Hey guys, just to remind you that racing is right around the corner, here’s some cool updates to the ECCC (our collegiate league) format. Lots of new changes to make even more beginner-friendly options!
Also: if any of you are interested in seeing the schedule, there’s a link at the bottom. We’ll likely be going to any of the races that aren’t in Pennsylvania.
"At the most recent Fall Meeting there was a discussion about tweaking the
categories for the upcoming Road Season. Please pass this along to your
teams and if there are any questions feel free to ask.
The changes are to the beginners’ categories and fields:
All races will have a Women’s D field.
Men’s D will no longer be split into Division 1 and 2, there will be a
single Men’s D field.
A Men’s E category will be added, run for the same duration as Men’s D
but for slightly fewer points.
There will be a single, co-ed, on-course Intro Clinic, roughly an hour
long, which will be purely a clinic and not contain a race component, and
be open to all categories.
The Men’s E and Women’s D fields will have coaches toward the back of
the field monitoring the riders and providing instruction.
In addition, in criteriums, riders dropped from those Men’s E and
Women’s D fields in the first half of their races will be directed into the
pit and re-inserted into their last group or the field, a lap down but
still able to participate and learn.
At some road and circuit races it may not be possible to participate in
both the Intro Clinic as well as the Men’s E or Women’s D fields, and
riders will have to choose which will offer a better experience for them
overall.
Both Women’s D and Men’s E will be respectively open to all new
non-collegiate Women’s Cat 4 and Men’s Cat 5 racers competing in their
first season of racing. We encourage all teams to recruit newcomer friends
and teammates for the clinics and these races.
The Intro Clinic, Men’s E, and Women’s D fields will continue to be
scheduled mid-morning so that riders cannot be pressured to skip them or
upgrade prematurely simply so the rest of the team may sleep in (this is
definitely something that would happen otherwise).
These changes try to improve the beginner experience in several ways at
once. The longer clinic will provide much more time for educational riding.
Making it co-ed will also result in a larger body of riders, particularly
late in the season. Without the race component there’s no substantive
downside to this being co-ed.
Although a substantive change, moving the coached racing component into the
proper racing fields and reducing its structure (i.e., no prolonged neutral
start) will not change much: The front of the former Intro race fields will
be fine, and the back will still struggle, albeit perhaps actually less
with more riders around with which to ride. Moreover, adding a coaching
element to the Women’s D and Men’s E will enable instruction for not just
the Intro riders, but also the many riders at the back of those fields who
could use it but did not see themselves as Intro riders.
Re-inserting dropped riders in the Men’s E and Women’s D fields is
something that has to be done carefully. However, it significantly boosts
the experience in terms of both quality and educational impact. Many riders
will find that they are perfectly prepared to hold with the group once over
the initial hump. Others will simply get another chance to try and hold on,
but with coaches guiding them. Several of us have been applying this
mechanism to a training race series in Philadelphia the past few years, to
great success.
Finally, although the Intro Clinic will not be required to race in either
Women’s D or Men’s E, we hope that the majority of riders will do so. Teams
should strongly encourage participation for all their new riders. Even for
Women’s C and Men’s D (and beyond!), there are many riders who could no
doubt learn something from the clinics with our veterans and coaches.
The standard criterium schedule that we have used the past few years has
been changed slightly to reflect the new categories and field lineup, but
will run for approximately the same duration overall. This will be
published when the first race flyer goes live on the ECCC Calendar [1].
Thanks!
[1] http://www.collegiatecycling.org/eccc/wiki/index.php?n=Calendar.Current