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New upgrade guidelines
Thu, 01/17/2008 - 5:54pm
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.
Christian just copied what is in the USAC rule book. The way I treat it you get max points for fields of 51 or larger.
For liability reasons Velo Promo ( or the Chief Refs of those races) should not be letting anyone in a race if it causes the field limit to be larger than than the advertised Max.
Casey & Christian:
Christian's program is great, but it seems to have some deficiencies. First of all, where does a 50-rider road race fit in the USAC upgrade chart? Is it "26-50," or is it "50+?" This is not academic. It's MANY of the Velo Promo races.
I believe it's true that in a sold-out, distant race like Snelling with a waiting list, Bob sometimes allows a few extra riders in the sold-out field. Doesn't it make sense therefore to treat a sold-out field of 50 in the higher grouping?
Christian's program treats them as the lower grouping. It also drops a 4th place finish from 6 (3>2 upgrade) points in the 50+ to 3 points in the 26-50 range, instead of 4 points. I haven't checked any others against the chart.
Also, I don't know how to remove 12+ month old results. It requires a password to remove lines.
Any ideas or answers?
Yes for a Cat 1 upgrade riders have to earn their upgrade points in elite races.
One thing I noticed with the new upgrade guidelines is that there is no mention of masters races not counting for the Cat 2 to Cat 1 upgrade.
Is this still the case?
Chris
http://twitter.com/cpbike
That's awesome - thank you for doing this spreadsheet Christian!
http://www.chicocyclist.blogspot.com/
Christian Kearney has slaved some more over the spread sheet to improve The upgrade point calculator. He added a place to enter points earned in a skills clinic as will as added some instructions and added the Min points needed to upgrade and the Max points you can have before getting a mandatory upgrade. The newest version should be available on the the NCNCA.org site at http://www.ncnca.org/docs/upgrade/upgrade_request_road.xls in a day or so.
The calculator is a great work tool. An inclusion to the sheet needs to be Racing Skills Clinics, Tactical Skills Clinics, etc., as well.
Alan Atha
USA Cycling Level 1 Coach
NCNCA Men's Category 5 Mentor Coordinator 2008/09/10
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Coach, CYCLING SYSTEMS
http://www.fundamentaltrainingcenter.blogspot.com
http://www.cyclingsystems.com
415-328-1373
Christian Kearney has put together a spreadsheet to help people calculate and keep track of their upgrade points.. Anyone who uses this spreadsheet can send it to me when they are ready to upgrade or copy and paste if you apply for your upgrade via the USAC site. You can find the upgrade points calculator at http://www.ncnca.org/docs/ and look in the riders section near the bottom of the page and click on the upgrade points calculator to download the excel spreadsheet. There will be a more polished version of the spreadsheet up in a few days.
I think Casey is about to get a lot of upgrade requests!