Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once

For those of you with a British bent, you will, of course, recognoise Michelle "of the Resistance" DuBois of the French Resistance from 'Allo 'Allo, speaking before she gave vital information on the rescue of the British airmen or the hiding-place of van Klomp's Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies (I kid you not, but then British comedy did bring us Benny Hill).

Whilst the TA may not look as good in a beret, rain-coat and short white ankle-socks (ooh-la-la), we implore you all, to leesten vary carefully, I zall zay zis only wance.

Drafting. We all know it. Following too closely behind the cyclist in front. TriCan and the ITU have even defined this distance for us, it's 10 metres (approx 30 feet) from the front wheel of the bike in front, or about 9 metres from the rear wheel. This is a big no-no in age-group triathlon. Remember how we say the rules are based on sportsmanship, fair-play, safety and the idea that triathlon is an individual endurance event? Well drafting goes against all four.

When you are drafting, you have up to a 30% decrease in drag compared to the guy in front. There is always the temptation not to do your work, to sit in and get some of your speed for free. This isn't fair or sportsmanlike.

The there's the individual endurance thing, Working in a group of two or more isn't very individual.

Finally, there's safety. You need a lot of skill and experience to draft, skill and experience, we regret to say, most of us do not have. You can easily cause an accident, either to yourself or others. Also our roads are not closed, and a driver driving to get by pack of cyclists is more likely to cause an accident either to the cyclists themselves or to on-coming traffic.

Still, people draft. last Sunday at Cyclesmith there was a particularly egregious example, a right bunch going on. You are all lucky, and you know who you are, that you all didn't get canned for that little example of pack riding, and the TA can give you that little tid-bit straight from the officials' lounge. You are damned lucky the TD wasn't, for whatever reason, in a red-carding mood 'cos I would have had at least one of you, maybe more in the penalty box or DSQ. And if I sound pissed, I am. I'm pissed, I'm embarrassed and I'm ashamed. I thought you guys were better than this.

This photo the TA took at a race in Quebec shows drafting. These guys may not be working together a la a TTT, but they're still gaining advantage. Funny story, we got into this group and told them they were drafting, in English, and got "je ne comprends pas Anglais. Maudit triathletes, where's my whistle?

Still, one more chance, so here are the rules.

1) The draft-zone is 10 m x 3 m. Go and pace it out. It's a box that surrounds each and every bicycle. You can only enter this box if you are going to pass.

In the instance below, the guy on the far right is righteous, so is the guy in the middle. The guy on the far left is drafting,

2) Once you enter the box you have two options; pass within 15 seconds or fall back out of the box. Yes, the passing time was 15 seconds when the draft-zone was only 7 metres, we know. Is that fair? Well, maybe or maybe not, but those are the rules. The TA doesn't make them, we only apply them. www.triathlon.org, just leave my name out of it.

3) Our definition of overtaking is when your front wheel is in front of the front wheel of the bike you are passing. Once that happens, the guy you just passed is now technically drafting and it is up to him/her to move back. For this to happen in 15" they will likely have to glass-crank it for a few revs or maybe touch the brakes.

4) You can pass once you've been passed, but you must go 10 m back first, i.e out of the draft-zone.

5) You cannot ride side-by-side. This is called "blocking" in the rules and "half-wheeling" by everyone else. You know, when you get half a wheel in front, then they go half a wheel in front of you and so-on until you're going 27 mph!

6) Do not overtake someone who is overtaking.

7) Crossing the yellow line is an automatic DSQ.

There, that should do it.

If you get popped for drafting, the new rules say you must stop at the penalty box. This should be at the bike turn or the run turn and there will be a board with your bib-number on it letting you know to stop. Either way, stop there and do your time. If officials are short on the ground, we'll do it the old-fashioned way and you'll serve it at your rack-spot. While serving the penalty you are not allowed to eat, drink, pee, whatever, Stand there, do your time and move on. It's a 1 minute penalty if you're stopped in a Sprint for drafting, 2 minutes in an Olympic and 5 in a Long Course and the time starts, as with all penalties, once you stop whinging. In a Sprint, if you get caught a second time it's an automatic DSQ, in an Olympic three times and LC four times.

We are allowed to be pro-active and warn you if you are getting close. This isn't an official censure, just an FYI. If your number isn't on the board in the box, carry on! Similarly, we don't have to tell you from the back of Moto#1 that there's a penalty coming; so keep a close eye on the board,

Now for the FAQ.

"How many times can I pass?". No, contrary to rumour, there isn't a rule saying you can only pass some-one x times. Have a ding-dong battle all the way to your heart's content. Just remember to go 10 m back before having another go.

"I can't get past him". We hear this a lot. Now, listen very carefully, I shall say this only once. You've been watching too much Versus. This race is won on the run, not the bike! If you two are evenly matched and you can't get by, well don't. Go 10m back and save your energy by not trying to pass any more, bide your time and smoke the guy on the run!

Crystal?

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