Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Yesterday I helped out (or so I thought) by being a motorbike escort for a time trial on the 10 mile circuit around the Isle of Cumbrae. This was entirely voluntary, and something I have never done before. I qualified to do it on the grounds that I have a motorbike!
The organisation was a bit, well, chaotic, to be honest. When I arrived on the Island an hour before the event start, I found the event organiser who was running around trying to do a hundred things at once. There were about 100 competitors doing the time trial, followed by a road race in the afternoon. I was given an orange hi-viz with "Cycle race marshall" printed on it, and told where the start point was. I was given no briefing on the rules or etiquette of road racing, and as a utility/touring cyclist I have never taken part in cycle racing of any type. So off I went to the start point, and set off about 30 meters or so in front of the first rider. As quicker riders came through, I was trying to keep a distance of about 30/50 meters in front of them.
Towards the end of the route, you come into a 30 mph zone. On one of the laps, a car decided to slow down to about 20/25 mph in front of me, and at that particular point an overtake was not possible. So the cyclist behind me caught up and was behind me for a minute or so until I was able to get past the car, which the cyclist then overtook, too (this guy was FAST, although I don't know if he was the ultimate winner or not). I then reinstated my gap for the short distance to the finish point, before going back to the start line and doing the route again for whoever happened to be setting off at that particular time. I did 4 circuits, then went back to the event HQ at the town hall.
As I got off my bike, some nobber sitting outside the place said to me "How many did you manage to get disqualified, then?"
I was a bit taken aback by this and asked him what he meant, to which he said "Was it someone you knew?". The penny then dropped that he was accusing me of allowing someone to draft the motorbike. Despite wanting to launch into a confrontation with the pratt, I just asked him if he was winding me up; but apparently he wasn't. So I went into the venue and got hold of the race organiser to find out what was going on, and if anyone had been disqualified as a result of my incompetent (??) marshalling. No-one had been disqualified. The organiser and myself then sought out the nobber, who was adamant that I had allowed someone to draft, and that there were 4 witnesses.
Anyway, the long and short of it; what are the rules (if any) for marshalling? I feel a bit hard done to that I was being criticised for something that was not my fault, either through lack of knowledge/training/briefing, or was unavoidable due to the presence of traffic. I didn't give up my Sunday (and my petrol, and ferry fare) to try and help out a race organiser in his hour of need, just for some nobber to let off steam at. Next year, when your event is struggling for marshalls, guess who WON'T be volunteering! Honestly, I am not an aggressive guy, as anyone on here who knows me will vouch for (I hope!), but I really wanted to put this guy on his ar5e yesterday.
The organisation was a bit, well, chaotic, to be honest. When I arrived on the Island an hour before the event start, I found the event organiser who was running around trying to do a hundred things at once. There were about 100 competitors doing the time trial, followed by a road race in the afternoon. I was given an orange hi-viz with "Cycle race marshall" printed on it, and told where the start point was. I was given no briefing on the rules or etiquette of road racing, and as a utility/touring cyclist I have never taken part in cycle racing of any type. So off I went to the start point, and set off about 30 meters or so in front of the first rider. As quicker riders came through, I was trying to keep a distance of about 30/50 meters in front of them.
Towards the end of the route, you come into a 30 mph zone. On one of the laps, a car decided to slow down to about 20/25 mph in front of me, and at that particular point an overtake was not possible. So the cyclist behind me caught up and was behind me for a minute or so until I was able to get past the car, which the cyclist then overtook, too (this guy was FAST, although I don't know if he was the ultimate winner or not). I then reinstated my gap for the short distance to the finish point, before going back to the start line and doing the route again for whoever happened to be setting off at that particular time. I did 4 circuits, then went back to the event HQ at the town hall.
As I got off my bike, some nobber sitting outside the place said to me "How many did you manage to get disqualified, then?"
I was a bit taken aback by this and asked him what he meant, to which he said "Was it someone you knew?". The penny then dropped that he was accusing me of allowing someone to draft the motorbike. Despite wanting to launch into a confrontation with the pratt, I just asked him if he was winding me up; but apparently he wasn't. So I went into the venue and got hold of the race organiser to find out what was going on, and if anyone had been disqualified as a result of my incompetent (??) marshalling. No-one had been disqualified. The organiser and myself then sought out the nobber, who was adamant that I had allowed someone to draft, and that there were 4 witnesses.
Anyway, the long and short of it; what are the rules (if any) for marshalling? I feel a bit hard done to that I was being criticised for something that was not my fault, either through lack of knowledge/training/briefing, or was unavoidable due to the presence of traffic. I didn't give up my Sunday (and my petrol, and ferry fare) to try and help out a race organiser in his hour of need, just for some nobber to let off steam at. Next year, when your event is struggling for marshalls, guess who WON'T be volunteering! Honestly, I am not an aggressive guy, as anyone on here who knows me will vouch for (I hope!), but I really wanted to put this guy on his ar5e yesterday.
silly place for a road race imo
