[NMCycling] USAC upgrade question for cross

Mon Oct 3 11:35:48 MDT 2016

Thanks for all the advice both public and private all.

John, I was 1st and 2nd in cat4/5 and masters 40+ at the state champs and
2nd and 3rd I think for the overall despite starting late.  So I think I'm
OK there.  I also don't want to sandbag 4/5 (to be clear, I don't have an
XC nor road background, I'm more an enduro guy), so I think I'll stick to
Masters and do an occasional 4/5 only.

BTW, Great Roosevelt race Hawke!!!

Thanks,

Chris

On Mon, Oct 3, 2016 at 4:24 AM, Jeff Huser via Bike-racers <
bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

> To race Masters at  cross nationals:  Up to racing age 54, you need to be
> at least a cat 3 not 4.  Age 55 and above cat 4s can race cx nationals and
> I think even cat 5.
>
>  The other way to upgrade, if you are a mtb racer, is to upgrade mtb to a
> cat 1 and then that can convert your cx cat to a 3.  There is significant
> sandbagging in the cat 4 group overall so there are some fast cat 4s as
> well.  The problem in NM is that most of our fields are not large enough
>  to force mandatory upgrades. I feel our State USAC organization should
> make some strong suggestions to cat 4  racers who consistently finish in
> the top 3 to upgrade.
>
> For cross series this year we will have a special “sandbag” award for
>  racer(s) who by  performance appear they are racing significantly above
> others in the cat 4 group.
>
> j
>
>
>
>
>
> *POINTS AWARDED FOR CYCLO-CROSS RACES*
>
>
>
>
>
> *Number of Starters*
>
> *Placing*
>
> *5-10*
>
> *11-20*
>
> *21-50*
>
> *50+*
>
> *1*
>
> 3
>
> 4
>
> 5
>
> 7
>
> *2*
>
> 2
>
> 3
>
> 4
>
> 5
>
> *3*
>
> 1
>
> 2
>
> 3
>
> 4
>
> *4*
>
>
>
> 1
>
> 2
>
> 3
>
> *5*
>
>
>
>
>
> 1
>
> 2
>
> *6*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 1
>
> Cat 4 to 3: Voluntary upgrade with 10 points. Fifteen points or two wins
> if the field had at least 30 competitors is a mandatory upgrade.*
>
>
>
> *CX CATEGORY BASED ON ROAD OR MTB CROSS-COUNTRY CATEGORY*
>
>
>
> *ROAD CATEGORY*
>
> *MTB XC CATEGORY*
>
> *CX CATEGORY*
>
> Pro/1
>
> Pro
>
> 1
>
> 2
>
> 1
>
> 3
>
> 3
>
> 2
>
> 4
>
> 4
>
> 3 (*women only*)
>
> 5
>
> 5
>
> 3 (*men only*)
>
> 5
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Bike-racers [mailto:bike-racers-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] *On
> Behalf Of *Bob Perls via Bike-racers
> *Sent:* Sunday, October 02, 2016 9:55 PM
> *To:* M. John Jordan
> *Cc:* Bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com
> *Subject:* Re: [NMCycling] USAC upgrade question for cross
>
>
>
> John,
>
>
>
> That is a great description and very helpful.  I guess the other question
> is:  I am racing masters so why do I care about upgrading from cat. 4 to
> 3?  I wanted to move from 5 to 4 because officially I was not supposed to
> be in the Masters racers as a Cat. 5.  When will it ever make a
> difference?  My understanding is if I want to race Masters even at
> Nationals, I can do that without upgrading.  Is that true?  Thanks.
>
>
>
> Bob Perls
>
> http://www.nmopenprimaries.org
>
> https://www.facebook.com/NewMexicoOpenPrimaries
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 2, 2016, at 9:06 PM, M. John Jordan via Bike-racers <
> bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> Chris,
>
>   First, please check what I am about to say for yourself in the 2016 USAC
> Rule Book (online at USACycling.org <http://usacycling.org>,http://www.
> usacycling.org/usa-cycling-rule-book.htm ), specifically the subsections
> in main section 1E. Rider Upgrading and Downgrading.
>
>
>
>   If you desire to upgrade from a Cat 4 to a Cat 3, you must race with
> others of similar category (Cat 4 in this case) or higher (Cat 3/2/1) in
> sufficient numbers to qualify the event for upgrade purposes, but you must
> also race and place sufficiently high with these similar category racers so
> that you earn points towards a requested (by you) upgrade based on these
> very same results.  So, if you continue to race Master's, it is more of an
> age-based grouping rather than a specific capability-based,
> category-specific grouping.  What this means is that when you race in
> Master's class, you may be racing with Cat 4, Cat 3, Cat 2, and sometimes
> even Cat 1 racers who prefer the camaraderie of "more experienced" racers
> to the pure contests within a Cat 4, Cat 3, or Cat 1/2 race event.  So, in
> order to gain points in the Master's races, you would be racing head to
> head with some rather capable racers.  This is possible, but you will need
> to bring your A game.  We have some pretty heavy hitters in the local
> Master's races!  We even get some heavy hitting racers from out of state
> sometimes and then things really can heat up.  So, if you want to compete
> in the Master's while you seek to place highly enough to earn upgrade
> points, and given that you are a Cat 4 and since there are no racers lower
> than a Cat 4 in Master's, then you are up against some pretty long odds to
> get enough finish points to upgrade, especially since you have a time limit
> window (last 36 months from time of upgrade request) to earn and accumulate
> sufficient upgrade points.
>
>
>
>   What you should contemplate is racing in the Cat 4's, so that you have a
> better chance of achieving high enough results to earn points relatively
> quickly so that you can move up to a Cat 3 as soon as possible.  If you are
> racing with the intent of gaining a higher Category, whether in CX, or
> Road, Track, or MTB, then the common wisdom is that you're not getting any
> younger, and racing against a more capability-based level-playing field
> like the Cat 4's would give you a better chance of placing highly than
> going up against a wide variety of levels in the Master's.  The challenge
> will be that there is a wide variety of ages in the Cat 4's.  You might be
> out there with racers from as young as 16 to as old as mid-50's or older.
>
>
>
>   So, you do have decision to make if you want to upgrade.  The best
> strategy would be to really understand the USAC upgrade rules and work them
> as best you can to your advantage (same applies to anyone wanting to
> upgrade!) while enjoying your racing!
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> John Jordan, USAC Official
>
>
>
> M. John Jordan (mjohnjordan at yahoo.com)
>
>
>
> On Saturday, October 1, 2016 9:44 PM, Chris Sheehan via Bike-racers <
> bike-racers at mailman.swcp.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> I started racing CX last year and raced both Masters and Cat 4/5 most
> races. Upgraded from 5 to 4. Wondering if I can earn points towards
> upgrading to 3 if I only race Masters.
>
> Thanks!
>
>
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