Same day sign ups/ thoughts?

YouRang87

YouRang87

Active Member
So I haven't done as much as far as events/racing as I planned this year but I'll be damned if I do not cross. So aka I don't have my liscense. I'm on the fence about getting a US cycling liscense since by the time I'll use it it'll almost be expired. Leaving the math out of it I still plan on hopefully doing 6 to 10 races depending how many are close. QUESTION- how much of a disadvantage or pain in the butt is it to sign up day of? Will I hear " back of the line loaner!" From promotors. With this being my first year I kinda feel more comfortable paying as I go vs forking out a lump sum. So could anyone explain the disadvantage or reason to get the liscense? Can I still pre reg on bike reg then get my us liscense the day of? Just wondering what you guys think. This post will be helpful to me and maybe others new like me clear up some options. Thanks!
 
In many CX races, your start position is determined by registration order. People set their alarms for 12am in order to register first. If racing 6-10 times, you will save money by getting your license now.

Get your license and register early for any races you know you will do. If on the fence, you will find yourself starting at the back. In a big field of riders, it is a completely different race back there. Welcome to cross.
 
License will save you $$ if you do 3 (??) - I just got mine, first licensed race of the season on sunday.
you can register without a license (yes? no?) - i ended up in the back of the line for registering for the wrong
race last year!
 
You can pre-reg without a license and buy a one-day license or present a license that you purchased after regging.

I hate starting in the order of registration. I hate having to plan out my races months ahead of time. I miss the good old days of scrumming for position
 
License is $70. I think day-of is $10? So your break even is 7.

I have seen pretty fast guys start way in the back and end up like top 5. Over the course of the race it mostly shakes itself out, but not totally so you will be hosed a bit if you start last. After 1-2 races they use the standings anyway so reg order doesn't mean anything. Or up in Providence they use your crossresults score to start you. But if you reg day-of you'll get none of that benefit. You are a bottom feeder then.

Nittany used to use the previous standings to stage you. So if you want to compete in some of those fields, you need to do well this year so that next year you'll be in the first 2 rows in the first weekend. So technically, you kinda need to start planning now to try to compete for the 2016 MAC season.

A lot of this really depends how fast you are and how competitive you'll be. If this is an exploratory year I would play it by ear, week to week. You can always pre-reg at any point. The big issue on license is the 7 race break-even point. Are you going to do 6 for sure? If so, get it, because if you're sure about 6 then you'll find a way to do the 7th and likely 10. If you have no idea if you'll do more than 1, I'd wait on that.
 
Found this on usacycling

For road, track and cyclo-cross events, riders may purchase a one-day racing license for $15 and be permitted to enter races open to men’s category 5 or women’s category 4.
For mountain bike events, riders may purchase a one-day racing license for $10 and be permitted to enter races open to category 2 or category 3 riders. Riders must hold an annual license to race as a category 1 or Pro racer.

apparently, you can pre-buy the one day license on there too. couldn't find it tho.....
 
I think the pre-buy is usually done on bike reg when you register for the race.

The whole cycling license thing is fucking annoying.
 
Yearly License is $70 and the one day licenses are $15, so your break even is 4.6 races. If you plan on racing 5 or more races, then get the yearly. You can also try one race, pay the $15 one day fee, then deduct that from the $70 if you want to upgrade to the yearly. Trust me, one race is all it will take to know if you like it. 10 minutes after my first race I swore I'd never do another race again. After a little time to recover and some food, I was asking when the next race was. Went out an bought a CX bike that week.

Register early or you're stuck at the back.
 
jnos said:
Annoying, but the insurance that comes with it is great when you need it.
Click to expand...
Really? Check the fine print. Race insurance didn't cover anything for my elbow replacement after a crash at Battenkill (another rider swerved Into me on a descent) i certainly put a lot of time into paperwork, but it ended up covering exactly $0. I thought, well, maybe it helps with catastrophic incidents, luckily mine wasn't, but it maxed out at 10G. Maybe it's different now, but I'm completely skeptical.
 
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