2019 BAR Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I thought I’d put together a few of the more commonly asked questions here in
a small document.
- With two races run together, how are points scored?
- What’s with this new “75% rule” for the BAR?
- I was the first VCA rider across the line. Why didn’t I
get points for first place? - Why did I get points for 4th in the last time trial when
I finished 2nd? - I got no points for a race. Why?
- How are those team points awarded?
- What’s up with Mens, Womens, and Juniors Team score?
- Why don’t I show up in my teams scoring?
- State champ events are worth 1.5 times the points? Why didn’t I get 1.5 times?
- My results are not in the BAR or the race results?
- “Team in good standing”…what does that mean?
- What does “senior” or “age-graded” mean in championship races?
- My question isn’t here. What’s next?
- With two races run together, how are points scored?
In previous years, points were always broken out into the respective categories after the finish. In this years meeting, this was removed. This year, first place is first place and fifteenth is fifteenth.The reasoning behind this is it was felt that with so many sub-races within one race, it became destructive to racing. For example, if a rider went up the road, each rider would first ask if they were actually going against that person in the BAR.The goal of the association this year is to never have races run together. We hope that each category will have it’s own separate race.There are three exceptions to this rule:- All junior races
- All Womens races
- 65+ men in a 55+ race
In all of these cases, riders are scored as if they rode in separate races.
All of this does not apply to Time Trials. Time Trials will still be ordered on finishing time and rearranged to match the BAR categories.
Master’s Men seems to be the most confusing so to ease the confusion here is how a race is scored based on how it’s listed on the flyer:
Listing on flyer Scoring 35+ 35-99 with riders scoring points in their category 45+ 45-99 with riders scoring points in their category 55+ 55+ and 65+ scored separately 45+/55+ 45-99 with riders scoring points in their category 35+/45+ 35-49 with riders scoring points in their category Clearly it’s difficult to name all the possibilities. The general rule is that if two categories are run together there is no broken out age points (with the 55/65+ exception).
Another “spanner in the works” is that if there are two masters races in an event, then this essentially breaks the rule above. For example, on a day there are a 35/45+ and a 55/65+. The 35/45+ is 35-54, and 55/65+ is 55-99.
- What’s with this new “75% rule” for the BAR?
There were a number of complaints in previous years that the BAR winner was essentially an attendance award. This rule will hopefully eliminate that.The rule states simply that 75% of the races in a category will count toward the BAR. So, for example, if there are 20 races in a particular category, only 15 will count toward the BAR. The dropped races could be ones that you choose to miss because of vacation or other issues, or they could be dropped because you scored badly or didn’t finish. Either way, it’s the same.For each rider, the top 75% of scoring races will be the only ones counted toward the scoring. Even if a rider does every single race, only the top 75% will be counted. - I was the first VCA rider across the line. Why didn’t I
get points for first place?Remember, the BAR is open to anyone regardless of team or where they reside.
So if you finished 10th, you get points for 10th. - Why did I get points for 4th in the last time trial when
I finished 2nd?For a Time Trial, the posted results will be reordered to fit the BAR categories exactly. For example, a TT might list category 1 and 2 separately for prizes. But the BAR category is Cat 1/2. So the times will be taken a arranged so that results match the BAR category, then points are given from there.
- I got no points for a race. Why?
One of the most common reasons for not getting any BAR points is your name isn’t on the results. Check
here for the results of the race. If your name isn’t on the results, then obviously you “officially” didn’t place. By the time I post results on the website, they have been “official” for days. You should have checked the results on race day.If you did show up on the results, then a possibility is that you’re new to racing or new to the area and I know nothing about you. This is especially true if you did a race than spans multiple categories, for example 45+/55+. If you suspect this, send me your name, hometown and racing category or age and I’ll get your points to you ASAP.
If your name is there and you still
don’t have points, send me an Email. - How are those team points awarded?
The computation of team points is not easy to explain so let’s just look at an example.For each category in the BAR (i.e. 30, 40, etc) the top three riders from each team are taken. The top three riders are computed by total points of ALL BAR RACES to date and are not computed for each race. Those points are added together to form the team score for that category.
For example, after 5 races, the 30 BAR looks like this:
Joe Rider Team XYZ 64 points Fred Biker Team ABC 54 points Abe Pedeler Team XYZ 24 points Art Jones Team ABC 12 points Mike Smith Team QWE 10 points Bill Johnson Team XYZ 8 points John Smith Team XYZ 5 points
So, for the team BAR, the top three riders in a category are taken. So taking the top three riders of each team in 35+ category, we get Team XYZ = 64 + 24 + 8 = 96 points, Team ABC = 54 + 12 = 66 points, and Team QWE = 10 points.
Notice that John Smith was placed fourth for his team and therefore his points do no count in the team BAR.
This is done for each category and all points from each category form the team score.
- What’s up with Mens, Womens, and Juniors Team score?
It was decided at the Annual meeting, scoring for teams would also be broken out into Mens, Womens, and Juniors team scoring.Scoring for each of the sub-categories is done exactly like the overall team score. The scoring is done as follows:
- Mens score = Cat 1/2 + Cat 3 + Cat 4 + Cat 5 + Masters Men
- Junior score = Junior Men + Junior Women
- Women score = Women 1/2/3 + Women 4 + Masters Women
- Why don’t I show up in my teams scoring?
Remember, according to the BAR rules only the top three riders from each team in a category score points for team. So if you’re a member of a large team and there are more than three people in your category, you might not score team points.To check this, go to the
Team BAR page and click the link for your team in the Overall Team Results. Check to see how many people are listed in your category. Now check your points in that category. Do you have more points that the three listed? Probably not. - State champ events are worth 1.5 times the points? Why didn’t I get 1.5 times?
State Championship events are indeed worth 1.5 times the points – the RR is worth two times the points.
Since the state championship events are usually broken into two parts (age-graded and senior), only the races within the event that are actually the championship races get the extra points. Essentially, if medals were awarded in the race, it should receive the extra points. - My results are not in the BAR or the race results?
Race results become final fifteen (15) minutes are the results are posted the day of the race. DO NOT email me and ask me to change the results. I cannot change results. If you feel that the results are wrong, email the promoter of the race. If they made an error, they will let me know to change the results. - “Team in good standing”…what does that mean?
In previous years, there have been complaints that too many people have simply raced and given nothing back to the cycling community. So this rule was implemented so that those getting something from the Association (free entry in races) have done something (at least their team has) to give something back to the cycling community.For a team to be in good standing, they must have promoted at least one race duing the race year. This race could be a BAR race but does not have to be. They also must have at least one official on the team that has worked one BAR race and one other weekend race.If a rider belonging to a team that is NOT in good standing wins their BAR category, they will forfeit the BAR jersey and the next person down the BAR category who is in good standing will win the jersey.
- What does “senior” or “age-graded” mean in championship races?
This is defined in the USAC Rulebook but simply put:- Age-graded – Championships based on age (masters and juniors)
- Senior – Championships based on category (e.g. Cat 2, Cat 3)
- My question isn’t here. What’s next?
Email me with your question and I’ll answer it. Then you might even see your question here :-).