USCF Upgrade

There is no requirement that the races occur within the same year. Ten qualifying mass start races should qualify you for the upgrade.

capwater said:

Looking for some clarification on upgrading from road Cat5 to Cat4. On the USCF site it says 10 mass starts are required, but never explains if there is a timeframe to have the 10 starts. Is it 12 months, a single season or what? I have 1 race in 2003, 3 in 2005 and 5 thusfar in 2006. Will 1 more give me my 10?

Much thanks in advance, I've googled the heck out of this question and everysite seems to parrot the USCF rule.

Is it possible to cat up without doing the 10 mass starts? I just don't think I'll have the time to get in 10 races this season, and I would like to be able to earn points for a cat 3 as soon as possible.

SserPrun95 said:

Is it possible to cat up without doing the 10 mass starts? I just don't think I'll have the time to get in 10 races this season, and I would like to be able to earn points for a cat 3 as soon as possible.

In some places you can take a skills class that will qualify you to become a cat 4. look for something like this - http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1323965 in your local area

SserPrun95 said:

Is it possible to cat up without doing the 10 mass starts? I just don't think I'll have the time to get in 10 races this season, and I would like to be able to earn points for a cat 3 as soon as possible.

Pretty presumptious to think you'd earn points in your first few races as a 4. It appears you haven't yet done a single crit, but you're already planning your upgrade to 3. Cat 5 exists to weed out the squirrels and give a dose of reality to wannabees - maybe you're the exception, but if you can't race 10 times a year you are NOT ready for 3s and won't do much in the 4s either. BTW, there IS a time limit to earn the upgrade to 3.

DiabloScott said:

Pretty presumptious to think you'd earn points in your first few races as a 4. It appears you haven't yet done a single crit, but you're already planning your upgrade to 3. Cat 5 exists to weed out the squirrels and give a dose of reality to wannabees - maybe you're the exception, but if you can't race 10 times a year you are NOT ready for 3s and won't do much in the 4s either. BTW, there IS a time limit to earn the upgrade to 3.

Yup, 4 to 3 is a 12 month limit for points to accumulate.

SserPrun95 said:

Is it possible to cat up without doing the 10 mass starts? I just don't think I'll have the time to get in 10 races this season, and I would like to be able to earn points for a cat 3 as soon as possible.

I've never heard of the "skills test" approach mentioned in another posting. But if you can win a few of your cat5 races, you could approach your USCF rep and ask about a faster upgrade. If you can't win, you really should go through the 10-race "learning experience" like everyone else. For what its worth, I was a cat3 with some international experience in the late 60s-early 70s, when I came back to the sport as a 55+ Master after some 20+ years as a runner, they made me a cat5 again. While my ego was bruised, it made sense to start at the bottom and regain my bike handling skills, so unless you are way outclassing your peers, just go through the process, it will make you a better and safer racer.

palewin said:

I've never heard of the "skills test" approach mentioned in another posting. But if you can win a few of your cat5 races, you could approach your USCF rep and ask about a faster upgrade. If you can't win, you really should go through the 10-race "learning experience" like everyone else. For what its worth, I was a cat3 with some international experience in the late 60s-early 70s, when I came back to the sport as a 55+ Master after some 20+ years as a runner, they made me a cat5 again. While my ego was bruised, it made sense to start at the bottom and regain my bike handling skills, so unless you are way outclassing your peers, just go through the process, it will make you a better and safer racer.

Very true - one of my husbands team mates came back to racing this year after about 10 years, I think he was a cat 1 or 2 previously. He also was started back as a cat 5. After about 3 races that he easily won they booted him up to a cat 4 and he's since gathered enough point to upgrade to cat 3. Note that this is very *atypical*, most people do not move up this quickly unless quite gifted or as in this case very experienced.

Eden said:

Very true - one of my husbands team mates came back to racing this year after about 10 years, I think he was a cat 1 or 2 previously. He also was started back as a cat 5. After about 3 races that he easily won they booted him up to a cat 4 and he's since gathered enough point to upgrade to cat 3. Note that this is very *atypical*, most people do not move up this quickly unless quite gifted or as in this case very experienced.

