Juniors Question
 

I've seen a bunch of junior race ages as being 15-18, does this mean that you can race in a non junior race if you're above 18 i.e. not 19 yet?

A friend said he still had to do roll outs when he was racing this summer after having turned 18, and I had interpreted the Junior age as 15-not 18 yet.

Thanks for the info!

No. After your racing age is above 18 you are not allowed in junior races and never need to do a rollout

When you turn 19, you become a "senior" in the eyes of the USAC.

You are a junior until your racing age is 19. Juniors can always do non-juniors races but never vice-versa.

So if my friend wants to screw away with the rollout and locked gears and such, he can race CAT5 even though he's over 18 but isn't quite 19 yet?

Negative. He must still roll out no matter what category.

^^^ What Cdy said. Juniors ALWAYS have to do rollout. But they may enter any juniors or seniors race. Not masters though :p

Is your friend's racing age 18 or 19? In other words, when is his b-day? Terms like "almost" and "not quite" don't mean anything in rule books. I saw someone try "It almost made it" while getting rolled out after a juniors race. lol

Unless your birthday is December 31, your racing age will always be the same or higher than your own age... i.e. you won't be ahead of your racing age and still have to do rollout even though you are already 19. The earlier your birthday falls in the year, the longer you will be a senior while you are 18. I think that's why you have to be 19, so that no 17 year olds get moved up early...

Probably right, and maybe a liability reason as well.

My birthday is in Jan so by the time the season gets underway, my actual age is my racing age the whole year. That was seen as an advantage as a junior, but a disadvantage as a master.

Ah alright. He's 18 and half, thus not 18 and not quite 19.

That's a huge bummer...

I thought once you turned 18 you could race as a non-junior.

Nope, only after the season during which you turn 18. Obviously, it's because they want to have people qualified for the same category all season. Of course, that means it would be unfair to let a 17/18 category competitor run unrestricted just because they turned 18.

I do think the roll-out rules for juniors in senior races is crap, but it's a non-issue in most races. It only matters in road races with long fast descents. And I don't wanna hear "but a good racer can spin 200 rpm" crap. Nobody likes to spin 200 rpm for a minutes on end, and if they did it would surely wear them out quickly.

After Juniors comes U23, unless you're just doing local races, then it's whatever your category is. U23's are the exact same as seniors and elites, except for the age.
However, I haven't been checked for gears yet this year. I'm 18 and race all over the state, no Junior races though.

Well, the kid is 18 right now and turned 18 in june during this racing season. He won't be 19 next season for the local crits (march/april) so I'm wondering if he has to roll out next year, i.e. the season after he turned 18 since he'll turn 19 that season.

Is there anything in the rulebook that i can refer to? I'm confused...

You are a junior until your racing age is 18. All juniors can do senior races in their respective category, but they must roll out. I don't agree with this recent rule change and if they don't win or place, I don't see why a junior would even go to roll out after a senior race. Juniors who have a racing age of 17 or 18 can do Senior nationals, which is why Taylor Phinney was allowed to race and win the pursuit at senior nationals last year and the same reason Rahsaan Bahati and Keith Norris both were allowed to win the elite criterium nationals several years ago, both as juniors.

Seriously....think race age. Jan-December. What age will your firend be on Dec 31 of the year you are thinking of (next season). Answer: 19. His race age next year will be 19. That means that a race in Janurary of next year he will be "19" for it. March....19.....july....19.....October....19....December....19. All year he will be 19. He will not be able to particiapte in Junior events next year....nor will he be expected to do a rollout.

Race age does not take into account how old you are NOW. That fact (current age) is a uneeded fact for racing.

Found it:
Source: http://www.usacycling.org/forms/RdTrkCx_rulebook.pdf Page 7

Thanks a lot!

Incorrect. An 18 year old is still a junior. umd had it right, UNTIL being the key word.

And in agreement with psimet, the OP's friend will have a racing age of 19 next year, and thus will not have to roll out.

I read umd's quote wrong and misstated. I used until meaning to include the year you turned 18, which is how your racing age is taken. Bad grammar mistake for the Language Arts teacher. In my defense, and it doesn't take away from my mistake, the first year I started racing, our racing ages were taken on December 31st of the previous year. That was the year I turned 15, so my racing age was 14.

UK, I've heard the argument regarding birthdays from both sides. I don't think it matters. For the kids that mature faster (like the 6'1" junior that won the 13-14 crit at junior nationals this year), they are just more mature. It doesn't matter if their birthday is January or December, they are just going to be bigger, stronger kids. When I was a junior, Hincapie used to tower over all of us. He was probably the same height he is now and I swear he was thicker. He was intimidating. His birthday is June, right in the middle of the year. I don't think it matters for masters either. My birthday is August, toward the end of the season. At the only 35+ race I did this year, I got a ton of grief from a bunch of the old guys because I was only 34. Some of them didn't even believe I was 34, which didn't make sense because I've known several of them since I was a junior.

Wow, a whole argument flared up and was settled while I was gone. That's gotta be some kind of record. :thumb:

I can agree with that. When I was at Jr Nationals, the guy who cleaned up in all the 13/14 races towered over the rest of us at a height and build that I wouldn't reach until college. I'm sure there is a slight disadvantage for a few kids out there for a short amount of time (right before their major growth spurt) but it would only occur during one season in their entire career.

We don't argue. We discuss :D