The Buffalo Bicycling Club Sunday Series Races
This is our yearly series of club training races, perfect for getting in racing experience in a low-stakes environment. To participate, you need to be a BBC member, but unlike a USA Cycling sanctioned race, you do not need a racing license. These races have a A, B, and C fields. If you’re newer to the club, you can do the C race for a low-stakes, learn-to-race format, usually chaperoned by one of our more experienced riders to help learn about tactics. If you’re stronger and ready for more competition, move up to B, and as you get results in the B races and the USA Cycling sanctioned races, you could be ready to move up to A!
General guidelines for fields
- A Group is Cat 1-3 on your racing license. Experienced Cat 4’s allowed to move up with club officer approval. This is our fastest group, so expect high speeds and blistering attacks!
- B Group is Cat 4/Novice in your racing license or if you are without a racing license but are stronger and more experienced riding in the group than C level and ready to focus on racing tactics
- C Group is for new members who are looking for their first experiences in how to race on the road, usually chaperoned by one of our more experienced club members. This group is not scored.
How do you move up in category?
- To Move up from C to B, you just need to demonstrate aptitude and the ability to ride comfortably and safely in the group so you can focus on racing! Ask a BBC officer for guidance, but our motto is safety first.
- The A and the B categories are scored for BBC Sunday Series Club Races. To move up from B to A, you need to:
- do Cat 4 sanctioned races and get good results, get 20 USAC upgrade points and get your Cat 3 upgrade
- OR win the overall B Club Race Series at the end of the year which is an automatic upgrade to A for the following year (while still having Cat 4 on your license)
- OR be top 3 overall in the B Club Race Series at the end of the year, which is a voluntary upgrade to A for the following year (while still having Cat 4 on your license)
- OR win 3 B Club Races during the year, which is an automatic upgrade upgrade to A in season (while still having Cat 4 on your license)
- Requests to upgrade from B to A for club races require officer approval in writing/email before the event. Our goal again is safety in the group first and foremost before moving up to the A category.
In the A and B fields, the scores are tallied during the year and awards are given out at the end of the year for the top 3 in each field! See below for details. We have 8 of these races during the year. For more info on each race, including race dates and times, distances, and terrain, head over to our Events Calendar and look up all of the BBC Sunday Series Races!
We also need help marshaling the BBC Sunday Series Races! If you bring a family/friend to marshal for you, we’ll give you $40! If you yourself marshal a BBC Sunday Series race, we’ll give you 10 points towards your Sunday Series standings for that race!* (*up to 2 times per season). Click here to sign up for marshaling
What You Should Expect on Race Day:
- Please plan to arrive 30 minutes early to get into your riding clothes and get your bike ready
- Write down your name on the sign-in sheet when it becomes available, head out on the bike get a few pedal strokes in the legs to warm up
- At 10am, we will be rolling out together for a neutral rollout from the designated location on the event calendar.
- We’ll start the A, B, and C groups in waves to race the amount of race laps noted in the Course Description
- At the end, make sure you know your finishing place and report it to the event scorer
Sunday Series Club Races Individual Scoring:
Our Sunday Series Races are part of the club’s ____-race points series. There will be an ‘A’ and ‘B’ field scored at each race, with additional separate scoring below. Points are awarded in each race by finishing place:
1st = 15 points
2nd = 13 points
3rd = 11 points
4th = 9 points
5th = 7 points
6th = 6 points
7th = 5 points
8th = 4 points
9th = 3 points
10th = 2 points
11th and after = 1 point each
Each rider’s best ___ of ____ results will be used for the overall standings and the top three overall riders will be awarded at the end of season banquet.
Master’s Sunday Series Racing
Master’s Men’s 50+ race with the A’s but have a version of separate scoring! Master’s 50+ will race in the A field and will be scored against the A’s, but Master’s points will be pulled out into a separate Master’s leaderboard. How does this work? If Master’s 50+ riders get 4th, 7th, and 8th in the A race, their 4th/7th/8th place points will go towards their Master’s standings. They’ll be on both the Men’s A leaderboard and the separate Master’s leaderboard.
Women’s Sunday Series Racing
Women racing in the Men’s A field will have the same version of separate scoring as the Men’s Master’s 50+ above. If women riders get 4th/7th/8th in the Men’s A race, their 4th/7th/8th place points will go towards a Women’s A leaderboard, as well as the Men’s A leaderboard.
Women racing in the Men’s B field will have the same version of separate scoring as well. If women get 4th/7th/8th in the Men’s B race, their 4th/7th/8th place points will go towards a Women’s B leaderboard, as well as the Men’s B leaderboard.
Sunday Series Team Scoring:
There will be team scoring in only the full ‘A’ field (including the master’s and women racing in the A field). ALL ____ races count toward the team classification. There are no restrictions on the number of riders per team that can compete in each race, but only the top three riders of each team per day will have their points totaled after each race for their team classification scoring. The overall team winner will be awarded at the end of season banquet.
Mentoring the C Race
We’re always looking for C-race mentors! If you are an A/B level rider with experience and would like to help out the C race with in-race coaching and work on tactics, we’d love for you to help! As a token, you will get 5 points for mentoring the C race one time during the season. Please let the officers know at the race that you wish to do this.