You are reading a single comment by @skinny and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
-
Yeah.
I think it's also hard to prove that someone took route option X knowing it was actually banned, but claimed ignorance. We do all make genuine mistakes though.It's a very difficult subject. And I can see why the off road races with fixed routes just don't enter into penalties, it's a straight DQ there.
You gravel road point, it will also take a lot out of you physically, and perhaps leave you with mechanical issues. So it's a hard one!
skinny
My understanding is that you won't be DQ'd if you make lots of little errors which could be mistakes from missing one sign, etc and that others also made - even if it adds up to quite a lot.
You would get DQ'd if you are seen to have deliberately cheated, so drafting is a no - even if the advantage is not great - drafting for an hour saves you a few minutes - there is no way you can do it by accident. Also if you are judged to have ridden as a pair (stopping at the same places, riding together on successive days), that is not a mistake, it is deliberate, so DQ.
In the past I've thought that the penalties weren't enough to offset the advantage that people gained from them, so maybe they have upped them a bit this year.
But maybe not - @Samuli got half an hour total from a bit of A1 plus the bridge that I also did. That bridge saved me heaps of time as it opened up a much faster route so I would think a few hours would have been fair for that. And taking the gravel on the A1 was a pain, broke up rhythm, etc, so definitely worth more than a few minutes penalty.