Aw man, I only just noticed the USAC rule that upgrade points expire after 36 months. I mean, it's a totally reasonable rule, I just didn't notice when it got added.

The thing is, I'm a cat 3, but don't like thinking about upgrade points. I only ever do masters and P123 fields so there is literally no reason for me to care about upgrading because it makes zero difference to anything I do. I would take an upgrade if I got the points, but I don't like racing for upgrade points. I like doing well, but more so I like racing for fun (which is correlated with doing well anyway).

I only do about 12 races a year, all crits. I get OK results but against those fields, it's a fairly tough ask to get 10 points out of 12 races. Basically I have to earn the equivalent of cat 1 upgrade points.

But I do have 29 points at the moment. So now I get to think about upgrade points for the rest of the season and get frustrated every time I don't place. And if I don't place in the few races I was planning to do this year, I get to watch points expire in the spring which will be even more frustrating.

Sorry for whining. :/

Depending on who does your upgrades, they might take that 29 points, especially if they're from 123 masters races. could be worth a shot? i mean it wouldn't fly in NEBRA but I don't know what it's like for NY peeps.

There is some discretion as far as field size goes. If you did a race with 48 riders they are generally OK with counting it as 50, for example.

I would be astounded if you didn't get one more point over the rest of the season.

In one race I promoted a pro would jump in the 3-4 race on the backstretch and try and move their Cat 3 friends up.

I didn't know about it until after the day ended. The Cat 3 teammates got 6th and 7th or something, meaning they got money.

I emailed the pro's team director off their team website. Told him his team rider was the epitome of scum and that the team should seriously reconsider keeping him on the team. Okay, I didn't say he was scum, I just used really nice words to say that the sponsors would be shocked to hear of the shenanigans he pulled. Director apologized up and down.

Later that year the pro rider got popped for doping and got fired from the team.

That feeling when you have perfect openers and your legs feel amazing and YOUR BOTTOM BRACKET ****S UP 10 MINUTES FROM HOME THE DAY BEFORE THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. :twitchy:

wooo problem solved everything is made of gold the streets run knee-deep with honey

:thumb:

When it was added? Didn't it used to be a 12 month period? I thought that's how it was when I was upgrading. Maybe that's one of those uphill both ways recollections.

Anyway, with 29 points I'd go ahead and ask. Can't hurt!

Why don't you want to upgrade?

Wouldn't it feel cool to say "I'm a cat 2"??

I thought they dropped the 12 month rule, raised the number of points needed and said they never expired. I didn't know there was a 36 month limit.

Watching "Creed" (the boxing movie).

Funny watching the training montage, and comparing it to race training; chasing chickens, jump-roping, running, etc. Seems so much more directed and specific than race training. Not necessarily easier I guess.

Then again training montages in (the few) cycling movies make it look short and fun too. Movies are just like that I guess.

But is there an equivalent to five hour zone-2 rides in other types of training?

It was 12 months until a few years ago, then they increased the number of points you need but removed the 12 month limit, and apparently some time after that they added a 36 month limit.


I'd be happy to upgrade. It's just that I hate racing with points as a goal. It's all just internal mind games or whatever but I just dislike the feeling of thinking I really want to place instead of just racing loose and taking risks. To me the whole point of racing is that sort of in the zone focus that comes from being completely in the moment. Coming in to a race thinking "gotta finish 5th or better" makes it hard to get into that head space. Actually I really really want to upgrade now so I can not ever even think about upgrade points again.


IIRC the training montage in Breaking Away is the kid riding the rollers in jean shorts in the rain at his dad's used car lot.

I thought Creed was pretty well done, especially the final fight!

Yeah points shouldn't be the goal - the goal should be win. Points are just a bonus.

Just wait until you're a 1.. then the only thing left is to win!

I enjoyed that movie, despite the schmaltzy (right word?) parts.

Endurance sports have their own training issues, as I'm sure you know. I read about a guy who spent time with the top Kenyan marathon runners and he was surprised at their training. He said they run twice a day, but only 4 or 5 miles at a time and longer runs are rare. He also said they don't take supplements or eat special foods, instead eating mostly corn products. They must know what they are doing, they dominate the sport.

btw, a Kenyan ran a 2 hour 25 second marathon this May but people think drafting a car helped his time.
Still, that's a 13mph average for 2 hours!

get up and jog 5 miles slowly every morning before downing a glass full of raw eggs

I think what annoys me about the training montage in any sports movie is the direct correlation of training to success.

Chase some chickens, down some raw eggs, ride on some rollers in jean shorts, etc, and boom you're a star.

It's so easy to get on the bike and pedal, but obviously there are so many different things you can do.. and even if you do everything "right," there's no guarantee of winning. I guess that's what makes winning so exciting.

Btw the "TdF Preview Show" is on NBC Sports now - can't wait! It has a bunch of short interviews with some of the top stars. Weird to see them without kit/helmet on, they look way more normal than I'd think (in most cases). I'm not sure I'd recognize some of them in the airport, but I can recognize them from a helicopter when on the bike lol.

aren't too many sports movies about losers.

I tried to shop around a screenplay of my life, but nobody was interested for some reason.

retracted

I recently retired to become emeritus at my school and I have to move to a lesser office. I am good with that.

In the process I found the July 22, 1990 L'Equipe that I bought in Paris as well as the L'Equipe zine published the same day. That has a great photo of Greg wearing the Rainbow jersey. His bike had Campy Delta brakes but he didn't need no stinking brakes. :^)

I had to get to Orleans later that day so I found my way down to the feed zone/Cat 4 climb that day to watch the parade go by with Greg wearing yellow. I was hoping to get a water bottle, but no such luck. I couldn't stay for the finale on the Champs.

The interns at my work are so incompetent. One has been late nearly every day - she got in at 11:30 on Friday - and missed her 9:30 meeting. Without a phone call.

I'm learning I have to approach these interns, who are college kids, like the 5 year olds down the street who want to come over and hang out because I have bikes in the garage.

Youtube rabbit-holes are weird.

Somehow I went from watching a random bike race video to "Top 10 ship launch fails"

#5 worked out tho, #3 too. #2 too! And #1 went better than a normal launch! How are these ranked!

Yeah, it felt like a kind of random ordering.

And somehow they go from oil tankers being plopped into the ocean to a guy in a Boston Whaler going down a boat ramp and getting flooded, wtf.

Just don't fall for the vids that show a cruise ship rolling around in a tidal wave.. or the three-story-tall jump jets. Fake news!

That ship launch video is awesome. 7 was the first one I saw that made me go: "holy ****!".