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The Officiating & Licensing officer for MBRA
is Don
Russell.
Access USAC rulebooks
here.
Don Russell
teaches officiating clinics for MBRA. You can view
the PowerPoint slide deck from his training
here. Contact Don for additional information.
The rule for posting is as soon as possible
after the race. Results are final 15 minutes later.
We then post them on the website as soon as they can
be put into electronic format. If anyone wants to
question them after that, it’s an issue the Chief
Judge has to deal with. They are well within their
rights to say that what’s posted is final (assuming
the results were posted and the 15 minutes were
observed).
One technique that’s been used many times when it’s
difficult or impossible to clear up the results is
to place as many people as you can and then bunch
the remaining individuals with the same placing and
times. If there are stragglers, they can be placed
after the group and given the next finish place.
Typically you’d put the bunch into alphabetic or
numeric order and put a comment at the top and
bottom indicating that the individuals were not
separately placed but grouped and the reason why.
Junior Gear Rules
In 2005, there was a discussion of the
USA Cycling junior gear restrictions.
The questions revolved around when do
they apply and do we apply them at MBRA
races.
First of all, they apply any time a
junior is racing a USCF junior road,
track, or time trial (TT) race.
If the
junior is racing a senior/elite category
track, road race, or time trial, Cat 4,
Cat 3, etc..., then gear restrictions
apply. There are no gear
restrictions for mountain bike or
cyclocross races. The Montana State TT
Championships had a rollout. This was
the only race that really had junior
categories in 2004-2006. I will continue
to ask race directors and officials to
enforce this during junior races in
2007.
For local/regional races that enforce
junior gear restrictions, you can block
the gears so the distance a bike travels
with one pedal revolution doesn't exceed
the restrictions in the USA Cycling,
Road rule book, 1J6. Junior Gears. For
Junior Men & Women, the authorized
maximum chaingear ratio allowed for any
road event is 7.93 meters (rollout 26')
(Typically a 52x14). Additionally, if
you plan on racing at Junior Nationals,
blocking gears is not authorized, you
must have junior gears. Some of the
regional cycling organizations that are
not part of USA Cycling (OBRA, ACA,
etc...) did not enforce gear
restrictions in 2006. Whether that
remains the same in 2007 will probably
depend on whether they stay separate or
reintegrate. Best to call and ask before
attending the race.
How to check your gear development:
Select the biggest chain ring and the
smallest cog. Put the bike on the ground
and point one crank arm in the six
o'clock position and then push the bike
backward in a straight line. When that
same crank arm is back at the six
o'clock position (one complete
revolution) that's the rollout distance.
Tire pressure, tire size (700x21,
700x23, etc...), and tire model
(continental, vittoria, etc...) all
affect the final rollout. You should
check both the race wheel and any
spares.
The officials will typically have a
complimentary (not mandatory) rollout
before the race but require the rollout
immediately after the race. The junior
must do the post-race rollout before
going for any cool-down ride. Juniors
should be and have been DQ'd for not
going to the rollout.
This was written by Marcel van Garderen
and is worth repeating:
"These are the rules, however, using
large gears as a junior can be
detrimental to your knees. It is up to
each junior to use common sense and good
judgment as to when you should utilize
the larger gears (down hill). If you are
not sure discuss it with your coach or
another experienced racer.
Remember that using large gears will NOT
make you stronger...in fact using small
gears at a higher cadence will create
more power for you in the long run."
Personally, I have always had junior
racers race with junior gears in all
races (except TTs), junior or elite. Leg
speed is so important that it's
extremely important for young riders to
learn it early. I know other coaches who
have their Espoir racers (U-23) use a
smaller gear development than a 53x11
for their races (typically 53x13).
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