Short answer is to go here and choose the upgrade/downgrade option on the license info tab.

Make sure to include all *USA Cycling Race Results*, whether they appear in the database or not. DO NOT include ABR, Westlake, training race, or other non-USAC permitted race results.

Notes:
Starters is defined as the number of riders in your current category (or higher), ie 50 riders in a Category 3/4 event with 45 Cat 4′s and 5 Cat 3′s would be 50 Starters for a Category 4 rider, but 5 Starters for a Category Three rider.  Promoters and officials can assist in this determination, by posting results to usacycling.org and classifying fields by Categories rather than using A, B, C designations.

Ranking points are not upgrade points.  Ranking points show up on the rider’s account page at usacycling.org, as shown in the screenshot.

Upgrade points are tabulated using the tables below for the various disciplines and field sizes.

Age graded or Masters events are not applicable for category upgrades to preserve the age neutrality of the category system.

Appeals on upgrades can always be submitted to the Regional Coordinator at USA Cycling.

Your account at www.usacycling.org is the ONLY way a change can be made.

Cyclocross Upgrades

Guidelines and Notes by Category
Category 4-3: Experience in 10 qualifying races or 10 points in 12 months

Category 3-2: 10 points in 12 months (two wins is an automatic upgrade if the field had at least 11 competitors)

Category 2-1: 20 points in 12 months (two wins is an automatic upgrade if the field had at least 40 competitors)

Points awarded for Cyclocross Races

	Number of Starters
Placing	5-10	11-20	21-50	50+
1	3	4	5	7
2	2	3	4	5
3	1	2	3	4
4		1	2	3
5			1	2
6				1

USA Cycling may add additional requirements for upgrading at their discretion.

Cyclo-cross Conversion
Cyclo-cross categories may also be upgraded by conversion from a rider’s earned road or mountain bike cross-country category. If during the the season a rider upgrades his or her road category or MTB category, the cyclo-cross category can be upgraded to match the road or MTB category shown below by request of the rider or by request of the administrator.

CX Category Based on Road or MTB XC Category

ROAD CATEGORY	MTB XC CATEGORY	CX CATEGORY
Pro/1	Pro	1
2	1	2
3	2	3
4 or 5	3	4

Road Upgrades

Guidelines and Notes by Category:

5 to 4: Experience in 10 mass start races. Local Associations may also establish policies where upgrade credit is given for taking a sanctioned rider education clinic.

4 to 3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade.

3 to 2: 25 points in any 12-month period, 40 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

2 to 1: 30 points in any 12-month period, 50 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

USA Cycling may add additional requirements for upgrading at their discretion. Any such changes shall be made available on the website.

Qualifying Distances for each category To qualify for upgrading points, races must meet distance standards. Races shorter than the minimum distance do not qualify for upgrading. However, if a road race is less than the road race minimum but above the criterium minimum, it will count for upgrading using the criterium points schedule.

Category	Class	Road Race	Criterium
5 to 4	Men	15 miles	10 miles
4 to 3	Men	25 miles	20 miles
	Women	25 miles	15 miles
	Junior	25 miles	15 miles
3 to 2	Men	50 miles	20 miles
	Women	40 miles	15 miles
2 to 1	Men	80 miles	30 miles
	Women	50 miles	20 miles

Point Awarded For points earned in stage races, GC and stage places both count for points, but only up to a maximum of 20 points for a cat 1 upgrade or 15 points for a cat 2 upgrade from a single stage race.

When deciding whether a rider qualifies for an upgrade, an administrator will take into account points earned in qualifying events per the table above.

	Criterium – Number of Starters
Placing	5 – 10	11 – 20	21 – 50	50+
1	3	4	5	7
2	2	3	4	5
3	1	2	3	4
4		1	2	3
5			1	2
6				1

	Road Races – Number of Starters
Placing	5 – 10	11 – 20	21 – 50	50+
1	3	7	8	10
2	2	5	6	8
3	1	4	5	7
4		3	4	6
5		2	3	5
6		1	2	4
7			1	3
8				2
9				1

Stage Races (3 to 2 and 2 to 1 only) – Number of Starters
Placing	10 – 19	20- 35	36 – 49	50+
1	5	7	10	20
2	3	5	8	18
3	2	3	6	16
4	1	2	5	14
5		1	4	12
6			3	10
7			2	9
8			1	8
9				7
10				6
11				5
12				4
13				3
14				2
15				1