Race Scheduling Process and Guidelines

The current version 2013 NCNCA Race Calendar is available as a PDF here [1]. It is also available as a xls file here [2].

The scheduling of races on the NCNCA Calendar is very complex. Scheduling requires cooperation among promoters, the understanding that officiating resources are limited, and the knowledge that everyone involved wants to help bike racing in the NCNCA District. Relatively few of the race dates desired by promoters will conflict with those of other promoters, (see Appendix A), but in the cases where there are conflicting requests the Promoters Committee has developed a new system of organizing the Calendar and prioritizing date requests. This new system is a result of numerous inputs from race directors and clubs in our District, consultation with our Officials Committee, and the considerable experience of the three people on the Promoters Committee. For promoters who organize more than one race, each race date request (except multi-day stage races and omniums) will be prioritized separately.

Thank you to all of the promoters and race directors who responded to the Promoters Survey. There was a lot of valuable information provided by your answers. The results of the Promoters Survey are available by downloading the PDF found here [3]. The written responses for a few of the "open-ended" questions are not shown in the results in order to protect the identity of some of the respondents, but every response was saved for consideration by the Promoters Committee.

2013 Scheduling Process and Guidelines

The scheduling of races on the NCNCA Calendar is very complex. Scheduling requires cooperation among promoters, the understanding that officiating resources are limited, and the knowledge that everyone involved wants to help bike racing in the NCNCA District.

Relatively few of the race dates desired by race directors/promoters (RD’s) will conflict with those of other RD’s, (see Appendix B), but for the cases where there are conflicting date requests the Promoters Committee has developed a new system of organizing the Calendar and prioritizing date requests for all Road events, certain Collegiate events, and certain Track Championship events. This new system is a result of numerous inputs from RD’s and clubs in our District, consultation with our Officials Committee, and the considerable experience of the three people on the Promoters Committee.

Scheduling Process
Each race date request (see Appendix A) will be assigned into a group, as shown below. For RD’s who organize more than one race, each race date request (except multi-day stage races and omniums) will be prioritized separately.
  
Group 1: Races with the same/similar weekend for at least ten years. All other races must meet at least two of following criteria; (Priority within group for races that meet all three criteria.)
1. Same/similar weekend for at least the past three years,
2. More than 300 riders in 2012,
3. Prize list in 2012 and 2013 at least $2,000 total for E p,1,2 and W p,1,2 (combined).

Group 2: Races must meet at least two of the following criteria; (Priority within group for races that meet at least three criteria.)
1. Same/similar weekend for at least three of the previous four years,
2. Special Event-NCNCA Championship or Premier Series.
3. More than 150 riders in 2012,
4. More than 150 riders in 2011

Group 3: Priority considerations within group by:
1. "Downtown" races that were held in 2012 or 2011,
2. Number of riders in 2012 and 2011 (in increments of 75 riders),
3. Number of years the race has been held, if more than three years,
4. New races by RD’s who promoted a race in 2012 that qualifies in Group 2,
5. Other races on consecutive days in the same local area,
6. New races,
7. Races that were cancelled in 2012 (similar location, type, and promoter).

The RD’s for events that qualify in Group 1 should submit their race date requests using this form [4] before October 1. The Calendar will then be compiled with the submitted Group 1 events and the Calendar v1 will then be posted on ncnca.org near October 7.
 
After the Calendar v1 is posted, the RD’s for events that qualify in Group 2 should submit their race date requests using this form [4], or any changes to their previously-submitted requests within 5 days. The Calendar will then be compiled with the submitted Group 2 events, and the Calendar will then be posted on ncnca.org near October 17. After the Calendar v2 is posted, the RD’s for events that qualify in Group 3 should submit their race date requests using this form [4], or any changes to their previously-submitted requests within 5 days. RD’s are welcome to submit their requests earlier than the submission deadline dates, but their request(s) will not be considered until the appropriate group is being compiled. RD's who submit their request(s) after the deadline(s) will have their request(s) considered with the same priority as other requests being considered at the time of submission.

In the rare cases where two races meet their group criteria equally, the Promoters Committee will ask both RD’s about other date options, and may consider other criteria including number of riders in the previous two years, downtown vs. industrial park venue, substantial differences in rider amenities, etc..