I thought that it was 10 mass start races in the last 12 months? Also, if you place very good, ie. Top 10 in the first 3-4 races and write a e-mail to the person in charge of you local USCF upgrades then you can upgrade to cat 4 pretty easily. Last season I upgraded from Cat 5 - Cat 3 in 3 months, it was great at the time but my winter training was poo.....now I am getting killed in the Cat 3 races. Best advice is to take you time and the best times to upgrade are early season/mid season.....waiting till the end of the season to upgrade can really screw you because you have to be on that good of form when you start racing again in the spring.

I raced tonight and posed the question to a USCF official. Her reponse was "10 mass starts in 12 month period".

I've developed a "show-me-where-it-says-that" mentality over the years when dealing with this kind of issue. So below is the exact language from the USA Cycling site pertaining to upgrades:

http://www.usacycling.org/

USCF Road Upgrades
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
5-4: Experience in 10 mass start races that meet the criteria in the table below (qualifying races).
Local Associations may also establish policies where upgrade credit is given for taking a sanctioned rider education clinic.
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 qualifying races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
3-2: 25 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
2-1: 30 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
USA Cycling may add additional requirements for upgrading at their discretion. Any such changes shall be made available on the website.


Qualifying Road Races for each category


Category

Class
RR
Crit
Field
Experience

5 – 4
Men
15 mi
10 mi
10
10 races

4 – 3
Men
25 mi
20 mi
30
25 races

Women
25 mi
15 mi
10
25 races

Junior
25 mi
15 mi
10
25 races

3 – 2
Men
50 mi
20 mi
50

Women
40 mi
15 mi
20

2 – 1
Men
80 mi
35 mi
60

Women
50 mi
20 mi
30

Note: 4-3 upgrades, and 3-2 upgrades, and 2-1 upgrades mention the 12-month window. Cat. 5 to 4 upgrades do not mention any time limit.

Also note the language about credit given for taking a "sanctioned rider education clinic".

Also note that the specific term is "experience" in 10 mass start races. That means you have to start, but not necessarily finish, 10 races. You could conceivably do 4 or more races in one weekend and Cat. up in less than a month if you really wanted to. (Not commenting on whether that would be a good idea or not....).

Bob

SserPrun95 said:

Is it possible to cat up without doing the 10 mass starts? I just don't think I'll have the time to get in 10 races this season, and I would like to be able to earn points for a cat 3 as soon as possible.

Many, many moons ago, I was was given an upgrade from 5 to 4 in my 2nd race since I placed 2nd and it was the district championship crit. Your local official can make the call. Upgrading from the 4's and higher is where the rulebook is enforced(by acccumulated points or experience, but perhaps they can make exceptions for exceptional riders too).

Bobby Lex said:

Also note that the specific term is "experience" in 10 mass start races. That means you have to start, but not necessarily finish, 10 races. You could conceivably do 4 or more races in one weekend and Cat. up in less than a month if you really wanted to. (Not commenting on whether that would be a good idea or not....).

Bob

I always thought it possible to "start" 10 races and drop out after 10 feet yet still qualify. Though technically 10 starts, it sure wouldn't meet the intent of the reg which is of course to actually experience 10 races and all they entail in a close quartered pack. If I wanted to push the issue I could. I've done over 10 races and had more than half end in top ten finishes. Most of my local racing is in a combined cat4/5 grouping anyway so an upgrade doesn't do much.

wilmar13 said:

Many, many moons ago, I was was given an upgrade from 5 to 4 in my 2nd race since I placed 2nd and it was the district championship crit. Your local official can make the call. Upgrading from the 4's and higher is where the rulebook is enforced(by acccumulated points or experience, but perhaps they can make exceptions for exceptional riders too).

Many many many moons ago, I started out as a 4 because 5's didn't even exist.

Also retired as a 4.

wilmar13 said:

Upgrading from the 4's and higher is where the rulebook is enforced(by accumulated points or experience, but perhaps they can make exceptions for exceptional riders too).

I remembered another situation that proves even at the 4 to 3 jump, it can be at the officials discretion. I did a Cat 4 crit, where an expert/semi-pro mtn biker soloed off the front to win for almost the entire race, and then the official forced an upgrade to 3 for him even though it was his first season on the road. If you are good enough to upgrade to 3 without the reqs, you will be able to SserPrun95 😉 .