Road Bike Racing - Upgrading from 5: Do I have to keep track of my own starts?

First off, I'm sorry for the dumb question. I know I need 10 starts to upgrade to Cat4 (not that I'm in any hurry but it's a goal for next year) so I'm wondering what I need to be doing along the way. Do I keep track of the starts myself? I ask because a race I entered a month ago has not been submitted to the USA cycling site and the recurring crit I entered doesn't seem to have any submitted results all year long.

So do I simply keep track of my races and placings (not that it matters in Cat5) and then notify the nearest official when I get to 10? Or do I need to notify someone all along?

Help a newbie out ;)

--Steve

Just keep track of your starts and submit them when you have 10 via the online upgrade request on usacycling.org

Wayne

do you register for these races online, by any chance? when i applied for my upgrade i simply cut and pasted all the races i had done into the usa cycling site. the site i register for races with has a "my accounts" section so it's really easy to find everything i had done.

Ahhh. I had to look around but, yes, I see the little "Upgrade/Downgrade" link when I log into USA Cycling. It was hard to find. I'll keep a list of my races and send it in when I get to 10.

On a related note, I now see what you guys mean when you talk about sandbaggers. I'm guessing if one never sends in an upgrade request he or she can stay in one category indefinitely, eh?

--Steve

On a related note, I now see what you guys mean when you talk about sandbaggers. I'm guessing if one never sends in an upgrade request he or she can stay in one category indefinitely, eh?

--Steve

yeah, in theory. but in reality there is usually a certain amount of peer pressure to upgrade, especially if you're winning every week. in rare cases an official will force an upgrade.

If all of your race results get posted to USA Cycling, you can just keep track on there, but for the upgrade from 5 to 4, all you need are mass starts, so you're better off keeping track yourself. Also, some race organizers never post to USAC for some reason.

For instance, I used a RR where they only placed up to 20-25 and I came in 30th, so it was up to me to say I had raced that one.