[NCNCA] New Upgrade guidelines

Thu Feb 14 11:15:11 PST 2008

Ding ding ding ding, We have a winner!

Chris you've pretty much nailed it on the head. This
is exactly the program we've (EBC crit) been running 2
years straight at our crit.
 From the promotional side of the world, it really
doesn't make a numbers difference when you get down to
it. Having a 4's only field allow for 100 riders which
more than makes up for the smaller 5's field of 50. In
a sense this makes it doubly safe smaller pack for the
5's, and no 5's in wiht the 4's. everybody wins.

Jim
Race director of EBC crit.

--- Chris Black <cblackride at aol.com> wrote:

> 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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