EVENT DESCRIPTION

The kickoff the 2007 MASS series is a brand new event semi-styled after the World Championship Relay and the ubiquitous 12/24 hour team relay format. It also takes a cue from the Rockville Bridge Cyclocross Relay from the PA state championship in 2005. We took these ideas, tossed 'em in a blender, and came up with something tasty.

It works like this:

All riders are given a handicap based on a logical though by no means scientific analysis of who is faster than whom (who?). BTW, if someone wants to take the time to do a thorough scientific statistical evaluation of the data to come up with a better point scheme I'll fund said research with a box of donuts.

The fastest groups get lower handicapping points all the way down to 0 points for Elite men and the slower groups get higher numbers of points with 10-12 year old beginner Jrs in our youngest bracket getting a +9. As promoter I get +10 (see #10 below). You can see this handicapping schedule here.

Teams will consist of four riders. Teams may consist of any combination of riders from the various categories and age groups. All teams will compete against each other.

Each lap of the course will take me approximately 15 min to circumnavigate. Some of you are faster than me, some are slower. Each lap will be worth 8 points. Partial laps are worth bupkus. So, as your team completes laps you earn points to add to your start total.

RELAY SCENARIO:

Team General Disarray consists of four Elite men.
Start points = 0

Team Durpitee Durpitee Durp consists of 1 Sr. Sport male, 1 Master Ex male, 1 Jr X male, and 1 Beginner male 15-16.
Start points = 10

Team Raisins consists of four Beginner Women.
Start points = 28

Remember each complete lap = 8 points so, in essence,

Team Raisins starts with a 3.5 lap advantage over General Disarray and a little more than a 2 lap advantage over Team Durpitee Durpitee Durp (DDD). Both of these teams would need to un-lap themselves in order to win (it isn't enough to catch them with points on the same lap).

Team DDD starts with just under a 1.5 lap advantage on Team General Disarray (meaning they would need to be lapped twice for General Disarray to beat them).

Team General Disarray completes 16 laps for 128 points.
Team DDD completes 14 laps for 112 points.
Team Raisins completes 13 laps for 104 points.

Add in the start points and,
Raisins totals 132 points and wins the whole shootin' match.
General Disarray totals 128 points.
DDD totals 122 points.

RELAY RULES AND NOTES:

Before we get to the rules let's talk about this thing. This event is meant to be a good time and fun way to kick of the season and the handicapping meant to level the playing field and keep everyone competitive until the end of the event. It is the first time something like this has been attempted (that we know of) and therefore (while I am pretty much spot on 100% of the time) there is a chance that the handicapping is off a bit. We could debate for hours about the points I've allocated the categories, but we're not going to so keep it to yourself. Until we run this thing once or twice we don't really know if it will work or not as it is designed so batten down the hatches, throw caution to wind, jump in with both feet, and let the force be your guide. It'll be a hoot no matter what.

1. No team member may complete more than 1 lap less than any other team members. If any rider is more than 1 lap behind the rest of the team at the end of the event then the team will be penalized 1 lap per occurrence. Injuries will be dealt with on a one-on-one basis.

2. Teams do not need to consist of members from the same MASS registered team and all teams will be eligible for the prize list.

3. Only teams with all members from the same MASS registered team will be eligible for the Team Championship Cup which will be engraved with the winning team's name and members and passed on from year to year as a perpetual trophy.

4. Teams must send their riders in the registration order. Deviation from the reg order will result in a one-lap penalty.

5. Every team must consist of four members. No teams may have less than four members. There shall be no teams with one, two, or three members, only four with four being the number of team members and the number of team members being four. Three which comes just before four nor five which follows four shall be the number of members on the team, but rather it shall be four. Four…

6. Teams may start their last rider up until the clock hits 4:00:00 after the start. As long as the previous rider crosses the transition line at 3:59:59 the next team member in registration order may race a final lap.

7. All team members, regardless of whether the team is an official MASS team or a combine, are eligible for MASS team points. Points will be divided amongst the team members as a percentage of the total team points awarded based on finishing position. For instance, if the winning team is VisitPA.com then 100% of the team points go to VisitPA.com. If the winning team consists of one rider from Spot, one from Cannondale, and two from Guys then the team points will be divided 25%, 25% and 50%, respectively.

8. Don't litter. If you're caught littering then your team will be disqualified. Yes, the top of a gel packet counts as littering.

9. Don't bug the results people while they are working during the race or after the race while they are tabulating the final results. If you're being a pain in the backside to the results people then you'll be beaten and publicly humiliated and your team will be docked a lap.

10. I'm in charge. What I say goes. Deal with it.