[NCNCA] New Upgrade guidelines

[Casey Kerrigan]

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.