The LoToJa Crisis
“These are the times
that try LoToJa participants’ souls. The summer cyclist and the sunshine PCR member's (you know who you are) will, in this crisis, shrink from the support of
their cycling club brother; but he/she who stands by him now, deserves the love
and thanks of all LoToJa participants. Tyranny of arbitrary application of
rules, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with
us, that the steeper the hill, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain
too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its
value. Cyclists know how to put a proper price upon their preparation; and it
would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom while competing
in a USA Cycling’s longest single day sanctioned cycling event from harsh
application of its rules should not be highly rated.”
—Ripped off from Thomas
Paine’s “The Crisis”
Two Riders Were DQed For Taking Selfies - - Did The Race Go Too Far?
(Read More)
An Open Letter/Appeal to
LoToJa Officials:
In last week’s Parleys Canyon Riders blog post, Big Man, a member of a pack of
cyclists known as “The PCRs” (a group loosely affiliated by a common
bond of cycling) mentioned, that several of its members participated in LoToJa. One such participant is a professor employed
by a graduate school of business at a prestigious university. He goes by the moniker “Mr. MBA”.
All year long, Mr. MBA labored mentally and physically to prepare for LoToJa
2018. It was the second time he has participated
in the vaunted cycling event. He completed it 40 minutes faster than last year,
in part, because this year he did not have Big Man (who should have been
disqualified from last year’s LoToJa for starting early, but wasn’t) as an
anchor dragging him to the back of the pack of cyclists. For several days after the race, Mr. MBA basked in the glow of his triumph of completing the race, stating, not so
subtly, to all who feigned to listen: “Did I mention I rode my bike 206 miles,
through three states in one day”, a remarkable accomplishment for a man of any
age, let alone one so advanced.
But all glory is fleeting. While
the embers of Mr. MBA’s triumph were still glowing, a scant 4 days after the
race a reporter from Bicycling (magazine) called to ask him if he wished to
make statement for being disqualified for taking a “selfie” at the finish line
of LoToJa. This was the first he heard
of being DQed. A wise person might have consulted his attorney before speaking
to the press. But not Mr. MBA. He sang like a canary, confessing that in fact
the photograph of him taking a picture of the finish line had not been
photo-shopped by one of his competitors.
Taking a photo at the end of a race surrounded by dozens of delirious
riders is candidly not the greatest display of good judgment. However, the irony of Mr. MBA’s
disqualification is that it is a punishment without a crime, according to the
official rules of LoToJa and is that he has been punished for an act that does
not appear to violate any fair reading of the rules of LoToJa or US Cycling
(not that anyone likely claims to have read them).
Nowhere in the 37-page LoToJa 2018 Event Guide book does it state that
taking photographs is prohibited. The Guide’s
only mention of cellphones, which Mr. MBA happened to use to take the photo, is “Talking on a cell phone while riding,”
which he did not do, but would have resulted in a disqualification. Nowhere in LoToJa’s Guide does it give
participants fair warning that taking a photograph (with a cellphone or a 1950
Kodak Duaflex II) is prohibited and will result in a DQ.
The Guide does state that the sleep-inducing
186-page USA Cycling rule book applies to the race. “Really?” Why on earth are that many pages
necessary to tell someone how to pedal from point A to Point B? Thanks Lance. Do you really expect a 61 year
old man to be able to stay awake to read and more importantly to retain that
many rules?
Unsurprisingly, the voluminous USA Cycling Rules are vague
in their application to this situation.
Buried among other rules such as Rule 8A1(A) (failure to wear a helmet
in the course of the event while not actually racing—first offense a warning,
second DQ, page 140 ), Rule 8A5(C)(starting at an incorrect time or location—first
offense DQ, page 141(sorry Big Man)), and Rule 8A5(M) (prohibition of public
urination, which occurs far too often during LoToJa--penalty for relegation
and/or $20 fine--too light of punishment in my estimation--page 145), is the
Rule Mr. MBA is alleged to have violated: Rule 8A1(L)(page 141). That rule prohibits: “Use of a mobile phone
or audio entertainment device during race.”
Mr. MBA was DQed for “selfie at finish line” (allegedly).
So what does Rule 8A1(L) really mean?
It is reasonable interpret the Rule to prohibit talking on a cellphone and
listening to loud music while racing because LoToJa is concerned with
participants being distracted and unable to hear what is going on around them. The rule does not prohibit one from taking a
photograph with a camera. In this
instance the camera just happened to also have a cellphone function, which was
not being used. Surely LoToJa officials
would not so broadly interpret the Rule to prohibit any use of any tool that
happens to be connected to a cellphone, because virtually all riders use
devises for tracking mileage and other performance metrics, that also happen to
be cellphone applications. Should we all
be disqualified? What is clear is that the
USA Cycling Rules do not explicitly prohibit selfies or photographs of any kind.
Thankfully, nowhere in the LoToJa Rules or the USA Cycling Rules does it
mention disqualification for exercising poor judgment. That would be too vague and arbitrary, and
would apply to most of us at one point or another during the course of
mind-numbing 206 mile race. The evidence
shows that Mr. MBA was at least temporarily insane, if not permanently. What sane person rides his bike over 3,000
miles climbing over 225,000 feet in preparation for a 206 mile race? What normal person rides his bike 206 miles,
in one day through three states, pays $325 a night to stay in Best Western
motels in Logan and Jackson just to get a tee shirt and a medal? Mr. MBA has repeated the event twice and wants
to do it again—the very definition of insanity.
Anyone who has done the race knows that after 206 miles there are only
two things you are thinking about when you cross the finish line: a warm shower
and bed. He obviously was not thinking
clearly when he snapped the photograph as he crossed the finish line.
DQ’ing Mr. MBA is too harsh of punishment and LoToJa’s rules don’t
require it: “penalties for rule violations will be determined on a
case-by-case basis but may result in
disqualification.…” The USA Cycling
Rules allow the Chief Referee or Race Commission to “reduce any penalty based
upon the gravity of the offense(s) committed.”
USA Cycling Rule 8. And those
Rules acknowledge that the penalties are merely “recommendations”. Id.
at 1K2(b). There was no clear violation
of the rules here, and even if one could torture a “selfie” violation out of
the vague rules, the punishment of disqualifying an aged and feeble-minded
rider does not fit the crime. Come on LoToJa, cut the old man a break and
reinstate him as a finisher!
Actual picture taken, which you can see is NOT a selfie
