin on the same course or speed.

Until you see the next "cop"....

I let a person pass me through a speed trap on the way down to Memphis in May and the cop sure enough got them for speeding and not me. (too bad it was another triathlete driving down)

I love the idea and was seriously thinking about it earlier today.  I bet the results on the bike would be much more true to everyones personal abilities rather than the group.  Put a little scare into the competitors that you might get caught and not even know it!