"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Points in Training Races

This came up in another thread, but I didn't get a definitive answer. Can a rider get points in training races?

The USAC Rulebook says this:

For category 1 upgrades, only 10 of the points may be earned in races that are part of a training series or may be earned in master’s races.

I would take this to mean that riders do get points in training races, and that for any other upgrades (aside from 2>1) any number of points could have been earned in training races.

If that's the case, I think I have about 8 more points than I originally thought.

Anyone have experience with this?

Were the races sanctioned by USAC?

Yeah, but they were training races. I always thought the point of training races was that you didn't earn points. Especially since training races usually let you just jump back in the pack if you get dropped.

the answer is it's going to be at the discretion of the local upgrade coordinator. /thread.

however, since you're a local, follow up questions:

you're talking greenbelt, yea?

and 4-->3, correct?

if it's 8 of the 20 pts. required, go ahead and submit, but the decision will largely be based on the quality of your other 12 points. if they came at non-selective industrial park crits like tradezone, synfit, etc., and were a bunch of 5th and 6th places, or were from a bunch of races with 20 or 30 competitors like those red rose races up in PA, then you're probably going to get a request to accumulate some more points. if they were accumulated at "showcase" crits with big fields like reston, hagerstown, fort ritchie, and road races with big fields like murad, coppi, walkersville, jeff cup, etc., or by a bunch of Ws or podiums, then you'll probably get the upgrade.

either way, include them on your resume, it's not up to you whether they "count" or not.

the answer is it's going to be at the discretion of the local upgrade coordinator. /thread.

however, since you're a local, follow up questions:

you're talking greenbelt, yea?

and 4-->3, correct?

if it's 8 of the 20 pts. required, go ahead and submit, but the decision will largely be based on the quality of your other 12 points. if they came at non-selective industrial park crits like tradezone, synfit, etc., and were a bunch of 5th and 6th places, or were from a bunch of races with 20 or 30 competitors like those red rose races up in PA, then you're probably going to get a request to accumulate some more points. if they were accumulated at "showcase" crits with big fields like reston, hagerstown, fort ritchie, and road races with big fields like murad, coppi, walkersville, jeff cup, etc., or by a bunch of Ws or podiums, then you'll probably get the upgrade.

either way, include them on your resume, it's not up to you whether they "count" or not.Yes to greenbelt, and yes to the 4>3 upgrade.

Your answer makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

training races are races
all that matters is field size
in fact we need to stop calling them "training" races
many guys will do 50% or more of their annual races in a local crit series