Dayton Double Header

The Dayton Double Header is this weekend. A new event GearFest and a racer favorite, John Bryan (though not a state championship event this year.)

Double header weekends are great. You get to hang out with your racing buddies for two days heckling the SANDBAGGERS!

Who should we all be on the lookout for? Will we see people upgrade under their own will or get forced up by the local reps?

If you use twitter, please use the hashtag #OHsandbagger, pun intended.

Sandbagger Alert!

Oh no, we have a new sandbagger developing!

Let me direct you to Mr. Michael Clevidence. Mr. Clevidence kicked off the season at Lionhearts CX in the Beginner category and placed second. He then raced the next race, C's, and won.

Fast forward a week and we see Mr. Clevidence at NEOCX Wendy park. Once again racing C's and guess what, he won that race too! Two wins and a second place.

TIME FOR AN UPGRADE!

In fact, when I chatted with him, he said many people were yelling at him that he was a sandbagger. When I asked him on his thoughts of upgrading, he blatantly said no and he does not feel like he can be very competitive in the B's/3's.

I check the registration for this week's Gearfest/ John Bryan double header and sure enough he is still registered as a 4. So what are you going to do Mr. Clevidence, just going to keep bullying the true 4's and keep stealing their lunch money?

Unfortunately USA Cycling does not have the 2 wins Auto-upgrade policy for 4 -> 3 upgrade. So the best we can do is to ridicule him as a sandbagger until he upgrades

Any Sandbagger news?

We had Huber's Apple Cross, Lionhearts CX, and NEOCX #2 this past weekend.

I need your sandbagger tips! All emails are anonymous unless you want me to release your name. Send me the scoop at ohiosandbagger@gmail.com. Thanks to all who have already submitted

OVCX Director Warns Sandbaggers

Sandbaggers beware! Besides getting ridiculed on this blog, Mitch Graham, the OVCX director, is giving out a warning to OVCX racers. Don't sandbag and if you win two races, you WILL be automatically upgraded. Glad to see the series promoter is doing his part in the fight against sandbaggers.

Well obviously if you don't win two races, but consistently "come in" 2nd or 3rd, you won't be upgraded automatically in the eyes of USAC. These guys are the real sandbaggers, avoiding wins by blatatly letting others win, or accidentally going off course so they get passed.

If you haven't seen the email, here is the entire OVCX 2011 FAQ Mitch sent out.

Dear OVCX Racers~

 

Lots of excitement is brewing with the start of cyclocross season less than 4 weeks away.   There are many questions about the Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series for this upcoming season - so I wanted to take a moment to try and tackle some of the more FAQ to hopefully help to make your goal-setting and fun-planning easier for the upcoming fall/winter.  This may be a lengthy message, so I'll put the more "important" FAQ's towards the beginning in case you get bored and stop reading.  Here we go:

 

Why the OVCX Series?

Each regional "scene" - Louisville, Indy, Dayton, Lexington, Cincinnati is awesome and strong.  But all together, we are much stronger.  The larger our  collective scene gets, the cooler and more competitive it gets.  We have over 10,000,000 million people within our collective region.  The strength and growth of our womens, juniors, and mens categories hinge on all of our commitments to each other's respective scenes.  Everybody has worked really hard to grow their cx scene - let's support each other's events.

 

What is the 2011 OVCX schedule?

There are 10 events that qualify for points in this year's OVCX Series.  Here's the schedule.  Due to a new rule handed down from the UCI, our largest event weekends, the Cincy3 and USGP Louisville, are not allowed to be scored events in the 2011 OVCX Series.  

 

Where can I find general series info, categories, prize money, etc?

Right HERE.

 

How many races count for the overall?

Your best 7 OVCX finishes.

 

Is there a Zipp raffle?

Yes.  It will be seriously mongo this year. The Zipp raffle will work like in previous years - you compete in 10 events and you get in the raffle (racing twice in one event does not count as two events).  The Cincy3 and Louisville USGP count this year (in addition to the 10 OVCX events) in the raffle.   So if you compete in the minimum of 10 out of the 15 events - you are in the raffle.  Last year nearly 80 raffle prizes went out.  We will destroy that this year.

 

Is the final OVCX event worth double points like in the past?

No, the finale at Kings CX in Cincinnati will NOT be worth double points this year,  but you do need to be in attendance at the raffle to win.

 

What's this "Zipp Sponsored OVCX Athlete of the Week" I just read about?

