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I'm having a debate with a friend about when to yield to a different category faster rider.
For example if your in sport cat at British Sherwood NPS round and an elite is coming up from behind on tight single track, should you:
1. stop and get off the track/ride off the course
2. hold them up for a few seconds say 10 until there is a suitable place for them to overtake?
Move over I'd say. Their race is more important 😆
If there is an elite behind you you'll probably know about it, because you won't even need to get off the track before you are rammed unceremoniously off line.
...so to clarify...get out the way.
Move over. I had a bad day today and yielded for the first four elites, no point making your bad day theirs.
move over...they have the right of way,its hard to race when your stuck behind back markers...ive never riden anyone off in a mtb race but in cross i have.If your being lapped you pull over...thats all there is too it ...today i had a mare but pulled over for the fastest guys
I'm not sure they have right of way but I appreciate what you're saying. I definitely wouldn't want to be holding them up and they certainly have a lot riding on results, excuse the pun 😛
I've done the lap by lap analysis...pretty close stuff. There are also one or two reports coming in.
http://xcenduro.co.uk/racing/races/2011/bmbs_2011_r1.asp
'elite rider coming through' 🙂
Always let them past.
Not so for the tubes that overtake then faff/unclip etc and hold you up, or let you catch them a few hundred yards later!
Move over. It's the polite thing to do.
Definitely move out of the way. Put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn't you exepect slower people to get out of the way? Plus they will be grateful when you do.
I thought the question in the op was about how/when to move, not whether you should. On tight single track, should you be throwing yourself in the undergrowth to let others past?
How many laps are these races ?
If you're getting lapped on a 4 lap XC race, then don't even wait until you are holding them up, get out of the way as soon as you realise you are being caught.
Multi lap marathons are a different matter though.
There's all sorts of abilities mixed up after the first hour or so. Just move over as soon as it's convenient.
Def move over for other cats if it's safe, esp if they are polite.
If they are rude and try to pass you somewhere dumb, well thats their lookout. (in reference to well known for her rudeness former British Champion who yelled at me to get out of the way on the tricky rooty cornery step down bit at Drumlantrig a few years ago - I was riding in Masters - weren't nowhere I could move to really that wouldn't have held us both up more. She lost a few more seconds to my elbows for that piece of crazy lady bad manners)
If the race organisers put differening abilities on the same track at the same time then IMO its fair sport and if your in front then the person catching behind has to move off line to get past etc (if there is no way for you to safely move out of the way)
If they are arsey and try and get passed and make it unsafe them I'd have no quarm getting my elbows out and making them swerve off line, knocking them off pro or not, just because your good doesn't mean you can't have manners.
+1 FunkyDunc.
Good manners cost nothing, but bad manners could cost them a place!
Yeah. I'm with funkydunc on this.
I have always found the properly quick riders to be polite & efficient at overtaking. The few occasions I have had no choice but hold them up, I have apologised and most of them shrug it off.
The worst people I find are the mid-pack runners who think they are faster than they actually are and everyone should yield to their carbon & lycra clad mighty-ness.
If the race organisers put differening abilities on the same track at the same time...
Isn't that a little unfair on the organisers ?
There's only so many hours in a day. If they want to get all the different classes in, then they are going to have to combine some races.
It's the BC Commissaires who decide race order and gaps between cats, not the race organisers.
However a badly thought out track and race groupings can make problems worse.
It must be just about impossible to design a course and group 20 categories in to 4 races (I'm guessing at the numbers) without the fast riders lapping the slow ones.
Generally I think its fairly obvious when to let people past. But there is one incident that sticks in my mind.
I was doing a gorrick race near the end of my final lap. There was guy behind me in the same race, there was definitely space to over take if he went wide round me.
But he called and tried to come inside of me. I did nt exactly mean to block him off but I didnt want to take the wide line as we were minutes from the end of the race so I end up blocking him.
He then swore at me but he did have the pace to then over take me on the next bit but this seems to tire him out and I kept up with him to the finish line.
Personally I reckon as we were in the same category so close to the finish blocking here is fine, it is a race after all.
If he's fitter than me he should prove it by taking the outside track.
The top couple of riders got past me fine yesterday on the tightest bit of single track, just pulled off line for a couple of seconds shouted for them to come past then raced on. Not sure what all the fuss was about! Did frustrate me though when I would pull off line for the pro's to go past and a fellow competitor would nip past mind.
Aye, and it won't get easier as UCI keep making the tracks shorter.
From the MTB race Rule Book;
8.3.8 A rider must act in a polite manner at all times and
permit any faster rider to overtake without obstructing
From the Cyclocross Rule Book;
11.8 When being lapped, it is the responsibility of the lapped
rider to surrender the racing line.
Not quite as clear cut for being lapped in a MTB race!