2012 Virginia Cycling Association (VCA) Best All-Around Rider (BAR) Rules and Guidelines Deletions to last years rules are striked out. New rules are in italics. See Rules update for updates to these rules. 1. DEFINITIONS For the purpose of these rules, the term 'event' will refer to the entire slate of racing offered by a promoter, perhaps spanning several days. The term 'race' will refer to a specific competition at a given event. In this sense, only races can be BAR races; events cannot be BAR events. It may be that at a given event, some races are designated as VCA BAR races, while other races will not be, depending on class and category. 2. LOCATION OF BAR RACES Only OPEN races held within DISTRICT 42 count towards the BAR. Events held outside the geographic boundaries of the VCA are not eligible for BAR status except by special arrangement with the VCA Executive Committee via the BAR Administrator(s). 3. DATES OF ELIGIBLE BAR RACES Only races that fall between March 1st and September 30th will be eligible to be considered as part of the BAR. 4. ELIGIBLE PROMOTERS a. Only clubs and promoters who remit the specified VCA rider surcharge for all BAR events which they promote within the VCA will be eligible to have races at events they promote designated as BAR races. Clubs or promoters who declare their event a "BAR Event" in either their race announcement or through other means and then fail to pay the required surcharge will be penalized by the VCA. b. Each club must submit fifty dollars ($50) per year to remain a team in good standing. This fee must be submitted by April 15th of the race year. If the club promotes a race, or cancels the race at least six weeks before the event, will receive a refund of $50. If the race is cancelled less than six weeks before the event, the $50 will be forfeited. c. Currently, the VCA rider surcharge is one dollar per rider per day for BAR races. Training races that use no VCA equipment do not have to pay any rider surcharge. d. Each club that puts on a BAR race must provide at least one official at any one BAR race during the season and also one other weekend event during the year. A race in the VACX Cyclocross series may count as one of the other weekend races during the year. For a race to count toward the one race a year requirement, it must occur between Oct 1 of the previous year and Sept 30 of the current year. Any club with fewer than ten members may petition the board for an exemption. e. All clubs in the VCA must promote or co-promote at least one event during the year. f. Failure to accomplish all of the above will result in the club losing all BAR points for it's team members. 5. BAR RACES a. All VCA State Championship races that correspond to BAR classes are automatically designated BAR races. b. When a club or promoter promotes only one event during the course of the racing year, that event will be designated a BAR event. Usually the event designated will have the higher prize list, however, the promoting organization may decide which event will be the BAR event. c. Clubs may promote any number of BAR events. Races not appearing on the event announcement in the possession of the BAR administrator will not be considered for inclusion in the BAR. The BAR administrator encourages promoters to contact him, early in the race planning process. For a race to be considered for inclusion in the BAR, the BAR administrator must have a copy of the race announcement four weeks before the date of the event. There shall be no exceptions. d. Clubs or promoters organizing a USCF State Championship event for VCA racers may promote another event as a BAR race in addition to the USCF Championship. e. In BAR designated races, entry fees for Juniors races will be limited to $10.00. If there is no junior category, then juniors can race in their appropriate senior category for $10 (ONLY one $10 entry per BAR event) f. Cat 5 riders will not be charged late fees or unattached fees. g. Cat 5 Men and Junior races may not be combined with other BAR classes. h. BAR races must be declared sixty (60) days in advance to permit riders time to prepare. i. Races that are BAR races or start championship events, and will not have on-site registration, must not close online registration more than 72 hours prior to the event. j. All BAR races must have access to public toilets, or provide at least two porta-johns. k. No statement can be made on a race flyer that contracticts these BAR rules. l. BAR and Omnium races must conform to the BAR categories. For example, a race listed as Masters 35+ does not conform to any VCA BAR category and is therefore not eligible to be a VCA BAR event. 