There’s been a lot of attention recently on the disappearance of races, inequities affecting women’s racing, the shortage of officials, etc. This discussion is great, and is leading to some much needed changes. While we’re at it, I’d like to draw everyone’s attention to another important issue that primarily affects the amateur levels of our sport (i.e., the bread and butter USAC membership): upgrades.

Who cares about USAC upgrades anyway?

As it turns out, a lot of you do. NYSBRA, the Local Association for New York State, processed over 700 upgrade requests so far this year. There are about 2500 active USAC members in the State. Discounting redundant/mistaken requests, 1 in 4 of you has tried to upgrade in at least one discipline this year, and who knows how many more would have if they had enough points.

As NYSBRA NYC rep, a huge part of my job is to help racers navigate through USAC’s upgrade system, and address any grievances, with the goal of increasing rider satisfaction and ultimately grow participation in the sport. The biggest complaint I hear from constituents is how difficult it is to scrape together enough points when they are objectively ready to upgrade, or how arbitrary or complex the rules can be.

Rules often have some degree of arbitrariness. But, rules should be logically aimed to achieve some desired outcome, with the least amount of negative unintended consequences. When circumstances change over time, so too should rules, if they no longer achieve the desired outcome or effect significant negative unintended consequences.

Due to current racer demographics, fewer races overall, and promoters increasingly combining categories to survive, under the current USAC upgrade rules, there is a disparate impact on certain racers, especially women, making it artificially more difficult to earn upgrades, if not nearly impossible, in some regions. This problem is felt most acutely by lower category women cyclocross racers in the NYC region.

The Situation is Getting Worse, Not Better

Based on data from bikereg.com, in 2017, there are only 5 ‘Cross races within a 2 hour drive of Manhattan that offer Cat 4 women a realistic opportunity to earn upgrade points (down from 15 in 2016). This is because our “local” race series (MAC, NJCX, PACX, CTCX) have all moved to a combined W123 field + W345 field format. These are run either as 2 separate fields or as one overall combined field separated by a staggered start, and do not provide separate scoring for Cat 4s in the W345 or Cat 3s in the W123.

NJCX Series Field Structure:

MAC Series Field Structure:

While this structure theoretically gives Cat 3s the option to race in either “A” or “B” field, the lack of separate scoring/upgrade points opportunities actually incentivizes strong Cat 3s to race in the “B” field if they want to earn upgrade points, rather than the 123, where they arguably belong and where many actually want to race. As a result, Cat 4s are effectively unable to earn upgrade points at all.

USAC Rule 1E2(g) only permits upgrade points to be earned based on a raw finish across the line in a combined field, with the only exception being if a promoter offers a separate prize list, or as some have interpreted, separate scoring. For those who like to geek out on rules, read Section 1E of the USAC rulebook.

Another effect is an artificially small Cat 123 field, and an artificially large 345 field with the front group (mostly 3s) lapping the back of the field (mostly Cat 5s). Not a great outcome for any Category racer, to be honest, and certainly not an ideal experience for our newest racers.

This outcome plays out in the W345 field at Nittany Lion Cross and is typical for our region:

How to Improve the Upgrade System:

In an ideal world, we would have as many women racers as men and as many separate fields for both men and women. Until then, let’s try to attack this issue from as many sides as we can. Here are a couple of proposed solutions:

Offer separate women’s category fields.

The Vittoria NE Cx Series and Charm City/MABRA Bikereg Super8 Cx Series in particular, are doing it right; offering separate racing/upgrading opportunities for women. There’s a reason why people travel from all over the east coast and beyond to go to these races. If combined women’s fields are a necessity, at least offer separate scoring for Cat 3s and Cat 4s (see this example of a grassroots Western NY race).

Vittoria Northeast Cyclocross Series Field Structure:

Change USAC Rule 1E2(g) to permit upgrade coordinators to give upgrade points to racers who are beating their category peers

NYSBRA has proposed a rule change to USAC, which is now under consideration. At the very least, we have requested official guidance permitting Local Associations to use limited discretion to take into account the specific circumstances facing riders in their region when reviewing upgrades. Currently, some regions take a more lenient approach to awarding upgrades, while others require very strict adherence to USAC rules. This rule change will: a) assure more uniform application of upgrade criteria among geographic regions, b) reduce the disparity of upgrade point availability created by a rule technicality, and c) eliminate reliance on promoters to structure their fields correctly.

NYSBRA's Proposed Rule Change:

Lets Continue the Dialogue

If you are in a position to effect change within your Local Association, or at the USAC level, and want a copy of NYSBRA’s rule change proposal, reach out and we’d be happy to share. If you are a promoter willing to change your field structures now or effect change at the race series level, we encourage you to do so!

Racers, you can reach out to your Local Association (contact info here) and promoters, to make them aware that you care about this issue, and show them examples of better field structures so they can potentially attract more racers and increase racer satisfaction.

The hope is that we can collectively come up with a more comprehensive solution over time, but let’s fix what we can now.