(NEW)  This is a brand new program we pitched to OVCX title sponsor Zipp that we're pretty stoked about.  After each OVCX race weekend, we will award one male and one female racer the honor of "Zipp OVCX Athlete of the Week."  Each male and female Zipp OVCX Athlete of the Week will be provided one set of Zipp 303 tubulars to race on at the next OVCX event.  For the Zipp OVCX Athletes of the Week we are not necessarily looking at the winners .... but the most-improved, hardest working, loyal and good-spirited OVCX racers - those sorts of qualities.  We'll have consultants from each scene - Louisville, Lexington, Dayton, Indy, and Cincinnati help us make the call each week.  

 

What about chip timing?

Last year about one-half of the OVCX promoters ponied up and hiring a chip timing service to time the riders.  We have a contract for  every OVCX event to be chip-timed in 2011.   The timing chips are custom and yours to keep; it goes up on top of your helmet and you will use it all season long at every race.  If you lose yours, you will need to pay $10 for a new one.  So don't lose it.  Chip timing will be used for lap splits and as back up for finish results - we will use our officials for finish results.

 

How do these new categories work?

First, here are the new category arrangements.   Take a look at them before reading on.

 

Now, let's explain why we combined categories. We combined categories of similar ability for two primary reasons:

 

First, we did it to even out the number of riders racing at one time. Under the old system, there'd be 80 riders racing in one time slot and 15 in another. The new system should even that out to approximately 40-50 per time slot (wave).

 

Second, we combined categories to increase competition and fun. Racing more people of similar ability is more fun. But you really have to be racing them, not just racing on the course at the same time with staggered starts. So we had to figure out a way to accomplish that and yet maintain each individual race category.

 

The solution was to drop staggered starts (for the most part at least) and award OVCX Series points by wave, not category. This means that everyone that goes off the starting line together in a "wave" (regardless of category) races each other for the OVCX Series points available to that wave. And because staging/call ups are based on OVCX Series points, everyone in a wave is racing everyone else in the wave for next week's call up.

 

Yes, you will still be scored in your own category for daily results/awards and for daily podiums and for OVCX overall scoring. Here's how that will work.

 

Let's say you are an Elite Women Cat 3.  At Fisherman's, you would start in the 1:46 wave along with the Elite Women 1/2, Elite Women 35+, and the U19 Elite Girls. Let's say you finish in 6th in the wave and are the first Cat 3 Elite finisher. You would get 6th-place series points and be called up sixth in the wave the next week in Indy. But because you were the first Elite Cat 3 on the day, you won your category and would get the first-place prize for the category and a podium for the day. Your 6th-place series points would also put you in first place overall in your category. This would work the same in every wave with combined categories.

 

So if you're a 10-year-old junior girl, you'd start in a wave of 10-14 boys and girls at OVCX #1. Let's say you finished 15th in the wave and were the third 10-12 girl.  You'd earn 15th-place series points and be called up 15th in the wave the next week. And because you were the 3rd placed 10-12 girl, you'd get the 3rd-place prize for that category on the day and a podium. Your 15th-place series points would also put you in third place overall in your category, which means you'd get called up 15th in your wave next week.

 

Of course at OVCX #1 there will be no series' points to stage each wave with. Therefore, staging (call ups) at OVCX #1 are by order of registration WITHIN EACH WAVE NOT BY CATEGORY. So, depending on how they registered, an Elite U19 Girl might line up next to an Elite 35+ woman, and so on. A 10-year-old girl might line up next to a 14-year-old boy. For OVCX #2 and beyond, the top 25 ranked from EACH WAVE will be staged together in order. After the top 25 are staged, staging will be by order of registration within the wave.  This system will work for all combined categories going off the starting line at the same time.  Again, each category will get scored separately as well, and get a podium celebration each day as well as OVCX series points for their category.

 

Is something going to be done about sandbagging this year?

This is oftentimes a touchy situation - some of our best friends can be sandbaggers and it's difficult to have that talk to set them straight.   What we can say is this - be careful how you set your goals for this upcoming cyclocross year...if you set them too low you might find yourself getting automatically upgraded into the next category and having to revisit your goals again rather quickly.   Rules for upgrades can be  FOUND HERE.  Two wins is an automatic upgrade.  Count on automatic upgrades being given out after 2 wins.  If you are upgraded to a Cat 2, you will not be able to race in Cat 3 unless you request and are granted a downgrade.

