Over the weekend a rider came off the wheel he was on and suddenly cut across me nearly taking off my front wheel. Close enough for me to brake and to scare the … out of me.
In a pairs bunch life is pretty easy. In this case I was rolling a line of riders up the outside of the pack who were about 4 to 5 wide.
I observed this same rider do a similar maneuver twice, once cutting across the off line (rolling back from the front) and once into a small half gap (forcing the trailing rider to brake) and the continuing up making his own channel. In short very aggressive riding and in my opinion on the borderline of dangerous riding. BTW, this is not the same as riding someone off a wheel, which is an aggressive but predictable merge. I mean suddenly changing direction with no regard to those around you relying on no more than your perception.
You can lodge a complaint for dangerous riding, which I didn’t bother with, but then I wondered what defined dangerous riding and consequently, how you were supposed to race in the pack. I had a look at Cycling NSW and it is all a bit vague. The only semi-clear rules pertain to sprinting, stay on the line which is parallel to the side of the road.
Anyway, common sense (misnomer that it is) would suggest that before you change lines/directions in the pack you need to look over your shoulder or under your arm or at least look for a shadow…
Has anyone seen any rules or guidelines from cycling AU, UCI or any other body?
Cycling NSW Tech Regs wrote:A competitor who rides or acts in a manner considered to be dangerous or detrimental to other competitors or the public may be penalised A competitor who pushes or pulls another competitor, or interferes with the progress of another competitor, may be penalised including the risk of disqualification.
Riders must ride a parallel course to the shoulder/edge of the road surface. Failure to do so may incur a penalty.
gg) It shall be an offence to leave the sealed portion of the carriageway to gain an advantage. A rider who leaves the road surface must cease to sprint.