tetonrider

for those who raced last year (e.g., @globecanvas, @thekillerpenguin)... will the decision to go unsanctioned for this year affect your decision to race?

i'd say it has a minor negative impact on my decision. first, the loss of the UCI race (i understand why) knocked down the prestige a slight bit, and then the loss (conscious decision) of sanction takes it down a little further, IMO.

i know the date change is significant. i was actually excited about the later date when it was rumored last year; i thought perhaps i could come out, race battenkill (2x), chill for a few days, then race KSR. however, with masters nationals around the same time it means battenkill is probably out for me.

i'm a little sad about that. i've felt that the race itself was very well run and a true racer's course for the 3 races i've done.

a couple friends i spoke with felt like the move to 1-day status makes them less likely to travel a great distance -- no change to race 2 days.

i'm curious if you'll race this year and what impact the departure from USAC has, specifically, on your decision.

globecanvas

I'll probably do it. There are already some murderers signed up in the masters fields. I expect the competition level in the masters will actually be higher than last year, mostly due to the calendar, and I don't think most masters racers care about the lack of USAC sanction. I'm sure there will be many fewer P12 racers than in the past.

shovelhd

The date change has caused a lot of grief for others, but DD did announce this very early, which was appreciated.

tetonrider

agreed that the announcement was early. i was excited for it when i first heard it--until masters nationals date change was announced.

tetonrider

think the conflict with masters nationals will affect things?

seems like mid-atlantic racers would face about the same drive for either one.

gsteinb

Yes.

I'd wouldn't be surprised if many east coast guys went to nationals instead, depending on the actual event dates. It's been a decade since nationals were on the east coast.

TheKillerPenguin

I like chocolate milk!

tetonrider

did you not hear that due to rising costs, all winner will have to share one jug of chocolate milk from the creamery this year?

gsteinb

Can you get popped from the backwash?

TheKillerPenguin

lol.

In all honesty, we'll see. Depends on a bunch of factors. If things stay as they currently are I'll more than likely be there. If not, it depends.

Sean Gordon

Kind of a bummer for me. Battenkill is on the short list of climber's races, and I'm hungry for upgrade points. I assume that it being a non-USAC race then good results won't count towards upgrades.

globecanvas

1 - Battenkill is not a climber's race. It's a hard man's race, a power course. The longest climb is 5-6 minutes.


2 - In theory results won't count towards USAC upgrades. However I think this is actually at the discretion of individual upgrade coordinators. I would not be surprised if some upgrade coordinators did accept it. You could check beforehand with the upgrade coordinator for your area. Heck, @DieterDrake is, or was, a USAC upgrade coordinator.

Sean Gordon

Thanks dude I'll htfu then. I thought there were some good climbs for breakaway opportunities though? It will be my first time on the course, but I had a blast at the Catskills last year so I'm really stoked.

mike868y

i'll probably be there, assuming it doesn't conflict with any other New England events. sure it's pricy but it's a good event and honestly I think we're spoiled by the production quality/registration fee we get at some events.

TheKillerPenguin

IMO, it's well balanced and can play out in a number of ways. It is true there are a lot of punchy climbs, but there is also a lot of false flat downhill coming into a final 1k kicker that's with like 3k to go. You can check out the preview ride in the spring if you're so inclined, or I'm sure you can snag a cue sheet from the site and ride it solo over the winter.

DieterDrake

I'm mostly disinterested, but upgrade points and qualifying races are technically at the discretion of your Local Association/upgrade coordinator. I've heard that USAC has stated that non-USAC events are not eligible, but there's nothing in print (rules, policies) that state that. I think it would be a mistake to take that stance.

Ultimately, I don't think it will matter as "upgrades" and the points system will become a thing of the past soon as an exclusive feature of USAC's.

I am the upgrade coordinator for the Albany area under NYSBRA, currently, but I've voluntarily offered to step down at the end of December as I think it'd be a conflict of interest.

gsteinb

@DieterDrake

new baby surcharge?

DieterDrake

cancelled (the surcharge, not the baby...)

gsteinb

mazel tov

on the baby, that is

globecanvas

Congratulations! On waiving the surcharge, of course.

mattm

Actually, it's in bold right here: Road Category Upgrade Guidelines - USA Cycling

Please note that only races permitted by USA Cycling will count for upgrading purposes.

DieterDrake

Yep, I noticed that also recently. Too bad. I think that hurts USAC far more than non-USAC races going forward.

happybday29475

This is something Comcast might do; it's an example of the sort of monopolistic behavior USAC pulls from time to time that makes them loathsome.

mattm

I guess the thread is off the rails so..

How else could it be? Otherwise you'd have people saying "oh yeah I won a bunch of races last year, cat 1 pls kthxbai".

Literally, someone would say that!

happybday29475

Saying "USAC only" does not mean saying "any race". For instance, OBRA land; there are, horror of horrors, other sanctioning organizations. There are even different countries! And, do we not trust our regional upgrade coordinators?

Lastly, cat 2 -> cat 1 might well be more stringent than cat 4 -> cat 3. There is no reason why repeated success at cat-4 level races outside of USAC jurisdictions shouldn't be considered for upgrades to USAC cat 3.

We all know the real reason for this policy is to strong-arm race promoters into making their race a USAC race, especially in this time of the birthing of a USAC competitor.