The Buffalo Bicycling Club Sunday Series Races
This is our yearly series of club training races, perfect for getting in racing experience in a low-stakes environment. To participate, you need to be a BBC member, but unlike a USA Cycling sanctioned race, you do not need a racing license. These races have a A, B, and C fields. If you’re newer to the club, you can do the C race for a low-stakes, learn-to-race format, usually chaperoned by one of our more experienced riders to help learn about tactics. If you’re stronger and ready for more competition, move up to B, and as you get results in the B races and the USA Cycling sanctioned races, you could be ready to move up to A!
General guidelines for fields
- A Group is Cat 1-3 on your racing license. Experienced Cat 4’s allowed to move up with club officer approval. This is our fastest group, so expect high speeds and blistering attacks!
- B Group is Cat 4/Novice in your racing license or if you are without a racing license but are stronger and more experienced riding in the group than C level and ready to focus on racing tactics
- C Group is for new members who are looking for their first experiences in how to race on the road, usually chaperoned by one of our more experienced club members. This group is not scored.
How do you move up in category?
- To Move up from C to B, you just need to demonstrate aptitude and the ability to ride comfortably and safely in the group so you can focus on racing! Ask a BBC officer for guidance, but our motto is safety first.
- The A and the B categories are scored for BBC Sunday Series Club Races. To move up from B to A, you need to:
- do Cat 4 sanctioned races and get good results, get 20 USAC upgrade points and get your Cat 3 upgrade
- OR win the overall B Club Race Series at the end of the year which is an automatic upgrade to A for the following year (while still having Cat 4 on your license)
- OR be top 3 overall in the B Club Race Series at the end of the year, which is a voluntary upgrade to A for the following year (while still having Cat 4 on your license)
- Requests to upgrade from B to A for club races require officer approval in writing/email before the event. Our goal again is safety in the group first and foremost before moving up to the A category.
In the A and B fields, the scores are tallied during the year and awards are given out at the end of the year for the top 3 in each field! See below for details. We have 8 of these races during the year. For more info on each race, including race dates and times, distances, and terrain, head over to our Events Calendar and look up all of the BBC Sunday Series Races!
We also need help marshaling the BBC Sunday Series Races! If you bring a family/friend to marshal for you, we’ll give you $40! If you yourself marshal a BBC Sunday Series race, we’ll give you 10 points towards your Sunday Series standings for that race!* (*up to 2 times per season). Click here to sign up for marshaling
What You Should Expect on Race Day:
- Please plan to arrive 30 minutes early to get into your riding clothes and get your bike ready
- Write down your name on the sign-in sheet when it becomes available, head out on the bike get a few pedal strokes in the legs to warm up
- At 10am, we roll out together to the start line. Some weeks will do a full neutral lap as noted.
- We’ll start the A, B, and C groups in waves to race the amount of race laps noted in the Course Description
- At the end, make sure you know your finishing place and report it to the event organizer
Sunday Series Club Races Individual Scoring:
This race is part of the club’s two halves of the season with 4 races each. There will be an ‘A’ and ‘B’ field scored at each race, with additional separate scoring below. Points are awarded in each race by finishing place:
1st = 15 points
2nd = 14 points
3rd = 13 points
4th = 12 points
5th = 11 points
6th = 10 points
7th = 9 points
8th = 8 points
9th = 7 points
10th = 6 points
11th = 5 points
12th = 4 points
13th = 3 points
14th = 2 points
15th and after = 1 point
First and Second Half of the Season
The Sunday Series Club Racing season will be split into two halves for scoreboards reflecting a first half and second half of the season. This allows for more focused leaderboard competition and a reset mid-season to start over to compete on a new leaderboard!
First half of the season will be:
- 4/13- Marilla Expansion
- 5/4- Grand Island Fireball Full Loop
- 5/29- Grand Island Individual Time Trial
- 6/1- Langford
Second half of the season will be:
- 7/14- Corfu Extension
- 8/7- Grand Island Individual Time Trial
- 8/24- Shero
- 9/7- Grand Island Fireball Full Loop
Your best 3 out 4 races for each of the two season halves will count towards your standing for each half-season.
Age Based Brackets for Sunday Series Racing
New in 2025, we are including a version of separate scoring for all age brackets! In the A and B fields, you will race against everyone for points, but your points will be pulled out into separate leaderboards for your age bracket. How does this work? If a rider in the 35-44 age bracket gets 3rd place out of everyone racing, their 3rd place points will go towards the 35-44 age bracket competition. This encourages aggressive racing because you have to compete against everyone to earn points, but also allows for everyone across the board to compete directly in your age group for final standings!
Here’s an example of how it works. Compete against everyone for points, then compare your points to your age bracket:
Marshalling a Race
We always need volunteers to score our races! If you volunteer to be a scorer/timer for a Sunday Series club race yourself, you’ll get 10 points towards your Sunday Series standings at that race! You can do this up to 2 times per season. Sign up to marshal here.
Mentoring the C Race
We’re always looking for C-race mentors! If you are an A/B level rider with experience and would like to help out the C race with in-race coaching and work on tactics, we’d love for you to help! As a token, you will get 5 points for mentoring the C race one time during the season. Please let the officers know at the race that you wish to do this.