A lot of exciting things on the racing calendar this year. On March 24, the Tennessee National returns to Oak Ridge with the addition of cross-country and short track to their already dominant downhill scene. Followed closely in early April by the start of the US Pro Cup races in Temecula, Calif., and Fayetteville, Ark.
On April 8, the national-level road events kick-off as we head to Miami for the first race of the newly anticipated National Cycling League series. The NCL is taking crit racing up a level. Think crits, car racing, and hockey rolled into one. The National Road Calendar gets underway with stage racing at the Redlands Bicycle Classic on April 12-16, followed closely by the 36th year of the Tour of the Gila starting April 26. The American Criterium Cup is back for year two with ten of the top criterium races across the U.S. First stop on the ACC calendar will be April 22 at Speed Week’s longstanding Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight crit.
The Tech Director Updates are our main method of communication with you, our Officials. Please consider adding the email address: membership@usacycling.org to your contact list to avoid these updates from being routed to your spam folder. Also, try signing up for the Tech Director Update using the form below.
Officials Webinar Schedule
Below you will find the tentative schedule for our upcoming webinars, all of which have been identified by your peers as areas of interest. As additional details and start times are finalized, they will be shared in future Tech Director Updates. We understand that some topics and times may not work for everyone. Join us if you can, or watch the recorded session when it’s convenient for you. Links for the recordings will be made available in the following month’s Tech Director Update or by visiting the Officials page on our website.
March 23
5 pm MT
Bike Measurements
The UCI has made several changes for 2023 around bike measurements. Curious as to how these changes will affect you? Tune into this seminar to hear directly from International Commissaire and UCI Technical Commissaire Randy Shafer as he dives into the modifications and provides an understanding of how the changes will affect the current bike check process.
April 27
6 pm MT
Go Fast, Turn Left
Hear from two of our International Track Commissaires Noreen Landis-Tyson and Zach Maino, as they host this track-specific webinar. They will dive into the updated UCI/USAC regulations that may impact track officials assigned to work a National Championship or UCI event. Fresh off their return from the Nations Cup in Milton, ON, hear the details and best practices on what they see at the international level and how to assure consistency across the events.
May 16
6 pm MT
Not for the Faint at Heart
When someone talks about officiating a mountain bike race, they generally refer to cross-country. Join National Technical Commission members Michael Donovan (IC) and Tobin Behling (ENC) as they jump headfirst into the ins and outs of working a mountain bike gravity event (downhill and dual slalom).
June
Officiating a Stage Race
Members of the National Technical Commission, Tom Nee (IC) and Steve Eppel (IC), host a panel of chief referees from our larger stage races to share their experiences. Find out how to plan for the role and hear about challenges faced once on-site at the event.
Previous Webinar Recordings
Previous webinar recordings are made available on the Officials' webinar page, as well as USA Cycling’s YouTube channel.
Motor Vehicle Reports
In last month’s TD Update, I stated the MVR was a yearly requirement, and this was incorrect. During 2022, NCSI incorrectly modified the length of the MVR from 2 years to 1 year. Our IT department worked with NCSI to handle the correction. NCSI has reprocessed all the MVRs affected and has reissued the correct date. If you notice anything to the contrary, please send me an email.
SafeSport Training Modules
Officials are required to take SafeSport training every year, but it isn’t always obvious which training you need to take next. We have four modules in our training set, and they are to be completed once per year in the order shown below. When you reach year 5, you will start the sequence over.
SafeSport Trained – NGB1
Refresher 1: Recognizing and Reporting Misconduct – NGB1
Refresher 2: Preventing Misconduct – NGB1
Refresher 3: Creating a Positive Sport Environment – NGB1
When you log on to your SafeSport account, you will land on your dashboard. You can either click on the link for My Courses or scroll down to the My Courses section. Here you should see the four modules from above, with a status of either enroll, completed, or re-enroll. When it’s time to renew your training, you would click on enroll or re-enroll for the next one in the list. Again, you should be taking them in the order shown above.
In addition, the SafeSport website offers a full catalog of additional training you may enroll in. However, those modules listed above are the only ones that will count towards your training requirement as an official.
2023 National-level Assignments
There are a few national-level events that were recently added to ComMgr, including Masters and Para Road Nationals, and a new UCI MTB race, the Piney Hills Classic. We expect to announce the dates and locations of Gravity Nationals and Gravel Nationals next week, followed shortly by the location of Collegiate MTB Nationals. In addition, any open positions on events already assigned are noted as well.
Education Opportunities
Throughout 2023
2023 Elite National Commissaire Courses
The UCI has confirmed the following ENC courses for 2023.
BMX Racing ENC course in Paris, April 22-25 (English)
BMX Racing ENC course in Paris, April 27-30 (French)
Mountain Bike ENC course in Budapest, Hungary, May 4-7 (English)
Track ENC course in Aigle, Switzerland, September 23-26 (English)
In addition, they will be offering virtual ENC during the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2023 for road, track, mountain bike, and BMX racing if there is enough interest.
The ENC courses will be open to officials with a current level of Category A or NC in the discipline of the course. USA Cycling may submit one, and in some cases two candidates for consideration. The UCI will make the final determination as to the final selection into the course.
If you are interested, please complete the following ENC Google Form no later March 15.
Fall 2023
2023 International Commissaire Courses
As mentioned in the last TD Update, the UCI will be offering two IC courses this year in Aigle, Switzerland.
BMX Racing IC course – September 4-9 (English)
Mountain Bike IC course – October 2-7 (English)
The IC courses will be open to officials with a current level of Elite National Commissaire in the discipline of the course, between 25 – 50 years of age in 2023. USA Cycling is limited to the number of candidates we may submit for consideration. The UCI will make the final determination as to your selection into the course.
If you are interested, please complete the Interest Form no later March 17.
March 18
Motor Referee C Course
We will offer the first of two Motor C courses on March 18. The second one will be offered in late summer or early fall, depending on the need. These courses will be an all-day Zoom course taught by Chris Black and Steve Johnson, followed by an online exam.
The course isn’t limited to only those who drive a motorcycle. Any official can take the course and, after successfully passing the exam, will have Motor Referee designation as a passenger, making you eligible for the position of timeboard or motor commissaire. Those who want to drive a motorcycle in a race must meet the following requirements:
Hold a current Officials license
Licensed as a motorcycle rider
Have taken a motorcycle safety course
Have a current MVR (see Renewing your Officials License above)
The cost to attend the course will be $50. If you are interested in attending, please email officials@usacycling.org for additional information.
May 24-25
Para-cycling Officials Course
Several of you have already expressed an interest in attending the Para-cycling course on May 24-25 in Huntsville, Ala. This course will be held prior to the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup and taught by Catherine Gastou, an International Road, Track, and Para Commissaire from France. We are still finalizing details, but if you are interested in attending the training, please send an email to officials@usacycling.org.
