Good idea or unethical? [race rehearsal]
My teenage son has settled on a HIM for his A-race of the season; it's in late July. Being under 18, he has to race in a non-WTC race.
(We can argue whether this is the absolute best idea in the long run, but while I might not have made it my first choice for him, I think it's a reasonable choice given his strengths/abilities and I have agreed to support him in it. He is a veteran of multiple Oly races and half-marathons)
My schedule - and that of a few local friends - has us going to the KS 70.3 in mid-June as an A-race.
So here's my question: how can he ethically take advantage of the marked out and protected 56 mi bike course for a race rehearsal ride without being just a bandit? The experience of a ride of that distance in that atmosphere would be very valuable.
He almost always volunteers at races he attends and doesn't race in, and would be totally cool with (for example) volunteering to body mark and/or help at the finish. We could pack up his bike with enough water etc so that he shouldn't need to use anything from WTC.
Is there a way to do this that is ethical? The roads aren't officially closed, but there's no getting around the fact he would be taking advntage of WTC's efforts and not paying.
Comments
Get the race experience in an Oly or other local race.
my 2 cents
The issue is KS is really a few out and backs combined and therefore you can't really ride it backwards as you will still be riding with folks that are racing. However at IMWI it works well on the loop as you can go in the opposite direction and have half the road to yourself.
In this case, i think the friday before or even Saturday before are the best bet.
+ however many. Not cool. I'll ride the courses backwards during the race day but time it or do the map thing so that I'm off the course before the riders get there or take another route. I don't ride at IMCDA on race day because it's almost impossible to get out there with mixing it up with the athletes.
Related story: at IMWI'04 I had made the turn from Verona to Madison, heading back. I saw a rider up ahead and used him as a marker, something to focus on. As I came up to him I saw that he was a triathlete (on a tri bike) out for a ride on the course. He jumped on my wheel and started to draft me
. After about 2' I swung out and (ladies, close your ears) said, "hey, dickhead, I'm riding 112 here, am about to run a friggin' marathon, and you're drafting me. How about showing a little pride and get the f off my wheel, asshole?" He dropped back 
.
What do you all think about early morning, i.e, sunrise? i.e., trying to get completely done of the race if there is time? I would have to look up sunrise tables, start times, etc to see if that's practical...but just as a matter of principle.
Figure the pros start around 6:45 to 7 at most events. 21-24 minute swim, followed by a sub 2:10 bike. Basically you (he) would need to have completed the full course by 9:15 to stay out of the way. It sounds do-able, but what if he gets a flat or something else happens. Sure there would only be a few pros around, but those guys are racing for a living and deserve open road.
I completely understand what you are trying to do and that you realize the potential impacts to other. I'm really gald you posted this so others can read it and hopefully take it into consideration.
Like Rich, I get pretty fired up when I'm racing and someone not even in the race is out messing around on the course near me. I realize the roads are technically open but I think we should all be able to stay out of the way of the people that are racing.
I've been cut off by cars and also runners with headphones blasting so loud they can't hear my scream at them....both on multiple occasions.
On a side note, I also heard a story about a guy that was leading a race but thought he was in second as their was a cyclyst up the road riding on the course. The cyclst turned off the course and the guy followed by the time he realized and turned around he was not able to get back on the podium. I don't know the details as I heard it second hand, but that sucks. I know, I know, it's each persons responsibility to know the course, but sometimes when you are racing and workign hard the brain isn't thinking about things like do I turn here or at the next street and just follow the person in front of you.
If transit time were no object, last year they had a free training "camp" / day for the race where a hundred odd people came out and all rode the course about a month ahead of time. Not exactly like race day, but not bad either. Considering the drive, I'd likely go with having him ride it before the day or so before the race, but understandably you may not want to cut him loose on the course alone and it you definitely don't want to be riding (entirety of) the course yourself at that point.
I understand that it would be good practice for him, but if he has done races before like Hyvee or some of the busier sprints, then he certainly should have a taste for what riding in the congestion of race day is like, you are simply doing it longer for an HIM. I'm assuming his half is going to be Pigman Long Course as well, which I don't feel is a congested bike course in comparison to WTC halfs. One thing I'll give you though, practicing bottle exchanges would be a bonus since I've never done a race shorter than a half that had bike aid stations.
When those guys get out on the bike, they are moving and moving fast, I personally would be terrified of accidently interfering with the pro's race even though they are professionals and in the worst case scenario clearly capable of passing a lone rider.
A sidebar, and then a couple responses:
Last year, he volunteered at Steelhead 70.3 while I raced. Knowing full well his situation (me racing, him too young to drive), they assigned him to do body marking and then work an aid station that was between the 25 and 30 mile marks, i.e., almost as far away as you could possibly get. They told him to bike out there, so he did. He had a bunch of stuff to carry on his back, and he wasn't racing, so between that and not getting out of body marking area until basically the start of the race, he did end up getting overtaken by a few pros before he got to the aid station. However, neither of us felt any guilt in this at all, since he was just doing his duty as instructed by race officials. After they cleaned up the aid station, he biked back and was back by the time I finished (I was in a late wave). No guilt at all... but that's a different situation.
@Matt: Sunrise is 6 am (5:55, officially). Last year, the pros started at 6:30. That gives him only a bout a 50 minute head start. I'm sure he'd finish riding in under 3 hours, but you're right, the math is tricky if he has any problems whatsoever.
I guess we'll look at Saturday or some other solution altogether. I should have looked up the timing of events before posting this and verified how much time there would be for a head start. Nonetheless, it's been a good thread. If he wants to ride Sunday AFTER the racers are through, that's another possibility.
@Trevor: I'm more likely to take him with me to a weekend in Madison (it's "only" 40 mile loop after all) than drive down to KS for their rehearsal ride. It's a similar driving distance for me to either location. He's not racing KS, so there's no special reason to ride the KS loop...it is just timed pretty well and the atmosphere is nice. He's GPS and iphone-equipped, so I would be nervous, but not completely unhinged about letting him loose, as long as I were able to respond to him.
He's not doing Pigman, though that is the obvious choice, given our location. It's too late in the season if you're a high school runner. The cross country coach would kill him for slaying himself a week before their pre-season time trials. He might do a Pigman segment (not bike +rum, but bike or run and maybe swim) for fun as part of a relay. We had to find a race far enough from the end of the HS sports year to give him time to train, and far enough away from the beginning that a week of being dead to the world afterwards is not a problem. Thus, late/mid July, and we found a race near Minneapolis called Chisago. (Yes, Chisago, spelled that way.)
He has probably done more races than me overall, some of them draft legal, some "normal". But you're right...what I am/was after is that there's something more different about a first HIM from the Oly distance. Can't be sloppy about hydration/nutrition. He has done a couple races with bottle exchanges and he been the guy handing you bottles a couple times. We can probably practice that once or twice at home, and he'll be better at it than 90% of the rest of us. (I hate/envy how he picks up stuff like that so quick...he's also a transition zen-master.)
Anyway, thanks again all.