Getting pulled?

vanseggern1

Active Member
Yesterday at Whirleybird, I got pulled as I was preparing to start my fourth lap in 4/5 40+. I know that I wasn't lapped by the winner, so I figured that I would have gotten to go out for one more. I am very much a CX newbie, so maybe I don't know the rules, or perhaps this was a judgement call by the officials?

Just to be clear, this is in NO WAY a complaint/criticism, etc. I thought the race was EXTREMELY well organized and I was very pleasantly surprised to have the results emailed to me on my drive home.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Go faster.

It probably means they let your race go on the longer side, or the race leader needed to go that extra lap while the trailing edge of the race was going to go long, plus maybe some timing issues. Most likely this was done to keep the rest of the race day on target.

If the weather wasn't so crappy there's maybe a slightly higher chance they let it go. But they probably wanted to keep it tight in terms of timing.
 

StayHydrated

Swedish Chef
I know that I wasn't lapped by the winner, so I figured that I would have gotten to go out for one more.
This has happened to me before. Like @Norm said, it's a judgement call from the perspective of "it's going to take you another 10-12 minutes to do a lap, and we need to keep this show moving". I was upset the first time it happened to me, as I was chasing someone else who was also on the end of the lap and it was a personal challenge for me to try and beat them.

Let "I won't get lapped today" become "I won't get lapped this season" become "I won't get pulled" and so on. Maybe you're a lot faster than me and can skip those steps ;)
 

vanseggern1

Active Member
This has happened to me before. Like @Norm said, it's a judgement call from the perspective of "it's going to take you another 10-12 minutes to do a lap, and we need to keep this show moving". I was upset the first time it happened to me, as I was chasing someone else who was also on the end of the lap and it was a personal challenge for me to try and beat them.

Let "I won't get lapped today" become "I won't get lapped this season" become "I won't get pulled" and so on. Maybe you're a lot faster than me and can skip those steps ;)

Yes, I knew I had a good shot at catching the guy in front of me who they let go out for number 4. He was literally 2 sec ahead of me (confirmed by lap times), but Norm's and your explanations make perfect sense, so I guess I will heed Norm's advice and go faster.

BTW, I'm pretty sure I'm not a lot faster than ANYONE :p
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Yes, it's a judgement call. Also,it has little to do with the promoters. USAC officals make the call.

Perspective: The laps yesterday were in the range of 9-12 minutes for mortals. Promoters usually leave about 15 minutes between races. People want to pre-ride the course between races and pre-riders are never supposed to pass a racer still on course. That leaves almost no time for pre-riding if they let the lanterne rouge head out for another lap at the 40 minute mark. There are only so minutes in a day.

Moral: If you think there's a chance you might get pulled, sprint for the finish on the bell lap. I've been burned by this in races where they apply the 80% rule aggressively.
 

SSmtbr

Well-Known Member
@vanseggern1 I feel ya! It happened to me yesterday in the 4/5 race as well. Leader never lapped me and was confused when I was pulled with a lap to go. A little bummed but with it being my second ever cross race and first one in those conditions I’ll chalk it up to experience and motivation for the rest of the season. See ya out there!
 

vanseggern1

Active Member
For sure, @SSmtbr. What's your name? Mine is Steve (last name is same as username) and I just signed up for the Sunday Nittany race. I'll be the dork in a tuxedo jersey riding a bike that's way too fancy for my ability and not taking things TOO seriously ;)
 
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MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Pretty sure I got pulled in about half my races last year in the Masters 40+ field. Looking for repeat performances this year, if I actually register for anything. May have something to do with beer and donut handups.
 

SSmtbr

Well-Known Member
For sure, @SSmtbr. What's your name? Mine is Steve (last name is same as username) and I just signed up for the Sunday Nittany race. I'll be the dork in a tuxedo jersey riding a bike that's way too fancy for my ability and not taking things TOO seriously ;)

I'm Jared, on the Jalapeno Cycling devo team this season just trying to survive my first full season and having a good time at it. I'll be at the Nittany race on Sunday as well in orange and green Jalapeno kit and will look out for the tux!
 

vanseggern1

Active Member
I'm Jared, on the Jalapeno Cycling devo team this season just trying to survive my first full season and having a good time at it. I'll be at the Nittany race on Sunday as well in orange and green Jalapeno kit and will look out for the tux!

Great, hope to see you then!
 

Jeffreywoliver

Well-Known Member
I get the rationale for pulling riders. It happened to a friend of mine Sunday too. He doesn’t get to race much and was rightly pretty disappointed. I understand the difficulties promoters face as I’ve promoted a few races myself. That said, I feel like promoters should plan for everyone (as long as it’s safe) to finish and get their moneys worth. These races are ~$35 apiece not to mention all of the travel etc. It was only a 40 minute race. A few mins longer for the stragglers. Just an opinion.
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I get the rationale for pulling riders. It happened to a friend of mine Sunday too. He doesn’t get to race much and was rightly pretty disappointed. I understand the difficulties promoters face as I’ve promoted a few races myself. That said, I feel like promoters should plan for everyone (as long as it’s safe) to finish and get their moneys worth. These races are ~$35 apiece not to mention all of the travel etc. It was only a 40 minute race. A few mins longer for the stragglers. Just an opinion.

The issue here was twofold: (1) 10 to 13+ minute laps, and (2) a really really fast 4/5 open winner who was turning lap times a full minute faster than the winner of the 4/5 40+. They started pulling people when the leader was on the home stretch even if they hadn't been lapped.

Your race was scheduled as a 40 minute race. The winner raced for 35 minutes. So did your friend. The last people who weren't pulled raced for over over 47 minutes! On average, most people raced pretty darn close to the advertised 40 minutes. Some people got more, some people got less. Such is life. In this case, I think the officials (remember, it's not the promoter that decides who/when to pull riders) made the right call given the scenario. What the promoter could have done is shorten the course, but as a promoter it's really difficult to gauge lap times when it's muddy. I understand they did this for the Jr's by removing the wooded section but that was the fun part, right?
 
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