End of season Zipp raffle:   

To enter the Zipp wheel raffle, you must enter a minimum of 10 OVCX events, as well as attend the final race and raffle afterwards (must be present to win).  

Why the OVCX Series?

Each regional “scene” – Louisville, Indy, Dayton, Lexington, Cincinnati – is awesome and strong.  But all together, we are much more awesome and strong.  The larger our collective scene gets, the cooler and more competitive it gets.  We have over 10,000,000 million people within our collective region.  The strength and growth of our womens, juniors, and mens categories hinge on all of our commitments to each other’s respective scenes.  Everybody has worked really hard to grow their cx scene - let’s support each other’s events.

How many races count?

Your best 7 OVCX finishes.

Is there a Zipp raffle?

Yes! The Zipp raffle will work like in previous years – you compete in 10 events and you get in the raffle (racing twice in one event does not count as two events).  So if you compete in the minimum of 10 out of the 13 events – you are in the raffle.  Only the 13 races listed on the OVCX schedule count towards the raffle.  Last year over 100 raffle prizes went out.

Is the final OVCX event worth double points?

No, the finale at Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis will NOT be worth double points.

What’s this “Zipp Sponsored OVCX Athlete of the Week”?

After each OVCX race weekend, we will award one male and one female racer the honor of “Zipp OVCX Athlete of the Week.”  Each male and female Zipp OVCX Athlete of the Week will be provided one set of Zipp 303 tubulars to race on at the next OVCX event.  For the Zipp OVCX Athletes of the Week we are not necessarily looking at the winners …. but the most-improved, hardest working, loyal and good-spirited OVCX racers – those sorts of qualities.  We’ll have consultants from each scene – Louisville, Lexington, Dayton, Indy, and Cincinnati help us make the call each week.

What about chip timing?

Every OVCX event will include chip-timing.   The timing chips are issued to OVCX racers at their first event.  They are custom and yours to keep; it goes up on top of your helmet and you will use it all season long at every race.  If you lose yours, you will need to pay $10 for a new one.  Don’t lose it.  Chip timing will be used for lap splits and as back up for finish results – we will use our officials for finish results.

How do these categories work?

Beginning in 2011, OVCX began utilizing combined-wave-racing.  For any given starting time, anywhere from 2 to 4 categories go off the starting line together.  Racers are racing for BOTH category and wave results.

Let’s explain why we combined categories. We combined categories of similar ability for two primary reasons:

First, we did it to even out the number of riders racing at one time. Under the old system, there’d be 80 riders racing in one time slot and 15 in another. The new system should even that out to approximately 40-50 per time slot (wave).

Second, we combined categories to increase competition and fun. Racing more people of similar ability is more fun. But you really have to be racing them, not just racing on the course at the same time with staggered starts. So we had to figure out a way to accomplish that and yet maintain each individual race category.

The solution was to drop staggered starts (for the most part at least) and award OVCX Series points by wave, not category. This means that everyone that goes off the starting line together in a “wave” (regardless of category) races each other for the OVCX Series points available to that wave. And because staging/call ups are based on OVCX Series points, everyone in a wave is racing everyone else in the wave for next week’s call up.

Yes, you will still be scored in your own category for daily results/awards and for daily podiums and for OVCX overall scoring.

Let’s say you are an Elite Women Cat 3.  At Apple Cross (OVCX#1), you would start in the 1:46 wave along with the Elite Women 1/2, Elite Women 35+, and the U19 Elite Girls. Let’s say you finish in 6th in the wave and are the first Cat 3 Elite finisher. You would get 6th-place series points and be called up sixth in the wave the next week in Indy. But because you were the first Elite Cat 3 on the day, you won your category and would get the first-place prize for the category and a podium for the day. Your 6th-place series points would also put you in first place overall in your category. This would work the same in every wave with combined categories.

So if you’re a 10-year-old junior girl, you’d start in a wave of 10-14 boys and girls at OVCX #1. Let’s say you finished 15th in the wave and were the third 10-12 girl.  You’d earn 15th-place series points and be called up 15th in the wave the next week. And because you were the 3rd placed 10-12 girl, you’d get the 3rd-place prize for that category on the day and a podium. Your 15th-place series points would also put you in third place overall in your category, which means you’d get called up 15th in your wave next week.

How will staging work?

Of course at OVCX #1 there will be no series’ points to stage each wave with. Therefore, staging (call ups) at OVCX #1 are by order of registration WITHIN EACH WAVE NOT BY CATEGORY. So, depending on how they registered, an Elite U19 Girl might line up next to an Elite 35+ woman, and so on. A 10-year-old girl might line up next to a 14-year-old boy. For OVCX #2 and beyond, the top 25 ranked from EACH WAVE will be staged together in order (pre-reg’d riders-only). After the top 25 are staged, staging will be by order of registration within the wave.  This system will work for all combined categories going off the starting line at the same time.  Again, each category will get scored separately as well, and get a podium celebration each day as well as OVCX series points for their category.

If I upgrade categories, do my points carry up like in previous years?

Yes.  In order for that to happen though, you need to send an email to Chris Halioris (halioris@yahoo.com), our series statistician, letting him know you are moving up and would like you points moved up with you.

Do I have to race the category on my license?

YES, this was the case at many races last year and count on this being even more strict this year.  If you pre-reg for a race in Cat 3, drive 3 hours, and show up showing the nice registration folks a license with a Cat 4 on it, you most likely will not be able to race.  Get your upgrade requests in NOW.

What awards go out for the OVCX Series?

The top 3 finishers for each scored OVCX category will be recognized and awarded a trophy after the final race at Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis.

How do I get involved in helping out at these events?

Thank you for asking!  Contact your local race promoter through their race’s BikeReg link – all of them can use volunteers!