If I upgrade categories, do my points carry up like in previous years?

Yes.

 

Do I have to race the category on my license?

YES, this was the case at many races last year and count on this being even more strict this year.  If you pre-reg for a race in Cat 3, drive 3 hours, and show up showing the nice registration folks a license with a Cat 4 on it, you most likely will not be able to race.  Get your upgrade requests in NOW.  

 

What awards go out for the OVCX Series?

The top 3 finishers for each scored OVCX category will be recognized and awarded a trophy after the final race at Kings CX in Cincinnati.

 

How do I get involved in helping out at these events?

Thank you for asking!  Contact your local race promoter through their race's BikeReg link - all of them can use volunteers!  

 

That's about it.  If you have any other questions I've posted this message to BikeClicks please reply below the post.   I'll start a FAQ page on the OVCX website and add more popular questions as we go.  

 

See you in about 3 weeks at Fishsticks! 

Mitch Graham

OVCX Series Director

(513) 861-2453

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I went into hibernation but calling out sandbaggers during road season is very hard without informants. You are typically racing concurrently with other categories and by the time you are done, you really don't want to chit chat, but rather pack up and go home, bummed out that you were one out of the money.

But before I completely cross over to cross, I do want to point out a few SANDBAGGERS!!

Mr. Joe Hall: If you are a Cat 3 and raced in Ohio, I'm pretty sure you have heard the name. He is consistently in the Top 5 and has not upgraded yet! I am sure he is in the realm of having enough points of upgrading, but not enough for the auto-upgrade. Joe shares the top spot in the USAC Ohio Cat3 crit rankings with Scott Spees (another sandbagger) and the number 2 spot in road racing, just 4 points behind.

Now that Road and Crit season is pretty much over, it is time for cross!!! Cross is much easier to spot sandbaggers IMHO. Though big props to Mitch and the OVCX for making the races a bit more anti-sandbagging and for chip timing. 


So in the coming weeks, who will we see mentioned on this blog??? If you have and info, send me email to ohiosandbagger@gmail.com. Your emails will remain anonymous unless you specify otherwise.

It's Over

Now the OVCX has come to a close and it was a fabulous season. A big 180 compared to last season where it was muddy every weekend but we finally got our muddy (and frozen) this past weekend in Indy.

I would like to congratulate all the State champions and OVCX overall winners, sandbagging or not. Even if you are sandbagging, you still have to show up to all the races and also hold off your other sandbagging fellows to win the overall.

A fellow reader sent in this link to me. Read it! It's about upgrading and if you finished Top5, maybe even Top 10 in the overall, it's time to look at upgrading before renewing your license
http://www.chasing120.com/2010/11/its-almost-december.html



Now it's time for me to go into a little hibernation until spring. There is nationals going on now, and a few other races here and there like the Kingsport, TN UCI race on January 15th, but the domestic cross season is pretty much over. I'll continue to post things here and there but I'll be back in full force once road season hits. Unfortunately (or fortunately for you), the road season is more segregated than cross. There is a Ohio series and a Indiana-Kentucky series. I'll mostly be covering Ohio races so all you INKY racers are pretty much safe from my wrath unless I get some reporters to help me out (you'll be completely anonymous if you do decide to help me out.)

2011 OVCX Changes

Like any sporting series, rules change from year to year. Mostly incremental changes to address gray areas or issues that may have come up, and sometimes complete overhauls of the system. With the huge growth of the OVCX, change in how things are done were inevitable. For the 2011 season, Mitch Graham, our series promoter, has proposed some drastic changes to our points system.

I'll say this from the beginning, you simply cannot satisfy everyone. Someone will always be disappointed in change, but change is good. Remember, this is racing. Someone is always going to win, and someone will always lose. In the perfect world we all win, no one loses, we have nice bikes, drive nice cars, have the perfect wife/husband, straight-A kids and not a worry in the world. Unfortunately we do not live in the perfect world.

This discussion is on over at Bikeclicks and copied and pasted from there.

http://www.bikeclicks.com/BikeCliques/Details/tabid/3161/aft/26440/asg/10/Default.aspx

There is no further commentary from me and the following block of text is unedited. (except for formatting and readability)





We all have the same goal--improve the OVCX Series.

Here are some thoughts on how we could do that by adjusting the daily schedule.  Sorry for the length.

