Matt Ritzow
My guess is that it is related to the year or the time that has elapsed
since you raced those 10 qualifying road races. My general experience with
usac in regard to accepting OBRA results has been very good, as their
qualifications for upgrades match up with OBRA's similarly.
Matt.
On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 8:29 AM, Shane Gibson via OBRA
wrote:
>
> Hey All - I had to move to California for work. Now I'm stuck in USAC
> hell-land. So SO SO SO so missing the OBRA experience ...
>
> Recently I tried to get my languishing Cat 5 USAC road license upgraded to
> Cat 4 - since I thought I'd get back to a few road races. I went through
> the USAC process, pasted my results, and links to all of the OBRA results
> pages, etc...
>
> In total - I participated in 13 OBRA road races, two of which were TTs.
> In those 13 races - I placed on the podium in 6 races, and missed the
> podium by one spot in 2. Generally - I felt that my limited road racing
> experience warranted an upgrade (OBRA upgraded me on points to Cat 4).
> According to the USAC terms [1] - I need experience in 10 (USAC sanctioned)
> races.
>
> USAC unilaterally denied my request saying I have no road racing results.
>
> Yes - it says "only races permitted by USA Cycling will count". But - I
> thought I recalled a few peeps here saying they were able to get some
> upgrades based on OBRA results.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this? War stories to tell? Did you
> have to "escalate" to try and get a more fair review? Other than "suck it
> up buttercup" ... any experience to share?
>
> I mean ... come on ... it's not like a 5 -> 4 upgrade is going to upset
> the road cycling world. And ... I have demonstrated sufficient experience
> ... and quality results in that experience set ... to meet their (USAC)
> guidelines. I guess OBRA races do not count as quality races that provide
> an experiential base ??
>
> I hated USAC to begin with ... and being stuck in USAC land makes me hate
> them even more. My favorite tactic they have ... they now have a
> "RaceClean" surcharge on the license ... to "help clean up the sport of
> cycling" ... which was completely a failure on their part in the first
> place - so now we get to subsidizing un-screwing a screwed up
> organization? Sigh ....
>
> Thanks for any input!
> ~~shane
>
> NOTES:
> [1] - https://www.usacycling.org/road-category-upgrade-guidelines.htm
>
>
>
>
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>
--
Matt Ritzow
General Manager/Partner Owner
Bicycle Way of Life Inc.
556 Charnelton St.
Eugene, Or. 97401
541-393-0147
541-344-4150
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