[NCNCA] New Upgrade guidelines

[Chris Black]

Speaking of upgrades:



I think it is time to revisit the male racing categories. A few of us can remember when the beginner category was 4. Category 5 was introduced to give new riders a chance to race, with no prizes, without the prospect of being pulled in a criterium after one lap. I vividly remember being left behind at the starting line in the Merced Criterium (my first race). And yes, we had down tube shifters and toe clips and straps. I was in the second group and we were pulled after something like 12 laps. Experiences like that cause some people to quit, and never return to bicycle racing. 




Now, a lot of races group the 4's and 5's together. Why even bother having category 5 if we are going to make the beginners ride with more experienced guys? The whole point of cat 5 is go get racing experience and make races safer. 




I know this will not be popular with promoters, but I am calling for new (actually the original intent) way to provide races for beginners. 

1. Category 5 cannot be combined with any other category.

2. Category 5 riders cannot win prizes of any value. No primes.

3. This would prevent races with "Master 35+ 4,5." If you are a 5, you race with the 5's. To keep promoters happy, they could have a Master Cat 5 race.

4. Completion of a certain number of races results in an automatic upgrade.

5. Skills clinics and coaches recommendations would be considered for 5 to 4 upgrades.




Thanks everyone for your time. What do you think?


 Chris Black
Morgan Stanley/24 Hour Fitness/ Specialized Cycling Team
San Luis Obispo, CA


-----Original Message-----
From: Jan Luke-Hamasaki <Luke2 at ix.netcom.com>
To: 'Casey Kerrigan' <casey at caseykerrigan.com>; ncnca at ncnca.org
Sent: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:46 am
Subject: Re: [NCNCA] New Upgrade guidelines








Casey,
I received an email regarding times and distances for cat one upgrades. I am
inclined to allow cat ones to use a 60 minute crit for points. Do you have a
strong feeling about this one way or the other?

-----Original Message-----
From: ncnca-bounces+luke2=ix.netcom.com at ncnca.org
[mailto:ncnca-bounces+luke2=ix.netcom.com at ncnca.org] On Behalf Of Casey
Kerrigan
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 5:55 PM
To: ncnca at ncnca.org
Subject: [NCNCA] New Upgrade guidelines

Ok folks the USAC has changed the upgrade guidelines. Everyone who  
might be interested in upgrading should go to
http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook.pdf 
  and download the pdf and review the new guidelines. It will take me  
a little time to get the NCNCA upgrade FAQ page updated.

Basically the USAC adopted a form of the NCNCA alternative points  
system for all categories. All categories will now get the same points  
schedule for races. The number of places that get points and the  
number of points will change based on the field size.

In Crits and circuit races if the starting field has 5-10 riders then  
the top 3 finishers get 3/2/1 upgrade points. For fields of 11-12 the  
top 4 finishers get 4/3/2/1 upgrade points. for 21-50 riders the top 6  
get 5/4/3/2/1 points and for 50+ fields the top 6 get 7/5/4/3/2/1 just  
like before.

For road races the points schedule goes like this

5-10 riders 3/2/1, 11-20 riders 7/5/4/3/2/1, for 21-50 riders  
8/6/5/4/3/2/1 and for 50+ riders 10/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1

So basically there are a lot more points to be had in road races now.  
Also if a road race isn't long enough to qualify for upgrade points  
the race can still earn points under the Crit/circuit race points  
schedule if the RR is as long or longer than the Crit/Circuit race Min  
distance.

For Cat 3 to 2 upgrades and 2 to 1 upgrades the stage race GC upgrade  
points also have various points based on field size. For 3 to 2  
upgrades it should be noted that riders are limited to getting a Max  
of 15 point from a single event ( ie even though the points schedule  
says a rider gets 20 points for winning the GC in a race with 50 or  
more riders you can only apply 15 of those points towards an upgrade  
to Cat 2).

Also new are the Max number of points  a Cat 3 or Cat 2 rider earn  
before they get an automatic upgrade. Cat 3s will not earn an  
automatic upgrade if they get 40 upgrade points in a 12 month period  
and Cat 2 will get an automatic upgrade if they get 50 points in a 12  
month period.

All upgrade requests will be judged against the new upgrade guidelines  
so riders who may have been turned down for an upgrade recently may  
now qualify, especially if they have results in road races in fields  
with 11 or more riders.
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