Many of these ideas come from what we've all read on here.  I've also received some emails and discussed this stuff with some folks and used their ideas.  In other words, this isn'tmy work, it's a collaboration.

For starters, here's some data.  Excluding the UCI races in the series, here are the per-race average (mean) numbers for the 2010 OVCX through Infirmary Mound.  The categories that typically race together are grouped, and the total-on-course numbers are given in red (this isn't 100%; promoters grouped races differently on occasion).

Elite Men 24.6 racers = 24.6 on course

Elite Women 10.5
Elite Men 35+  10.7
Elite Men 45+  9.8  = 31 riders on course

3 Men  24.6
3 Men 35+  22
3 Men 45+  18.2  = 65 riders on course

4 Men  35.1
4 Men 35+  27.5
4 Men 45+  18.5  = 81 riders on course

10-12 Juniors  17.1 (boys and girls) = 17 on course

3/4 Women  10.7
3/4 Women 35+  9.6
Singlespeed 7.6  = 28 on course

13-14 Juniors  13.3 (boys and girls)
15-18 Juniors  5  (boys and girls) = 18 on course

Before we move on to proposed changes, question number 1 has to be, "Is there a better way?"  We've got a great series.  Should we mess with the daily schedule to try and make it better?

The folks that I've talked with the most think that we should.  The input on this site seems to indicate that we should.

Question Number 2 is "What is ' better?'"

To the folks who've had direct input into this email, a "better" daily schedule is one that promotes more fun and morecompetitive racing while spreading the numbers of racers more equally across the time slots.

"Better" also means (1) better for the greatest number of racers, (2) not getting you to the race too early, (3) getting you home by dinner, (4) giving you the "right" amount of time to race, (5) having the fewest number of races on course at a time, and (6) when it's necessary to have more than one race on course at a time, pairing categories that are similar in abilityand providing an incentive for the different categories to race each other so it feels like one race.

"Better" means getting the most folks that we can get to come race the OVCX every week.

Of course, there's no way to design a daily schedule that's perfect for everyone.  For every give there's a take.  It's a difficult puzzle.

With all this in mind, here's a stab at an improved daily schedule.  Be sure to read the Very Important Note.  It's important.

Also take note of the riders on course with this schedule.  It balances the numbers.

Finally, whatever daily schedule is adopted, it should be the EXACTLY THE SAME at every OVCX race except the UCI races.

9:30   4 Masters men  35+ /45+   30 minutes          
          45 riders on course
          Single start.  Sort category placing from overall results.

Very Important Note:  Series points for single start races like the 9:30 race would be awarded as if the race was one race.  Call-ups would be based on these series' points so that racers are staged by their results in these races, not by category.  A racer's category placing on the day would be reached by sorting the overall results.

For example, if the first 45+ placed 10th in the 9:30 race, he'd get the series points for 10th, not first-place points for  45+.  Of course, he'd still be in first place for 45+ on the day and accumulate the most series points of any 45+ on the day.  This method would mean that everyone is racing everyone on the course for series points even if not for category placings.  This would apply to all single-start races--10-14s, 4 men 35/45+, 3 men 35/45+, 4 men and 15-18 juniors, and 1-2 men/1-2 men 35/45+.  It would also apply to 4 women/4 women 35+ and 1-3 women/1-3 women 35+ because these groups start together despite being in a time slot that has a staggered start with a men's race.  

10:15   4 women   30 minutes
            4 women’s 35+            
            Singlespeed
            28 riders on course
            Stagger start SS/women (2 not 3 starts) Sort women's category placings from
            overall women's results.

11:00   10-12/13-14    juniors  25 minutes  (typically 3 laps)
            31 riders on course
            Single start.  Sort category placing from overall results.

11:40   4 men 30 minutes
            15-18 Juniors
            40 riders on course
            Single start.  Sort category placing from overall results.

12:25   Kids 10 minutes

12:50   3 Masters men 35+ /45+   40 minutes
            40 riders on course
            Single start.  Sort category placing from overall results.
  
 1:45   1-3  women 40 minutes  $400
           1-3 35+ women  (All women race for the $400/10 places)
           3 men
           35 riders on course
           Stagger start 3 men/women (2 not 3 starts)  Sort women's category
           placings from overall women's results.

 2:40   1-2 men 60 minutes  $1,500
           1-2  35+/45+ men  (Everyone races for $1500/20 places)
           46 racers on course
           Single start.  Sort category placing from overall results.