How to fix drafting at M-dot Ironmans

In "Go Easy on FinMan" I said I had all the answers for how to take care of the drafting problem at IMFL and Clearwater 70.3 (in particular, there are other races with drafting issues, but these are the worst I know of). Now, this is surely not true, but regardless, here are my suggestions.

The problem can be analyzed mathematically: drafting happens when people of similar abilities get bunched up together. So to avoid it, you need either 1) a wider distribution of biker's abilities, or 2) you need to space them out prior to the bike portion. Races like Lake Placid and Coeur D'Alene don't have drafting problems nearly as much as the Florida races because the bike courses are sufficiently difficult to spread racers out (criteria #1). And, a race like the White Lake Half (with 900+ racers) doesn't see packs of drafters because of the wave start (criteria #2), since each wave only has a handful of people with similar abilities. I also think White Lake has another thing going for it: strict USAT enforcement at Setup Events races as compared to M-dot races (for example, 39 penalties handed out at the Duke Half this year, a race with only 400 entrants, so 10% of racers got hit, and this is a hilly course!).

Wave Starts: I know some of the allure of the M-dot Ironman races is the 2200+ person mass start. I will admit, it looks cool. But, truth be told, its dangerous (see 06 Florida for an example). There's no way lifeguards can keep an eye on everybody. And, when half the racers come out of the water between 1:05 and 1:15, you get 1000+ people in your pool of cyclists to form drafting packs of similar abilities. Wave starts of ~200 people could cut this number of would-be drafters by 10 fold. The pros could still go at 6:45, and then each age group could go as its own wave (meaning that one wave would still be 300-400 people, the M35-39), separated by 5 or 10 minutes. Now, the negatives of this approach are that folks in later waves will have to work their way through the stragglers of earlier waves (but it can't possibly be as rough as the 2000 person start), and also that the time on the finish clock may be wrong for your photo. But, I insist that if Deep Blue can beat Kasparov, we can figure out how to have a timing mat link to the finish clock and get the time right for each person. And, there's always Photoshop in case we can't.

Tougher penalties: Right now you get 6 minutes for your first offense, 12 for your second, and the third is a DQ. I am not the cheating type, so I don't even mess around with the idea, but these penalties are so insignificant there is a benefit to taking the calculated risk here. Drafting in a pack could make your bike split 20 minutes faster, and save your legs for the run. So why not take a chance with only 6 mintues in the sin bin at stake? Thus, I propose a 20 to 30 minute penalty for the first offense, assessed after the race (so as to make it a mystery how many you have accumulated). The second offense is a DQ. Period. I have so often heard fellow racers lament about being unfairly hit with a penalty. Sorry, but I ain't buying it. They say things like "I had just been passed when the motorcycle came by and they got me" or "I didn't drop back fast enough" or "I was in a big group, everybody was doing it, and they only got me." I'm not saying there has ever been an unfairly issued penalty, just that the vast majority are deserved.

Now, maybe I feel this way because I've never been issued a penalty, but those are my thoughts. I know I come across as having little sympathy, but I think these two changes could both spread people out and strike fear in the hearts of drafters. The intention is level the playing field for all athletes.

If you think I am on the right track, or totally out to lunch, leave a comment. I am interested to hear everybody's thoughts. After all, its our sport, and I think its our job to make it better.