Originally Posted by
gsteinb
but of course guys will move laterally to stay and win. I know a guy who for a time was one of the better riders in NYC. I swear he literally down graded over time from 1 to 4 and then took 4th Battenkill as a 4 (he lost to David Anthony who eventually got popped for doping, though admitted he doped his whole cycling career -- meaning you had an ex 1 and a doper in the top 4).
Yeah we talk about that. It just has to be policed and maybe, because of the nature of this new category, it's easier to calculate "staying points" to force upgrades out of that field. In the end it has to be the pressure of the others in the field complaining. Trust me - if it's supposed to be an easy field and someone starts waving a big stick then they'll get thrown back into the regular 4's field quickly.
The sandbagging is only part of the problem. The biggest part of the problem is that by design it's never a remotely level field or inviting field to new riders.