6. ALLOCATING BAR POINTS a. The BAR is open to all riders competing in designated races. Points earned by a rider are based on the class and category of race and not on the rider's USCF class or category. Points earned by a rider in a given BAR class of race only apply to that BAR class. Example: if a Masters rider earns points in a Senior race, those points count towards the Senior BAR. b. Riders may earn points in only one race per their BAR class at a given event. If a rider earns points in two races in his/her BAR class at the same event then the higher point total earned from the two events is awarded. c. Seventy-five (75) percent of the BAR races in each class will be counted toward each riders BAR. The number of races dropped by the BAR computation will be computed by multiplying the number of races by .25 and taking the integer portion. So, effectively, after every four races one race will be dropped. NOTE: The number of races that count toward each BAR class may, and most likely will, differ. 7. DISPUTES a.All disputes or appeals regarding points or eligible events will be resolved by the VCA Executive Committee (only after the complainant has first discussed the issue with the BAR Administrator(s)). b. BAR scoring protests may only be lodged by the rider or the the riders licensed coach. No protest will be heard if lodged by someone other than those stated. 8. BAR CLASSES There are sixteen competitive classes within the BAR: Cat 1,2 Men Events open to all USCF Senior Cat 1,2 riders. Cat 3 Men Events open to all USCF Senior Cat 3 riders. Cat 4 Men Events open to all USCF Senior Cat 4 riders. Masters 30 Events open to all USCF Masters age 30-39. Masters 40 Events open to all USCF Masters age 40-49. Masters 50 Events open to all USCF Masters age 50-99. Masters 60+ Events open to all USCF Masters age 60-99. Women 1,2 Events open to all USCF Cat 1/2 Women. Women 3 Events open to all USCF Cat 3 Women. Women 40+ Events open to all USCF Women 40+. Women Cat 4 Events open to all USCF Cat 4 Women. Junior 10-12 Events open to USCF Juniors 10-12. Junior 13-14 Events open to USCF Juniors 13-14. Junior Women 10-14 Events open to USCF Junior Women 10-14. Junior Women 15-18 Events open to USCF Junior Women 15-18. Junior 15-16 Events open to USCF Juniors 15-16. Junior 17-18 Events open to USCF Juniors 17-18. a. Any rider who upgrades during the year may carry a maximum of 50% of their current points to the next category up to a maximum or 30 points. However, should an upgrading score points in a higher category race, those points are automatically carried up to the new category and do not count toward the 50%/30 pt maximum. For example, a Cat 5 rider that scored points in a 4/5 race may keep 100% of those points. b. Should a race span multiple BAR categories, points will be awarded to the top fifteen riders regardless of category. This does not apply to Time Trials where the points will times will be rearranged to fit the BAR categories exactly. c. The above rule also does not apply to Women and Junior races. In junior and women’s combined races with fields smaller than 25 starters, riders will be broken out into their BAR/Omnium category. For example, in a Women's race where no categories are specified and there are less that 25 total riders, points will be broken into Women 1/2, Women 3, Women 4, and Women 40+. Category should be declared BEFORE the race begins. 9. AWARDING BAR POINTS a. There shall be fifteen places awarded for each non-championship race, according to the schedule in Table 1: Table 1 Base points for non-championship event Place Base Points 1 30 2 26 3 23 4 20 5 17 6 15 7 13 8 11 9 9 10 7 11 5 12 4 13 3 14 2 15 1 b. State championship events, all road races and all stage races, will be worth 1.5 times the points. For these events, the points will be awarded according to the schedule in Table 2: Table 2 Base points for championship events: Place Base Points 1 45 2 39 3 34.5 4 30 5 25.5 6 22.5 7 19.5 8 16.5 9 13.5 10 10.5 11 7.5 12 6 13 4.5 14 3 15 1.5 The state championship road race will be worth 2 times the points as shown below in Table 3: Table 3 Base points for the championship road race: Place Base Points 1 60 2 52 3 46 4 40 5 34 6 30 7 26 8 22 9 18 10 14 11 10 12 8 13 6 14 4 15 2 c. In time trial events where there are multiple USCF categories constituting a single BAR class, the BAR points shall be awarded by ranking in ascending order the times of all the participants in the given BAR class. Example: At the State Time Trial, although medals are awarded to the top three riders in the five year, USCF-mandated intervals, the BAR shall combine the appropriate Master riders as into their respective BAR classes, and rank the riders solely on time, without regard to age within a BAR class. d. No BAR points will be awarded solely for medalling in a State Championship beyond those due the rider based on Rule 9(a)-(c). e. The track championship shall be scored as an omnium of all events. f. Results are usually provided by the promoters or USCF officials. If two sets of results are submitted, the results supplied by the Chief Referee take precedence. It is the