Announcing the 2005 IBRA Rider of the Year competition! There are some new changes that are being made to hopefully make this year's results more competitive and exciting throughout the entire racing year. In particular is a brand new "Rider of the Month" competition, with the category winner's for each month having their names submitted into a prize drawing to be held at the 2005 fall IBRA banquet. The exact prizes will be announced soon - with more prizes to be added and announced throughout the year - but my goal is to have these be some pretty cool stuff. My initial list of prizes includes a set of wheels, a heart rate monitor, tires, and other cool stuff - not just your typical water bottle type "schwag". We are also going to be testing out a new "team" competition, using 2005 as a test run with the hopes of a formal competition/award being implemented for the 2006 season. IBRA 2005 ROY Rules & Guidelines -------------------------- **IMPORTANT! 2005 Rule Additions** - A new "Rider of the Month" competition is being introduced for 2005. The purpose of this is to recognize and honor those riders who might peak at different times throughout the year or focus on specific types of races. A ROM will be awarded for each of the standard categories (listed below) while an overall ROY will essentially be the running total of points a rider receives throughout the entire year. - The Rider of the Month competition will be based on the number of points a rider receives during one calendar month (the 1st-30th/31st). The exception to this will be the "November" ROM, which will include any October IBRA races that occur after the state cyclocross event. - Each Rider of the Month winner will have their name entered into a prize drawing to be awarded at the fall IBRA banquet. Prizes will be formally announced shortly, but are expected to include tires, heart rate monitors, wheels, and other cool stuff - i.e. much more than just a water bottle prize. Stay tuned for prize announcements. Riders may have their names entered into the drawing more than once (if the same rider wins multiple months for example). - An informal Teams competition will be introduced and tracked for 2005. Points from the top 3 riders on a team regardless of category will be totaled for a combined "team" points standing. - Riders eligible for the ROM and ROY competitions must be licensed in Iowa and hold an annual USCF racing license in 2005. (other rule changes indicated within the context below) - The 2005 racing calendar (for points) is the same as it has been for the past, with the "year" starting with the first IBRA event after the state cyclocross (in 2004) and the "year" ending with the state cyclocross (in 2005). This racing "year" is organized as such so as to have the ROY awards ceremony during the fall IBRA banquet. - For an event to qualify as a ROY event, the appropriate IBRA fee must be received from the event promoter by the 2005 state cyclocross race. - The divisions upon which points will be applied are: Juniors (includes all ages and genders) Women (includes all categories) Senior Men 5 Senior Men 4 Senior Men 3 Senior Men 1/2 Masters 30+ Masters 40+ Masters 50+ Note: Riders who register for a Masters 35+ event (i.e. Memorial Day weekend) will have points applied to the 30+ division and riders who register for a 60+ event (i.e. state championship races) will have points applied to the 50+ division. **2005 Rule Change** Points for 60+ riders will be awarded as part of the regular 50+ category as previously, however a separate Masters 60+ category will be tracked to distinguish those 60+ participants. A separate distinction will also be made for Juniors under the age of 14 (this part is not new, but covers the same topic). - Each race will be classified based on the total number of participants for the event. Classifications will be broken down as follows: A Race = 200+ riders B Race = 100-199 riders C Race = 50-99 riders D Race = 25-49 riders E Race = 1-24 riders - Placement points will be awarded to the riders based on their finishing position of the race that was entered. Placement points shall be awarded as follows: A Race - Top 25 places: 50, 45, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 B Race - Top 20 places: 35, 30, 27, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 C Race - Top 12 Places: 25, 21, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 D Race - Top 8 Places: 12, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 E Race - Top 5 Places: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 **2005 Rule Change** An additional place was added for "D" level races - making it the top 8 places rather than the top 7 places. - Placement points will be applied towards the category that the rider is registered for in that race. For example, if a Cat 3 rider registers into a combined 1/2/3 race, his points will be applied towards the Cat 3 division. If the same Cat 3 rider registers into a Masters 40+ race, his points will be applied towards the 40+ division. The same logic will hold true for Cat 5 riders who enter a 4/5 combined race (their points will go towards the Cat 5 division). **2005 Request** This is a request that anyone who upgrades from one category to the next please let me know. It is not always evident from the results - especially when upgrading from a Cat. 5 to a Cat. 4. It will make my life easier. :) - 1 bonus point will be awarded to any rider who starts a race but finishes outside of the placement point listing. This includes riders who receive a DNF. - For combined category races, 1 bonus point will be awarded to the top rider of each "non-winning" category. For example, if a Cat 2 rider wins a gravel race, then the top rider from each of the other categories (i.e. 3, 4, 5, 40+, etc.) will receive 1 bonus point for being the top rider of that category (as well as whatever placement points they would have received for overall finish). - 5 bonus points will be awarded to the state champions for the road race, criterium, time trial, and cyclocross events. These bonus points will be applied to the appropriate IBRA division (see above). Good luck and have fun! I'm looking forward to an exciting year! Mark A. Guthart