True story. 1994 Junior National Championships, Male 13/14 match sprint quarter final. The other guy was designated to lead out. This means he has to maintain the lead at a fast walking pace - unless I voluntarily take it - for the first lap. 400m velodrome means this is a 2 lap race (in case that matters to you). In turn 1 of the first lap, he slows to a track stand (illegal). No whistle, so I play his game and track stand too. He looks at me, looks at the ground, then clips out and puts his foot on the ground. A whistle blows and the guy is awarded a restart. The officials heard and shrugged off my complaint that he was doing a track stand on lap 1. At the restart, his holder waited after the whistle while my holder let go, causing me to take the lead out.

1) Were my opponent's tactics ethical?
2) Should the officials have DQ'ed my opponent for falling while doing an illegal maneuver (as per the rule book)?
3) Was my holder stupid for not making sure my opponent went first?
4) Should I have shot from the whistle to make it an 800m time trial and surprise the crap out of the guy?

Additional info: I did not know about the DQ is making an illegal maneuver rule until a few days later, so that's why I didn't protest. It was my first National and my dad was my holder, so excuse him for any error on his part.

Final question: If I had protested after the round and they still declined, how would the USCF have handled a formal complaint considering you can't go back and put me into the semi-final after the fact?

The other guy was stronger than me on paper (qualified faster) so it's not a huge deal, but it made me very curious as to the ins and outs of racing and all the sneaky tactics that go on. "Everybody cheats. I just didn't know."

In third grade I was picked last for dodgeball. :(

In third grade I was picked last for dodgeball. :(
So was I, and I was always the first one out. Go figure.

He was wrong in every instance and the official should have forced him to the front on the restart. You never "voluntarily" took the lead from him. My guess is they figured a 13/14 race really wouldn't hinge on that small bit. I would think on a 2 lap race he's only obligated to lead for the first HALF lap, not full. not sure.

I finally figured it out. You look like Erik Breukink.

I had to look up Erik Breukink just to figure out who the heck he was. I can see the resemblance.

The rule book did not have a provision for excessively long velodromes (what a weird velodrome to race on!). Since the entire event was a juniors event, I doubt the officials were blowing it off as unimportant. They probably didn't do much because I didn't make a concerted effort to appeal the restart.

It was still a great experience for me, and it warmed my heart when the guy's teammate came over an apologized saying that he was a jerk. Even better was watching my friend and favorite from my hometown beating him in the semi final, sending him to lose the bronze sprint as well.

Yep, bad officiating. They're supposed to watch everything in that event.
And at the level, you just KNOW that most of those guys are coached by guys who know every trick in the book.

Were they ethical? In the world of competitive sports, there are tactics and there are tricks. It pays to know both.

^ Well put, and the learning curve is steep at that age.

Wow, at the '07 Match Sprint I remember a couple of riders being DQ'ed fro track standing, they must have cracked down since then.
Anyways, if I were you, I would have played everything fair, just because when I do soemthing illegal that someone else has done without consequence, I get in trouble.

Wow, at the '07 Match Sprint I remember a couple of riders being DQ'ed fro track standing, they must have cracked down since then.
Anyways, if I were you, I would have played everything fair, just because when I do soemthing illegal that someone else has done without consequence, I get in trouble.
Yeah, my little brother taught me that lesson! In hindsight, I realized that if his holder held him longer intentionally, I could have sprinted and time trialed away from him with no chance of him catching my draft. I did beat him in the individual pursuit, after all.

Have you been stewing over this for 14 years? :wtf:

I suppose you could look the guy up and just go kill him. Either that or talk to Floyd Landis. :lol:

Have you been stewing over this for 14 years? :wtf:

I suppose you could look the guy up and just go kill him. Either that or talk to Floyd Landis. :lol:
lol no I had long forgotten about it, but the rash of ethics questions reminded me of the situation. I did spend a lot of time the following year thinking about what I could have done instead (like the time trial effort idea) more or less to make sure I didn't get screwed again. Unfortunately, I was getting sick too often and couldn't seem to train up to the level for the 15/16 group so I never went back to the nationals. So much for the Olympics.

Heh! In hindsight, guess you should have pulled the same trackstand stunt and waited to see what would happen. Wow, I remember going to the junior worlds back in 1978 when they first opened up the Trexlertown velodrome. Thanks for reminding me how old I am!! :roflmao2: