Road/Track riders may not upgrade without the express consent of the Executive Director. Cyclocross riders may not upgrade to 1 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 upgrades@obra.org.
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.
Juniors
Juniors are subject to the upgrade rules with the following exception: There will be no mandatory upgrades for racers with a racing age of 16 or younger from cat 2 to 1 in road, track and cyclocross and from cat 1 to elite elite in mountain bike.
Road Upgrades
For a road upgrade, all points may not come from a weekly series.
For the tables that follow, note that if the field contains mixed categories (e.g., cat 3-4), then the number of starters is the number of riders that are the same category or higher as the person requesting the upgrade (e.g., in a cat 3-4 combined field, all riders count for a 4->3 upgrade, but only the 3’s count for a 3->2 upgrade.
When categories are combined, such as in a 3-4 race, the finish place is always the raw finish across the finish line, not taking into account the category of the rider. In other words, the category 3 riders are not subtracted out so that the category 4 rider appears to have a higher finishing place. The only time a category is subtracted out for this purpose is if the prize lists were awarded separately for a combined field.
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
5→4: No required points; racers can self select cat 4.
25 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.
4→3: 20 points in the previous 36; or experience in 25 races.
30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.
3→2: 30 points in the previous 36 months
40 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
2→1: 35 points in the previous 36 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 3→2 and 2→1. 3/4 fields will count for upgrades from 4→3 and 3→2.
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.
Beginners: Automatic upgrade to cat 4 after starting 10 races in the beginners field.
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
| Number of Starters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placing | 10-25 | 25-40 | 41-75 | 75+ |
| 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
| Number of Starters | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placing | 6-15 | 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. 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 cat 5.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 60+ Men are not required to upgrade beyond Cat 2 but may do so by meeting the upgrade criteria. Masters Women 50+ 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: upgrades@obra.org