2013 Changes to Upgrades for Cyclo-cross and Road licenses

Beginning in 2013, USA Cycling will enact the following changes as it relates to upgrades to road and cyclo-cross licenses.

Cyclo-cross Upgrades

The cyclo-cross upgrade section was rewritten to more closely match the road. There are two ways to upgrade, voluntary and mandatory. The number of points is now given for each of the mandatory upgrades. Please note that junior women are exempt from a mandatory upgrade to Category 2.
 
Cyclo-cross riders must upgrade from Category 4 to Category 3 after either competing in 10 qualifying races or accruing 10 points.
 
Category 3 riders may upgrade to Category 2 with 10 points. Amassing 15 points or two wins in a field of at least 30 competitors is a mandatory upgrade.
 
Category 2 riders may upgrade to Category 1 voluntarily with 20 points. Category 2 riders receive a mandatory upgrade after amassing either 25 points or two wins in a field of at least 40 competitors.

Road Upgrades

The 12-month window for accruing points for road upgrades has been removed for all categories. This rule goes into effect in 2013, so 2012 points will roll forward into 2013. However, this will not be used retroactively to years prior to 2012. Juniors are no longer forced to upgrade to either Category 2 or Category 1, even if they have accrued the mandatory upgrade points. They may upgrade if they choose, but such an upgrade will not be forced.
 
There are four ways a rider can upgrade from Category 4 to Category 3. A rider can accumulate 20 points, compete in 25 qualifying races with at least ten top-10 finishes in fields of at least 30 riders, or have 20 pack finishes in fields of at least 50 riders. The fourth way a rider can upgrade would be to amass 30 points in a 12-month period for a mandatory upgrade.
 
For Category 3 to 2 road upgrades, riders must accrue 30 points instead of 25. 40 points in a 12-month period is still a mandatory upgrade.
 
For Category 2 to 1 road upgrades, riders may upgrade once they have accrued 35 points. 50 points in a 12 month period is a mandatory upgrade. Note that only 10 points from training series or masters races may be used for upgrading.

Cross Vegas 2012. USAC 1/2

WOW, What a fun course! Super smooth, wide and fast, Ty's was a great corse if you had bundles of power. The grass was a little soft but very rideable. There were 4 sets of stairs and one flyover in the 10 minute lap. The laps seemed to take forever as the course was massive.
The USAC Cat 1/2 race would start at 5:30 PM while it was still daylight and still hot. Very hot.
I arrived a little early and spent some time at the bike sponsors tent. Jeff from Sinclair was there supporting the Stevens riders and I met a couple of other guys who were racing. It was great to have the support of the Stevens guys as it ave me somewhere to dump my stuff. I'd ridden the 30 minutes to the venue as a warmup but I hardly needed it in this heat.
We were seeded based on our USAC national ranking and I would be 46th on the grid. Super supporter Hailey arrived by cab with the camera just before the start. The cab driver had got lost on the 6 mile drive and apparently took a 15 minute detour.
we were lined up for the grid in race number order and I seemed a long way from the front. This was a massive event with all the big teams and their sponsors sporting massive trucks and trailers, there were also food and beer tents set up too.
We went off the line and immediately it was mayhem, I was moving up and weaving my way past people and looks to be in the top 20 within the first half lap. At the second or third corner a rider two places in front of me went a little wide on the exit of the corner and got tangled in the fencing before hitting a fence post and going down. The two guys in front of me rode over him and I managed to swerve and avoid hitting anything or anyone. The only problem now was that a gap had opened to the group in front of me.
I was maxed out trying to close the gap and almost made it back on before I ran out of power and started drifting back.
We were supposed to do a shortened first lap before coming through the finish and heading out onto the main loop. There was a woman's field starting a minute behind us and they were also supposed to do a shortened first loop but the marshal forgot to change the course fencing and the women were sent out on the main loop in front of us. We would start catching the back markers very quickly but there were a couple of national champions in their field and some of the woman would battle it out with the boys.
I was now on my own as the field really stretched out on this massive course, I caught a few guys and a couple of guys passed me but had no idea where I was. The evening was still very hot and the air was extremely dry so my mouth dried up almost immediately after the start. The soft grass was draining and I was starting to slow down, but so were a bunch of other people.
With a 40 minute race and a 10 minute lap we only managed 4 laps but I was totally cooked. My Heart Rate averaged 193 for the 40 minutes and as soon as I saw Hailey after the finish I grabbed a bottle of water and tried to cool off.
We we're given towels covered in Shammy Butter's new Euro Prow wash and I wiped my face and hung it around my neck. After poring a pint or two of water over my head the alcohol in the wash cloth really started to work and I was cooling down rapidly. So rapidly that about 20 minute later I was almost shivering. Where was this magic wash before the start. I'd have kept the towel on for the whole race if I'd had known it was that good at cooling.
I rolled back to the Stevens tent and met up with the other guys and collected all my stuff together.
Hailey and I needed to go back to the hotel for an early party before coming back to Cross Vegas for the UCI Pro race. Now that was a whole different world. Those guys came off the line sooooo fast it was shocking. It was a great race to watch but by that time race lung had set in and I spent the whole time coughing up a lung. That would go on until about 2 AM and then start again the next morning. The super hot dry air had caused havoc with my lungs.
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Location:Los Vegas NV