Transcontinental Race No. 9 - TCR9 - #TCRN09 - 2023

Damn he selected hard mode.

Strange that the unsupported nature is so central to the event and yet this can still happen.

Yeah, the strict unsupportedness has usually been very important for the "TCR community" but in some other events the atmosphere is so different, that you might not take it seriously if that's where you're coming from. Even the winner and the second rider to finish in TD this year were riding together and waiting for each other at gas stations, you often hear stories like this. It was similarly weird to see people get upset last year when they got penalties for crossing a border illegally. The rules say you should obey local laws and this is literally a thing the police would stop you from doing and take you to the nearest police station to pay the ticket if they saw you.

Tangentially someone was on the FB group asking for an inner tube last night.
That seems a pretty serious and obvious infringement.

Yup. Report it. DQ from classification. Stupid mistake or ignorance.

Public conversations like this might build the confidence for someone to say about this, so it's good to talk about this.

Yeah I’d agree with that. I suppose my point is also uncomfortably, perhaps I should have intervened.

Ah I have found the Facebook link
@hippy

Here’s a copy of the post;
Hey everyone! First off, I hope you all are healthy and safe, wherever you are. 
I have been meaning to bring up a complex topic, to create awareness around race etiquette.

It has taken me more than 6 months to process my experience, because it impacted me negatively both during and after the race(TCRno7). And it was because of a fellow contestant, who decided to wait for me during the race. Not once but several times, until I gave in and we rode together for a big part of the race. I will not go into details, because it is complex and this is resolved between us now. I am not at all after to ’name and shame’, but simply to remind each other of the rules. No matter if the race is being postponed.



The intentions of the racer where not at all malicious, but it did break the rules of the race and stepped over my personal boundaries. I did not know how to handle the situation, being perplexed but also physically and mentally tired from racing. I also tried to normalize it, because I was afraid of being rude, to hurt Mx feelings. Instead I hurt my own for not being loud and clear from the beginning that I was uncomfortable, frustrated and at times resentful. I felt that I should not even have had to dealt with a situation like that. 



Moral of the story, do not wait for people who are racing. Do not assume that someone needs help, they will tell you if they would need immediate assistance. This is not a race for you if you do not have the intention to ride solo. And do not underestimate women’s ability to race.



I finished the race with stamps from all the CPs in 20 days. I stuck to my planned route the whole way. I grinded it out despite agonizing saddle sores, after stubbornly/stupidly riding/hike-a-bikeing CP2 parcours in the middle of the stormy night, in order to make it before the cut off time of CP2. 
Grateful for the places we got to ride through, incredibly humbling. 



This will cause a lot of curiosity and questions around my experience, but I kindly ask you to keep a constructive discussion, focusing on the race rules instead.

Again, stay safe and healthy in these Covid19 times.

If that person had followed the instructions in the race manual and sent the orgs a message along the lines of "this rider keeps stopping and waiting for me, I don't like it" the orgs could've intervened. Instead they did nothing and were presumably DQd when they arrived at the finish.

Also, how does that even work when they're on presumably different routes? Sure on a main roads you probably aren't going to vary that much but every time I've raced I've seen feck all other riders.

In the early hours of this morning, TCR rider Maria Holdcroft (041)
crashed "in a deep rut on a road" on the coast near Platamonas,
Greece. She is currently in hospital, treated and comfortable.
Potentially being discharged today, and not having scratched yet,
Maria plans to make it to the Finish Line when she is ready.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvetRQXKhYJ/

That sucks.

Shit. At least she's "ok" and being discharged.

I’m not sure the organiser would or even could intervene. How would you see them doing that?
And that is essentially the crux of the problem for me, they had to live with the situation on the road. There are lots of activities that should be reported in wider society and generally we work to remove those barriers, not blame the victim.

They don't even need to intervene. If they had simply reported it, they could've taken the other riders actions into account and maybe issued a time penalty rather than a DQ.

A time penalty to whom?

The alternative is "oh we rode the whole race together because he wouldn't leave me alone, hope that's ok?"

