So I get the whole thing that timing devices are sometimes unsynchronised. For example, I say I rode 2:59:55; officially I'm logged as 3:00:41. I'm over it.
BUT when new proof surfaces that perhaps racetec may be out of sync.... I can't help but wonder....
In the Smooth Knobblies Argus results you would've seen that Billy and John Z came in less than a minute apart. 38 seconds to be exact. Now Billy is well known for her sneaky go for the jugular and kill them at the death trick. She's done it to me after 160km of riding together (One Tonner 2010). But I forgive her because she was taught this unscrupulous trick by none other than Twakkie - the former Gauteng Racing Vet (in case you didn't know). Anyway, I digress.....in the 2012 Argus Billy and John rode in the same group, together, the whole way. So imagine John's surprise when the timekeeper says he was 38 seconds behind Billy! (03:23:52 versus 03:24:31). If their average speed was about 33km/h, then 38 seconds should buy you a gap of about 357 metres. That's three and half rugby fields.
See the photo below that tends to put a shadow of doubt over the accuracy of the system. Remember, they started together, so that variable is negated! So either Billy crossed the line, came back, and then U-turned for John or this is the most extreme error of parallax I have ever seen!
John, three and half rugby fields behind Billy (according to the Argus Timekeeper)
