Current Points Standing

View points on Google docs

Overview

The purpose of the BBL winter training series of rides is to provide a weekly training ride throughout the winter which competitive cyclists can use to supplement their normal winter training schedules. It is also supposed to fun and challenging, so the idea behind the points competition is to throw some variety into the otherwise steady-paced ride.

Competitions

The following series long competitions will be tracked:

• Overall Men – All cats
• Overall Women – All cats
• Overall Cat 5 – Cat 5 and non-categorized riders who want to compete
• KOM – King of the mountains combined competition open to all cats and women
• Sprint – Sprint leader combined competition open to all cats and women

How to earn points with the new handicapped points system

Points for will be awarded towards the overall competition based on a sliding scale depending on your category:

Normal attack zones – points earned for the Overall Men and the Overall Women competitions Pro/1 – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th Cat 2 – 6 points for 1st, 5 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd, 3 for 4th, and 2 for 5th Cat 3 – 7 points for 1st, 6 for 2nd, 5 for 3rd, 4 for 4th, and 3 for 5th Cat 4 – 8 points for 1st, 7 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 5 for 4th, and 4 for 5th Cat 5 – 9 points for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd, 6 for 4th, and 5 for 5th

Special Cat 5/Women attack zones – points earned for Overall Men and Overall Women Cat 5 and Women – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th Everybody else – disqualified for sprinting or interfering with the sprint Points earned in these special attack zones will count towards the Overall competitions. The Cat 5 competition will be based on the highest placed Cat 5’s in the Overall Men’s competition.

Special designated “Sprinter’s attack zones” – points earned towards the Overall and the Sprint competition. Same sliding scale for men AND women. Pro/1 – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th Cat 2 – 6 points for 1st, 5 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd, 3 for 4th, and 2 for 5th Cat 3 – 7 points for 1st, 6 for 2nd, 5 for 3rd, 4 for 4th, and 3 for 5th Cat 4 – 8 points for 1st, 7 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 5 for 4th, and 4 for 5th Cat 5 – 9 points for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd, 6 for 4th, and 5 for 5th

KOM climbs – points earned for the KOM competition only. Same sliding scale for men AND women. Pro/1 – 5 points for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for 5th Cat 2 – 6 points for 1st, 5 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd, 3 for 4th, and 2 for 5th Cat 3 – 7 points for 1st, 6 for 2nd, 5 for 3rd, 4 for 4th, and 3 for 5th Cat 4 – 8 points for 1st, 7 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, 5 for 4th, and 4 for 5th Cat 5 – 9 points for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd, 6 for 4th, and 5 for 5th

General notes about all the competitions

• Men and women will be scored separately for normal attack zones where everybody is competing. For the special “Cat 5 / Women only” attack zones, the men and women will be scored together competing for the 5 places to earn 5-4-3-2-1 points.
• Points earned for KOM climbs will only count for the KOM competition. Placing in KOM climbs will not earn any points towards the Overall Men and Overall Women competitions.
• Sprint points are accumulated simultaneously with overall points for special “sprinter’s” attack zones. See example below.

Example scenarios

John Smith is a Cat 5 rider. John places 4th in a Cat 5/Women only attack zone behind 2 guys and a woman. John earns 2 points towards the Overall Men’s competition. John later manages to earn a 5th place finish in a normal attack zone where everybody was sprinting. John earns 5 points for that based on the handicapped points system. Finally, John is the first Cat 5 across the line but the sixth rider across the line for a normal attack zone. John doesn’t earn any points for that!

Sally Smith is a Cat 3 woman rider. Sally places 3rd in a Cat 5/Women only attack zone behind 2 guys. Sally earns 3 points towards the Overall Women’s competition. Sally later crosses the line 10th in a normal attack zone, but is the second woman across the line. Sally does earn 6 points towards the Overall Women’s competition based on the sliding scale. (So this is slightly different than how it works for the Cat 5 men).

Mark Cavendish is a fast Pro/1 sprinter. Mark places 1st in a normal attack zone. Mark earns 5 points towards the Overall Men’s competition, but does not earn any points for the Sprint competition. Mark later wins the Irondale City Limits sprint which has been designated as a “sprinter’s” attack zone. Mark again earns 5 points towards the Overall Men’s competition AND 5 points towards the Sprint competition.

Andy Schleck is an incredible climber with a serious shot at winning the Tour de France this coming year, but for this example let’s say he’s only got a Cat 4 USAC license. Andy is saving up for the KOM climb of the day (Vandiver) so he doesn’t sprint in any of the attack zones. He lays it all out there for the KOM climb and gets edged out at the top leaving him in 2nd place. For his efforts, Andy earns 7 points towards the KOM competition based on the sliding scale but no points towards the Overall Men’s competition.

The key to keeping this all straight is to remember what YOUR sliding scale is. If you are a Cat 3, then you need to keep in your head the numbers 7-6-5-4-3 which indicates how many points you will earn for the KOM, Sprint, and Overall competitions. For the special Cat 5/Women designated attack zones, there is NO sliding scale and all eligible riders are competing for the 5 spots available at that attack zone and will earn 5-4-3-2-1 based on their placing.

Rules

• Always PEDAL on the downhills when you are at the very front!
• Never attack or accelerate on the flats or on a hill outside of an attack zone.
• Always know who the ride leaders are and listen to their instructions.
• Safety first!