Upgrade Points

[Plawless]

New this year is that points should be available from VCL!

I think this means Peter Rides B until he hits 20!

2011 Upgrades and Points Scales

New for 2011: Upgrade points are now available for Category 3 and 4 riders at all events, including Local / Club events.

As upgrade points will now be automatically calculated by computer, upgrade points and series points will only be calculated when the organizers of the race in question have returned the results to the Cycling BC office in the correct format. Clubs and Organizers are asked to return correctly formatted results within 48 hours of the race.

In case two categories are combined for the purposes of racing, upgrade points are given according to the applicable scale for the combined category; results are not separated for the purposes of awarding upgrade points.

Points Needed to Upgrade: Riders are automatically upgraded from Cat 4 to Cat 3, or from Cat 3 to Cat 2 when they have earned 20 upgrade points (last year's points + current year's points).

Points Scale

Races with 25+ starters
1st 8 pts
2nd 6 pts
3rd 5 pts
4th 4 pts
5th 3 pts
6th 2 pts
7th 1 pt

Races with 11-24 starters
1st 7 pts
2nd 5 pts
3rd 4 pts
4th 3 pts
5th 2 pts
6th 1 pt

Races with 5-10 starters
1st 3 pts
2nd 2 pts
3rd 1 pt

[Roland]

upgrade points will now be automatically calculated by computer

The future is now!

[sylvan]

New this year is that points should be available from VCL!
I think this means Peter Rides B until he hits 20!

Wow. Let's 2-up like we did this morning, we'll be there in no time. I'm still planning on being a disposable domestique for Josh/Gavin/etc at Caleb and Latoria and going for top-10's on my own in Newton A races.

This is pretty intense. I was thinking I didn't even need a real license since there was so much racing to be done all year just in VCL, but now it's a no-brainer, gotta get a proper UCI license and grub for points.

[Roland]

I predict a season of epic sandbaggery.

[shawnc]

New this year is that points should be available from VCL!

I actually have my doubts that this is a good thing, but that could just be my innate suspicion of new things. It'll be great if I'm wrong.

One reason I enjoyed the VCL races is that there was no pressure to try and get points. You could just bomb around and try different tactics, without worrying too much about the final result (at least that was my approach). I wonder if introducing points will change the dynamic.

I wonder if a lot of people will hang out in B in order to get points, when they really should be racing A. We may see some people getting upgrades to Cat 3 or Cat 2 because of this, but that may mean they're in way over their heads when they compete with Cat 3s or 2s who have earned their points at provincial or regional races (which in my view are tougher, if only because there's more pressure and unfamiliar faces).

For instance, I could probably get an upgrade to Cat 2 pretty quickly if I rode B on the VCL for a bit, but I would get my ass handed to me if I then tried to enter a Cat 1/2 road race.

I admit I get caught up in the allure of points too, but I think at the end of the day there's way more to racing. Feel free to flame me now.

[sylvan]

Any Cat 3 has to be auto-upgraded to VCL A. There's another word for sandbaggery and it also ends with "baggery". I'm not riding any B races unless I can't hang at all with the A pack.

Anyone else notice that it's sunny and 13 degrees right now?

[Quentin]

Any Cat 3 has to be auto-upgraded to VCL A. There's another word for sandbaggery and it also ends with "baggery". I'm not riding any B races unless I can't hang at all with the A pack.

+1

If they don't auto-upgrade Cat 3's to VCL A, you'll see a lot less new people trying to race VCL B (including myself).

[Plawless]

My view:

1. I think VCL A is Cat 1/2/3 and VCL B is for Cat 4/Citizen

2. My goal for both 2010 and 2011 is to get enough points to be a Cat 3 (at least on paper)

3. I want to race A this year but I also really want to get into the Cat 3 races like the Fondos!

4. I rode A all last year (except the first race). I NEVER lasted more than 1/3 of the race in the pack! At Newton Heights I never made it past Lap 1 with the pack. Even so I stuck to the A race - possibly to demonstrate my "manhood". (Sadly it wasnt anywhere near as big as I thought it was.)

5. I am uncomfortable with the idea of racing B as I worry about being a sandbagger but I really want to get to Cat 3 as quick as I can. In theory I could score enough points in the first few races (if all goes well) to do that. I have absolutely no chance of scoring points in the A field.

Overall, having upgrade points available is, in my view a good thing because I think there are too many people who are at my level but who stay skulking around in the B pack. If points are automatically credited that will get these people (and hopefully me) up to the Cat 3 level and out of B. In doing so it will even out the B's and, I hope, also give guys like me (call me a B+) a group to race with. I also think this will allow for some increased social pressure on people that really ought to race A.... If I was in a B race and a bunch of Cat 3's showed up I would be yelling bloody murder...

In a way I say bring on the sandbaggers as this at least now provides a mechanism (other than shame) to get them up to A and out of B.

[Roland]

The document Cycling BC provided was pretty limited on details. I think how well this will work all depends on how it's implemented. Hopefully it solves the problem that nobody who lives outside of Vancouver can ever attend enough races to upgrade unless they are willing to travel a lot.

I do think however there may be a rough transition period as everybody works there way to their correct category.

[AlW]

All of you potential sandbaggers are well known to VCL organizers, so the chances of hiding in the B pack and scooping points are slim.

I plan on outing anyone else. I have enough trouble in the B's, so I don't need a bunch of A's drilling the pace and making my experience (and others) more miserable than it needs to be.

You have been warned!

[wonger]

Any Cat 3 has to be auto-upgraded to VCL A. There's another word for sandbaggery and it also ends with "baggery". I'm not riding any B races unless I can't hang at all with the A pack.

+1

If they don't auto-upgrade Cat 3's to VCL A, you'll see a lot less new people trying to race VCL B (including myself).

+2