My understanding is that now, there is no distinction for mixed categories and DNFs. You just count everybody for field size. Any race starter, regardless of category and finish, is counted towards field size for points. Which makes it a lot easier to calculate.
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I hope so too!
I have the same plan, Iām in Massachusetts and there is an early bird 4 race series in Connecticut that has clinics the morning before. They start at 7:30am though and itās a 2 hour drive for me. Going to be some early mornings. But I need all the help I can get. Haha
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Oh thatās great! I missed that part. That might actually get more people into the clinics than the old system. Since it is harder to get points as 4 than it used to be as a 5 when the clinic points counted.
5 is the new 4, 4 is the new 3, 3ās are 2ās now, everybody becomes cat1. Disappointing to see standards lowered that much.
Why? Itās not a badge of honor. Itās just a classification to group people based on experience.
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It is a bit disappointing as someone who traveled quite a bit by car to get ten starts where I wasnāt earning points last season, then four months later it becomes I couldāve just āat willedā into a category more in line with my abilities and raced for pointsā¦ that part is frustrating. But when these things change, itās hard to please everyone.
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Meh, you had fun and got experience, right? Itās a lot easier to get to 3 now, so, itās a wash.
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Sure. But not a āwashā. Instead of racing Cat 3, which is almost certainly where Iād be under these rules applied last season, Iāll be racing 4 next to ānovicesā who at willed up to 4 and are essentially last yearās 5s. Itās not a huge deal, but itās not a āwashā for me either.
Most 4 races are combined 4/5 fields and you can get to 3 with just three wins or 20 pack finishes now. Getting 30 points is easier than before.
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True, new rules plus up field size too.
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I donāt know. I know thatās the big complaint on here, saying too many people will completely bypass Novice and take the at will upgrades to 4. And Iām sure there will be plenty that do that. But Iām not so sure that itās going to be as rampant as a lot of people are worried about. I know I wonāt be taking it and Iād guess there are a lot of people who wonāt take it immediately as well. I know my skill level and would rather race the Novice races a bit before upgrading. If I, or anybody really, dominate a few Novice races (not likely for me), then Iāll have to upgrade early anyway. But for the time being, Iād rather get some experience racing, and donāt see myself taking the at will upgrade anytime soon. Plus itās cheaper for a Novice license, meaning that a lot of people will take the cheaper route and wait (my guess).
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Its not? Most treat it like it is. Cat 1&2ās act superior, 3ās sure are a mixed bag, and then the 4/5ās well most want to get out of there asap. 
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If Iām reading it correctly you can get 5 clinic points and 5 begining racer program points for the 4>3 upgrade. Previously this was only 3 points.
I like a lot of the changes. Butā¦ honestly, the most disappointing thing to me is there continues to be zero incentive to do ttās. The points system is killing the discipline.
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As a very novice crit racer, I have to say that some mandatory upgrade system does sound nice. In my area (DC) cat 5 crit fields are often triple or more the size of the other categories and sandbagging does seem to be a problem.
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Current Colorado cyclocross field sizes:
Cat 5: ~50
Cat 4: ~40
Cat 3: ~20
Pro/Cat1/Cat2: ~15
I think this change will shift the distribution to more of a bell curve with the Cat 3 and Cat 4 field sizes becoming about equal and the cat 5 field sizes decreasing slightly. I donāt think it will impact the Pro/Cat1/Cat2 that much since the majority of points earners in the Cat 3 fields are juniors (who donāt have to upgrade beyond Cat3).
It will force more Masters Cat3 into pro field, which will probably flatten out the Masters categories, where previously Cat3 Master was the largest.
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In the same area, Pan, and completely agree!
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Agree with this. No points means no mandatory upgrades for super strong triathletes who clean up in CAT 5 TTs year after year.
I really wish the US had more of a TT scene like the UK.
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missing the āitās 30 degrees outā reduction factor of 50% but otherwise accurate
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I may hit up the Frozen Four novice race in CT as well, would be cool to meet a fellow TR user!
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