2020 USA BMX Rule Changes

Filed under General on November 01, 2019 | Comment(s)

MIXED OPEN
Equipment allowed in Mixed Open classes. As we head into 2020 and the rules regarding the use of clipless pedals get stricter, we had to address a potential concern with regards to Mixed Open classes as they combine Expert Girls with Novice and Intermediate riders. To solve for this problem, we will consider the Open classes to be open wheel and open pedal. For 2020, this means that riders competing in Mixed Open classes for ages 12 & Under will be allowed to use clipless pedals. In 2021, the restriction extends to all riders under 12 & Under, at which point there will be no clips for those riders in any class.

We discussed other options, like moving the Expert Girls into the Expert Opens, but felt that this would be a disservice to our female members. Instead, by allowing open pedals in the Open classes – we can keep the equipment the same for 2020 in those Mixed Open classes until 2021 when clips are banned for all riders under age 13.

VET PRO
In order to help grow the Vet Pro class, the minimum age to turn Vet Pro will drop from 33 years old to 30 years old beginning in 2020.

A PRO
To help us better classify international riders coming to race our events, the following rule will be implemented in 2020.

"The Sanction reserves the right to classify professional riders who compete
internationally as either A Pro, Elite Men or Vet Pro based on any number of factors,
including UCI ranking and/or performance at UCI events."

BALANCE BIKES
We’ve changed the description of Balance Bike to include wording about special needs riders. Balance Bike is an open, non-pointed class formed with riders under age 5 riding push bicycles without pedals. This class will form with 2 or more riders. On occasion, if the need arises, Balance Bike may be offered to riders over the age of 5 with special needs who have an Individualized Education Plan or Individualized Service Plan.

FOREIGN PARTICIPANTS
All foreign participants will be required to purchase a membership beginning in 2020. The only exception to this will be for UCI Elite Men and Elite Women – who do not need to purchase a membership.

STATE/PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
A few changes were in order for the series, which has enjoyed great success across nearly every state & province. The first change was to help lock-down the number of SCR/PCR events to be counted. The second change had to do with increasing the requirements in states with 10 or more tracks. Currently, at 7 tracks or less a rider must participate in 50% of the SCR/PCR events, so increasing the requirement for states with 10 or more tracks helps to keep that percentage balanced.

• · Eligible state/provincial races to be determined by what is posted online as of May 1st .
• · States/Provinces with 10 or more tracks will count the best 5 scores, plus the Final.

GOLD CUP CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
The Gold Cup Championship Series continues to do well with six regions, but riders wanted to know (in advance) who they were competing against heading into the Final. In addition, for the riders who really made an effort to support the Gold Cup Qualifiers in their region, it was upsetting that a rider could earn the same number plates having only raced in Open classes at the Finals as it “watered down” the value of the plate. As a result, we’ve got a couple of changes for the Gold Cup Championship Series that we feel keeps the basic structure of the series intact, while addressing the concerns from our customers and track operators.

• · Riders competing in Mixed Open and Open classes at the Gold Cup Finals will only
  receive a Gold Cup Champion jacket for the #1 rider. Gold Cup plates will not be
  awarded for opens.
• · Riders may still race in any Gold Cup Final, but only points earned by racing Gold Cup
  Qualifiers in that region will count. This also means that riders will be able to see ALL
  eligible riders listed in the points heading into the Finals. And, since we are only
  counting points from within each region, a rider will be able to chase Gold Cup #1 plates
  in more than one region – provided they’ve raced 2 Gold Cup Qualifiers in those regions.
  We feel this really addresses the concern of riders “coming out of nowhere in the
  points” at the regional finals, while also allowing riders to opt to hit Gold Cup Qualifiers
  in other regions to get qualified for that region’s Finals. This is a potential benefit to the
  tracks hosting Gold Cup Qualifiers, particularly in locations in close proximity to other
  regions.

CLASS BUILDING
We will modify the class building in Race Manager to fix some problems reported by local tracks
and some of our members. The quick summary of those changes are as follows:
· Novice riders will be preprocessed, checking up 3 years to find a legal class (no change
here).
· Expert Girls will check up 2 years to find a legal class (previously 3 years). Girl Expert?
· All classes will build from the youngest age group/lowest proficiency up to 16 years of
age (or 15-16 for females).
· Cruiser and Girl Cruiser classes building up to 16 years old will check up 3 classes to find
a legal class and then check down 3 classes to find a legal class. For example, if the 7 & Under Cruiser class forms, and 8 Cruiser would check 9 Cruiser, 10 Cruiser and 11 Cruiser.

If no legal class of 3 riders could be formed, the 8 Cruiser would be placed in the 7 & Under Cruiser class.
· At that point, all classes will proceed to the oldest age group of the day and begin to
build classes backwards. This essentially protects those older age groups across ALL
classes, similar to what was done with Cruisers and Women Cruisers for years.
· When the class building gets to the 17-20 age group, it will check down to find any riders
leftover in the 16 (or 15-16) age group. If it finds them, it will grab them and bring them
up to find a legal class in the next age class up.