How would the riders they "beat" feel about that?

The person choosing to ride with someone thinking they were helping.

Presumably the tracker would match what they're saying.

How much of the race were they riding together? How many opportunities to split did they not take?

You've shown the rider's post - where is the organiser comment about the incident? What did they decide? I can't read Facebook.

I’ve tried to refrain from taking it to the extreme. But would you blame the victim or the perpetrator of stalking?

Yeah, it's definitely the victim's fault. The fuck are you on about.
Anyway your points have escalated to the nonsensical. Tootles.

I’ll try really spell it out, I read the above, and from what I witnessed was bordering on stalking if indeed it didn’t cross that line.
You can call me crazy but maybe we should all be looking out for each other as a community. Not just putting the emphasis on the one who the infraction occurred against to report it. Is it that hard to fathom that someone might be worried for their safety if they protest too much in a situation?

In this particular incident they were already out of GC for a 20 day finish. I don’t think that means all rules should go out the window in how we conduct ourselves still within a “race”.

I finished out of GC but I was still holding myself accountable to the rules and I certainly wouldn’t assume it was ok to ride with someone as they were out of GC too. Just because they can’t be penalised doesn’t mean their own integrity and their race doesn’t have importance..

Anyway you’ll be glad to know I have to go… for now ;-)

I'm riding turbo. You're more than welcome to draft me in this situation.

This goes beyond simple race rules. I'm not sure why someone didn't feel comfortable reporting it, to the police let alone the race organisation. It would be a good question to ask and a good learning opportunity. A nasty situation to be stuck it.

Interesting discussion!

The rules are the rules but they are not totally clear, in wording / application, so there is some scope for confusion.

I can see that it is sometimes harder to make a stand regarding the rules. If you are racing for first place, or the top 10, then everyone pretty much accepts that the rules are sacrosanct. But if you are racing for seventieth place, my experience is that a lot of people don't take it as seriously. Some do, but many do not. Also the dotwatchers don't scrutinise that end of the field as much - they focus on the top end as that is what matters most for the event.

In that environment it is harder to be the guy who plays by the rules and who insists everyone else does, than it is at the front. It can be done, but it takes more confidence and a clear head, and certainty about the rules, all of which might be lacking.

I've got an example from last year - but got to go now - play date gone wrong!

So last year I was heading across Bulgaria on the last day with about 200km to go. It was a main road in the middle of the day, busy and hot. I suddenly saw someone ahead, stopped at the side of the road. He was a rider who I'd not met before. He shouted to me to stop, so I did. He then said that he had been stuck there for two hours - in what was a really unpleasant place with no room to get off the road - trying to get his tubeless to work as he'd run out of tubes. He basically begged me for a tube.

I took pity on him. Obviously I should have asked for his brevet card, and he should have offered it. But it wasn't the first thing that I thought of - and he didn't offer it, and I took a tube out of my bag and threw it to him (I had another spare), and got on my way immediately.

When I started riding, I thought about the card and what I should have done, and what I should do next. I decided to send an email to the race saying I had given someone a tube, but not name them as I thought he might declare it at the finish and report himself as having asked for and accepted assistance. If they had asked me for his name I would have given it.

So, what happened? I checked the rules after and discovered that I should have been disqualified for helping someone without aksing for the their card. I've done a few of these events but had never known that was the case. I never got a reply from the race email - they ignored it. And he ended up being excluded from GC for breaking another rule, but I don't think he owned up to asking for the tube.

Clearly I should have asked for his card and I didn't. He didn't offer it, and TBH, I felt both taken by surprise and a bit intimidated by the situation: I didn't quite know how to ask for his card, and it was clear he wasn't expecting me to ask for it.

If I was in the top 10 or top 20 then it would have been clear cut, but in about 70th place, there is an element of being a bit of a dick if you get some guy DQ'd for a tube. If it ever happened again, I'd know exactly what to say. I'd say something like 'are you really sure you want me to give you a tube as I would have to ask you to give me your card?' But I wasn't quick enough to think of that at the time.