OBRA Categorization Guidelines
Upgrade Rules

Road/Track riders may not upgrade without the express consent of the Executive Director.
To speed processing, please include a race resume or other documentation with all requests.
Please send all upgrade requests to .

Road Upgrades

For an upgrade, all points may not come from a weekly series.

Points for combined fields will count only for upgrades from the bottom most category with the exception of 4/5 fields- For example, 1/2/3 fields will count only for upgrades from 3→2. 3/4 fields will only count for upgrades from 4→3. 4/5 fields will count toward upgrades to 4→3.

Guidelines and Notes by Category:

5→4: Experience in 10 mass start races or 15 points.

4→3: 20 points in the previous 12 months; or experience in 25 races.
30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

3→2: 25 points in the previous 12 months
40 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

2→1: 30 points in the previous 12 months
50 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

Category	Class	RR	Criterium and Circuit
5 to 4	Men	15 mi.	10 mi.
4 to 3	Men Women Junior	25 mi. 25 mi. 25 mi.	20 mi. 15 mi. 15 mi.
3 to 2	Men Women	50 mi. 40 mi.	20 mi. 15 mi.
2 to 1	Men Women	80 mi. 50 mi.	30 mi. 20 mi.

Points awarded for Criteriums and Circuit Races

Number of Starters
Placing	5-10	11-20	21-49	50+
1	3	4	5	7
2	2	3	4	5
3	1	2	3	4
4		1	2	3
5			1	2
6				1

Points awarded for Road Races

Number of Starters
Placing	5-10	11-20	21-49	50+
1	3	7	8	10
2	2	5	6	8
3	1	4	5	7
4		3	4	6
5		2	3	5
6		1	2	4
7			1	3
8				2
9				1

Points awarded for Stage Race GC (Cat 3→2 and Cat 2→1 upgrades only)*

Number of Starters
Placing	10-19	20-35	36-49	50+
1	5	7	10	20
2	3	5	8	18
3	2	3	6	16
4	1	2	5	14
5		1	4	12
6			3	10
7			2	9
8			1	8
9				7
10				6
11				5
12				4
13				3
14				2
15				1

* For points earned in stage races, GC and stage places both count for points, but only up to a maximum of 20 points for a cat 1 upgrade or 15 points for a cat 2 upgrade from a single stage race. TT stage places do not count toward an upgrade. For stage places, use the appropriate road/crit schedules. When deciding whether a rider qualifies for an upgrade, an administrator will take into account points earned in qualifying events per the table above. In the case of a rider who is marginally qualified, the quality of the events and the level of competition may be taken into account.

Road Downgrades
A rider who wishes to downgrade may request a downgrade. Such requests will be evaluated individually. In no case will a rider be allowed to downgrade to category 5.

Cyclocross Categories and Upgrades

Cyclocross categories are self-selected except for mandatory upgrades. Riders should take the following guidelines into account when choosing a category.

CCX Category based on Road or XC Category
Road Category	MTB XC Category	CCX Category
1	Pro	A
2	Cat 1	A
3	Cat 2	B
4 or 5	Cat 3	C or Beginner

Masters – Age 35+ (unless otherwise noted) and ability graded as outlined above.

Cyclocross Upgrades for Men
Placing	Number of Starters
	1-15	16-25	26-60	60+
1	3	5	7	10
2	2	4	6	8
3	1	3	5	7
4		2	4	5
5		1	3	4
6			2	3
7			1	2
8				1
20 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

Cyclocross Upgrades for Women
Placing	Number of Starters
	6-10	11-20	21-50	50+
1	5	8	9	10
2	4	6	7	8
3	3	5	6	7
4	2	4	5	5
5	1	2	3	4
6		1	2	3
7			1	2
8				1
20 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

Mountain Bike Categories and Upgrades

OBRA allows self-selection of categories as a Cat 3, Cat 2, or Cat 1. Elite class is only available through upgrade through OBRA or by having a current USAC Pro license. *Masters 50+ Men are not required to upgrade beyond Cat 1 but may do so by meeting the upgrade criteria. Masters Women 40+ are not required to upgrade beyond Cat 2.

Mandatory upgrade rules:

• Cat 3 → Cat 2
• 3 finishes in the top 3 in class with a minimum of 15 competitors for men and 10 for women in a 12 month period.

• Cat 2 → Cat 1
• 5 finishes in the top 3 in class with a minimum of 15 competitors for men and 10 for women in a 12 month period.

• Cat 1 → Elite
• 5 finishes in the top 3 in class with a minimum of 15 competitors for men and 10 for women in a 12 month period.

Downgrade rules:

A rider may downgrade one category when:

• They have no significant results for 2 seasons or at rider's discretion and approval of OBRA.

Track

All track upgrades are processed by the Velodrome Managers using the following criteria: Cat. 5 to Cat. 4 4 mass start race days Cat. 4 to Cat. 3 5 mass start race days and 20 points Cat. 3 to Cat. 2 5 mass start race days and 25 points Cat. 2 to Cat. 1 5 mass start race days and 30 points Points: National championships will be 7,5,3,2,1 for each event. Regional/State championships will be 5,3,2,1 for each mass start event. For all other events, upgrade points are 5,3,2,1 and are based on an omnium of the evening's races. Additional Consideration: At least 50% of all points must be mass start events (Not TT or sprints). 6 person field minimum for Cat 4. Ten person field minimum for category 3 or 2 and 20 person field minimum for upgrade to category 1. This applies to each event of a championship or the entire day for an omnium. Fifty percent of Upgrading points and number of times raced will be carried over to the next year. Points do not carry over to the next category. At least 50% of all points and race days must not be age graded, madison, grouped categories(A/B) or round robin events for upgrades to category 3 or 2. Upgrading from Cat 2 to 1 must be 100% against other Cat 1 and 2 riders (Senior Open events) and does not include round robin, grouped or age graded categories. A race day is defined as one full day of racing. A race day can include a number of events such as a kilometer, sprints or time trial, but it only counts as one race day. Results from other velodromes will be considered for upgrading. Downgrading: A rider may be downgraded for the following reasons: unsafe riding; lack of ability to compete in current category; or lack of placing within current category.

All upgrade questions should be sent to: