So I built up a "race resume" and applied for the upgrade to Category 4 based on the 12 races I've done so far: Ballard Crit, Joe Matava Crit, and 10 Seward Park races. All you need is 10 mass-starts to move up to the 4's, though I wasn't sure if the Seward races would count or not.
Looks like they officially don't count for upgrades any more:
"Sorry, Matt, USAC simply does not recognize events it doesn't sanction (like Seward Park and Pacific Raceways). It's as if those races never happened. I know they give you pack-riding experience, but I have to process upgrades by the standards that USAC puts into place. You'll need to do more weekend racing to qualify for the cat 4 upgrade."WSBA says as much here, so I'm not too surprised. And the request was processed within hours, so at least I found the answer quickly.
Oh well, for the most part it won't change anything for me - most of the races seem to combine 4's and 5's. I might be able to squeeze in eight more races this year, but some of these require a bit of a commute to get to:
- Redmond Derby Days Men's 4/5
- Juniors/Masters Championships (bellingham) (Road Race, Criterium, Time Trial)
- Gig Harbor Circuit Race
Kirkland Criterium(cat 4 and down)- Volunteer Park Summer Crit (I've only heard rumors of this one, it's not on the race calendars last I checked)
- Brad Lewis Crit II (aka Boat Street)
- Carnation Circuit
- Seward Park Season End
3 comments:
What!? They dropped the crash requirement? I thought it was mandatory that each rider personally experience at least one crash before moving up a category.
Go do the races, it will benefit you to see other people and places.
Yr Pal, Dr C
Hey Matt. Cycle U holds a Intro to Racing class that automatically upgrades you to CAT 4. Granted the last one was in May, but if you haven't upgraded by February, take the class, pass the written test (which the instructors basically give you the answers for) and begin your quest for Cat 3.
Matt,
pity about the paperwork- but that's the way the game gets played... oh well.
I've heard really good things about the CycleU class in the spring. I understand that it counts as 5 mass-starts, so you'd only need a few more after that.
I don't know if cat5 starts expire at 12 months or not as other upgrade points do- but the CycleU class has good practice stuff like bumping & sprinting practice on grass, leaning practice, etc. Either way, you'll be upgrading soon enough.
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