The Promoters Committee expects to complete the 2013 Calendar before the end of October. Date requests that are not submitted by a deadline are put into the subsequent Group. Event date requests received after the Group 3 submission deadline will receive the lowest priority.

The RD or club that will be on the USAC permit must be a 2013 NCNCA Member by December 1, 2012 or the event will be removed from the Calendar. Events that are removed from the Calendar lose their priority.

Scheduling Guidelines

1. The number of riders for each race is calculated as the total of the USAC $3 per rider fee divided by three.
2. Officials are assigned to races based on the requirements and objectives of the USA Cycling Assignment Policy IV. The number of qualified officials available to work is limited for any given day of the race season.  Date requests must be approved by the Officials Assigner for:
   1. A third event on any day
   2. More than 5 races on the same weekend
   3. Two road races on the same day
   4. Events added to the Calendar (or date changed) within 30 days of the race.
   5. Approvals for a, b, and c above, cannot conflict with 2, 3, 4, and 5 below.
3. Omnium events are considered as different (types of) races each day. In most cases, each day of a stage race is considered like a road race.
4. TT's with historically less than 50 riders, and most circuit races (less than 3-mile course) are considered like a criterium. TT’s with historically more than 50 riders  are considered similar to a road race.
5. Two road races on the same day will not be allowed unless they will draw from significantly different areas, or the rider categories/demographics will be substantially different.
6. No more than two road races on the same weekend unless they draw from significantly different areas, or the rider categories/demographics will be substantially different.
7. Two criteriums on the same day within 2 hours of each other will not be allowed unless the rider categories/demographics will be substantially different, or one race is substantially “larger” than the other.
8. Three races, or two criteriums, or two road races on the same day for W4's, W35+, or juniors will not be allowed unless the races will draw riders from significantly different areas-typically at least 2.5 hours apart.
9. Two W123 criteriums within 2 hours of each other will be discouraged, unless one race is substantially "larger" than the other.
10. Try to avoid masters and elite road or criterium Championships on the same day.
11. Try to schedule Championship events on Saturdays (for all except Elite).
12. Races must receive scheduling approval at least 14 days before the race date.
13. Races that have not applied for a USAC permit at least 21 days prior to the event will be considered "Cancelled".
14. Races will be considered cancelled when a member of the Promoters Committee receives written notice from the race director or a representative of the promoting club(s).
15. Races that are cancelled less than 120 days before the scheduled race date will receive lower scheduling priority for the following year.
16. Races that are cancelled less than 14 days before the race date will incur a fine of $150. If the fine is not paid within 7 days, the promoting club(s) on the permit will be considered "suspended" by NCNCA and will not receive any NCNCA benefits or earn points in a NCNCA Points series while suspended. Exceptions for reasons outside the promoter’s control must be approved by the NCNCA Board.
17. RD’s who provide incorrect or misleading information about their event(s) will lose their priority for 2013.

Appendix A
Race date requests will be submitted online only-details to follow. RD’s will be asked for the following information for each race they are organizing:

1. Race date for each of the previous three years
2. 1st choice date for 2013, 2nd choice date for 2013
3. Number of years the race has been held with the same/similar name
4. Number of riders in 2012 and 2011
5. Total prize list in 2012, expected prize list in 2013
6. Brief description of race location and venue
7. Categories to be offered in 2013, e.g. age groups, category, women, etc, as would be described in the race announcement
8. List of other races organized in 2012 and 2013 by the same RD/club
9. Interest in hosting one of the NCNCA State Championships-state which one(s)

Appendix B

Races Held in 2012*

*These numbers don't include approximately 6 collegiate events and a number of track races.
Omniums are counted by each day's event type. Hill climbs and circuit races are counted in "Other". Stage races are counted as road races, per day.

For 2013, assuming the same number of races as 2012, with a maximum of 3 races/day, maximum of 2 races/day if one is a RR...
Feb through Sept = 34 weekends x 3 races/day = 202 available spaces
With a RR, and one other event that day = 132 spaces available for non-RR events.
If applied in 2013, and the number of races is the same, there will be approx. 40 unused spaces.