OBRA

OBRA Categorization Guidelines
Upgrade Rules




Road/Track riders may not upgrade without the express consent of the Executive Director. Cyclocross riders may not upgrade to A and MTB riders may not upgrade to Elite without approval from the Executive Director. To speed processing, please include a race resume or other documentation with all requests. Please do not confuse BAR points with upgrade points. The points you find on your results page are NOT upgrade points.

All upgrade requests must include a list of races listing date of race, name of race, type of race, placing and number of racers (DNFs may be included in the count). Any upgrade requests having inadequate information will be rejected.

Please send all upgrade requests to .

USA Cycling Categories and Upgrades - The WSBA, USA Cycling, and OBRA worked together last year to allow you to upgrade with non USA Cycling events. Details on the WSBA website.

Road Upgrades

For a road 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 32. 3/4 fields will only count for upgrades from 43. 4/5 fields will count toward upgrades to 43. We do not separate fields out for the purposes of upgrading e.g. picking out riders of a certain category for upgrade purposes. If a category is run together with another category but scored separately in the results- then the separate category results are considered. For a road category upgrade, no other disciplines count your upgrade. The only races that can count toward your upgrade are qualifying road, criterium and circuit races. Time Trials do not count toward your road category upgrade.

Guidelines and Notes by Category:

54: Experience in 10 mass start races or 15 points.
25 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

43: 20 points in the previous 12 months; or experience in 25 races.
30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

32: 25 points in the previous 12 months
40 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

21: 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 and upgrades to Category 1 & 2 (Women, men and masters).

Riders may not move down in category without the approval of the Executive Director.

Unlike road, cyclocross points for combined fields will count for upgrades from the both categories- For example, 2/3 fields will count for upgrades from 32 and 21. 3/4 fields will count for upgrades from 43 and 32.

For those who wish to upgrade to 1 (Women, men and masters), send an e-mail to upgrades@obra.org with your race resume. Racers wishing to upgrade must have at least 20 points to qualify as an 2 or 1.

Men:

20 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade except for to Cat 1.
35 points in 12 months is required for a mandatory upgrade to Cat 1.

Women:

20 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade except for to Cat 1.
35 points in 12 months is required for a mandatory upgrade to Cat 1.
Consideration will be taken as to the quality of races.

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
Start as a 3
2
Cat 1
Start as a 3
3
Cat 2
3
4 or 5
Cat 3
4 or 5

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

Cyclocross Upgrades for Men
Placing Number of Starters
10-15
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 & Juniors
Placing Number of Starters
6-10
11-20
21-50
50+
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. Consideration will be taken as to the quality of races.

Cylocross 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 Beginner.

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 2 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:
  1. At least 50% of all points must be mass start events (Not TT or sprints).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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:


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