walshconor

Today I took a win at a local training crit with a solo break on the last lap. Maybe I've been watching too much pro racing, but it seemed appropriate to raise my arms at the line. It should be notes there was NO group sprint. The main field didn't come in for another 5-7 seconds. Soon after I found out I had been DQ'd for my "celebration". I'm wondering if that is a call they are allowed to make. At the start they advised no solutes at the finish but I'm pretty sure the USCF rule book does not make them illegal. Now I know this is a training race and they are trying to prevent crashes, but was my move so risky that it validated a DQ and do they really have the right to do this? Its not like I lost prize money or anything but I want to know if I'm wrong or are they.


Thanks for the time

dar83

does seem pretty harsh if no one was even close to ya to dq over a small victory arm pump. But in there defense rules are rules

ted ward

They're illegal if the official deems them unsafe. If the official gives a warning you'd best take heed.

The official gave a warning before my first cat 5 win last year so I stuck to the fist pump.

walshconor

As far as I know solutes are NOT illegal. I could be wrong

MONGO!

If you were told not to do it at the start you should have known better.

botto 

5---------+4


^

sorry, but it makes sense.

Flatballer

It's a tricky area. Generally if the official warns you not to do it, it's a bad idea. But technically, I'm not sure they're allowed to prohibit people from doing it safely, since it's not in the book. There are rules in the book that can be interpreted to DQ you if you caused an unsafe situation, which obviously wasn't the case here.

I guess they can just say that it wasn't safe, whether it really was or not doesn't matter. It's a judgment call, and it's theirs to make.

But you're correct that the USCF rulebook has nothing in there about taking your hands off the bars.

Anyone know if officials are allowed to make up rules as they see fit? I can see both sides.

walshconor

true, thats a good point. I figured being out in front eliminated most of the danger and no one would sweat it too much. Apparently he did

walshconor

true.

MDcatV

you need to read up on the rules

if you're going to race, doesnt it make sense that you would know them?

gsteinb

Huge fail. You don't need to read the rules. You need to listen to the officials.

*CycleBreath*

Good on ya !
for asking a fair open question...
What 's up with the emotional responses?
Where would we be...if we had to be...
CycleBreath

carpediemracing 

If an official states no two handed victory salutes at the race (or "Keep at least one hand on the bars" etc), that's the rule for the race. There can be race specific rules for specific courses/days. For example, at my race any rider caught peeing anywhere is disqualified for the day.

USAC allows officials to allow two handed victory salutes (a few years ago two handed salutes were deemed illegal, therefore officials didn't have that discretion). USAC does not make it mandatory to allow such salutes.

I could see how an official may declare that keeping one hand on the bars is mandatory for a Cat 5 race, because the experience level will be all over the place. Not saying that there aren't good bike handlers in a Cat 5 race, but there is a chance that there may be riders around that aren't comfortable on a bike or in a group.

Finally perception from the rider's point of view can be different from reality, at least for me. I've arbitrarily thrown my bike at the line for wins where I figured I had the win sewn up, clear by a mile. Then I see some pictures and there are guys pretty close to me. Then I watch the video and I can't believe I won the race because everyone was so close. I'm not saying that's the case here, but if riders could raise their hands using the "I thought I was clear" excuse, lots of people would be raising their hands when they, in fact, not clear. 5 or 10 seconds is nothing with 500 meters to go, not with a good field sprinting behind you. In fact, in the sprint I won this year, we caught the breakaway guy in the last 10-15 meters, and he had been away for something like 5 laps.

btw there is no USCF anymore, it's USAC. Not that everyone including officials still call stuff "USCF" but technically there is no USCF. I think they announced this two years ago.

cdr

patentcad

If they DQ'd every USCF race winner for this, would anyone ever actually win a race without getting DQ'd? I see this often, and DQ's are rare. It would appear to be within the latitude of the official to let it go, and were I the official, I would.

But sadly for you, I was not the official today. Some bust balls more than others I suppose.

cmh

I think it is a harsh call since you were off the front. But if they warned you at the start line...

They have been DQ'ing (or maybe it has been relegating) winners for hands off the bars celebrations in my area this year if it was a pack sprint. They did give a guy a warning when he celebrated OTF.

Go win the next one and pump one fist.

patentcad

Hey Carpey, I'm sure you are 100% correct, but when you're my age, it will always be the friggin USCF. That's like the term "Kleenex".

patentcad

You could also try flipping the very same official the bird, but that might not be such a crafty move.

botto 

does everyone get a stadium pal with their number?

patentcad

They say that for all the city races, and I'm sure they might DQ you for peeing behind a tree. The trick is to not get caught, and I never will get caught. Plus I usually use the bathrooms. Although in Prospect Park I did pee behind a Circus truck today.

gsteinb

It's not that hard to actually listen to the officials instructions. Last year at one particular race I did they announced that anyone taking their hands off the bars at the finish would be DQed. And you know what? No one did. It's not the official's fault the OP didn't listen.

botto 

here's an example of what not to do -

bdcheung

deadly downtube

you did a victory celebration upon winning a training crit?? how can you be disqualified, it's just a training ride, what are you disqualified from?? celebrate winning training rides if you want, but I, and possibly other riders think you look absolutely idiotic doing so. no offense.

walshconor

get off your pedestal, champ

bostongarden

Congrats on beating everyone else across the line and it is always good to learn a good lesson when the stakes are low...this is easy for me to say, but, try not to sweat it, learn from it and then go thrash everyone again...