responsibility of the individual rider to ensure that the registrar and other race officials correctly record the placing and team or club name. The promoter shall provide to the BAR administrator, within five working days of the event, copies of the results (15 places deep in each category), start lists, and USCF race report. The BAR administrator will return these to the promoter if so desired. The results should be submitted in the approved USCF/USAC results form. This will allow the VCA to submit all race results to the USAC. g. A masters rider may "race down" age class and receive BAR points in that particular age class. If a race contains overlapping age classes, the rider must designate to the promoter which age class he/she is competing in. If no declaration is made by the rider it will be assumed he is competing in his own age class (ie a 40 up rider racing in a 30+/40+ race will be assumed to be competing and scoring in the 40+ class unless he specifically designates otherwise). h. Cat 5 Men are not permitted to ride in Masters Road Races and Criteriums. Cat 5 Men are permitted to ride in Masters Time Trials. 10. TEAM BAR CLASSIFICATION The team competition is open to all USCF clubs. Clubs must be able to verify the membership of an eligible rider to the satisfaction of the BAR administrator. a. The team classification is calculated by the combined overall standings of the top 3 riders from each team in each BAR category. So, for example, in the overall BAR standings for 30+, the top three riders with the highest points will be summed to form the team scoring for the 30+. This will be combined with other categories to form the total team score. b. The team classification will also be broken out into Top Mens teams, top womens teams, and top junior teams. c. Riders changing teams in mid season do not carry BAR points earned for their first team to their second team, for the purposes of determining team standings. It is the responsibility of the rider to provide proof to the BAR administrator of the change of teams. Should a rider change teams, their place in the overall standings will not be based on total points but rather on which team the points were scored with. For example, John Smith has 60 overall points but 40 with team ABC and 20 with team XYZ. His points for the team BAR will be based on where 40 points places him in the overall BAR. The same for the 20 points. Should one of these be out of the top three for a team, those points will not count. d. At each BAR race, the Chief Referee and Chief Judge will be awarded 20 team BAR points. All other officials will be awarded 15 team BAR points. These points will be added on top of existing BAR points and are not subject to rules 10.a, 10.b above. Officials points cannot carry over to a new team if the official changes teams. e. At each race, the promoting team will receive 20 team BAR points for promoting a BAR race and 15 team BAR points for promoting a non-BAR event. The maximum promotion points a team can accrue is limited to 250. f. At each individual TT, promoters have the option of adding a Team Time Trial classification. Teams can consist of three (3) or four (4) riders. Time is taken on the third (3rd) rider. The results of this will be added directly to the Team classification. Points will be awarded the same as an individual TT. 11. AWARDS a. A BAR jersey will be awarded to the top rider in each class, with one exception. Cat 4 and Cat 5 riders, both men and women, cannot win their respective category two consectutive years. Second and third place winners will be recognized with an award or plaque but will not receive free entry. b. Free entry in the following year's VCA BAR races is guaranteed to a previous year's winner racing in the same category or age group he/she is the current BAR champion. In the case that the rider upgrades categories, or moves to another Masters age category, free entry will still be provided. Promoters are encouraged, but not required, to provide free entry in VCA non-BAR events. c. Inorder to be eligible these winners MUST: Pre-register Pay USCF ins. and VCA Fees ($3). Wear the BAR jersey BAR jersies must be worn during the race in which the rider is requesting free entry. Promoters have the right to wave this rule if they choose. d. Only riders that are members of clubs in good standing in the Virginia Cycling Association may win their BAR category, with the exception of junior riders. If a riders is first in a specific category and not a member of a VCA club in good standing, the next rider that is a member of a VCA club in good standing, will be awarded the jersey. The one exception is a new Cat 5 rider or a new junior rider who has not yet joined a VCA club in good standing. Riders must not have been suspended for bad conduct by the USAC during the calendar year. Any bad conduct suspension will result in the forfeit of the BAR win.