Rankings

So the much awaited USAT rankings have come out!

Wahoo...

I have been waiting on pins and needles for this info to come out. Really.

So the results you are probably wondering, no doubt tingling with the suspense.

I am 3350 out of 7192 in my age group nationally. Now the absolute Middle is 3596. SOoooooo..

I have proven yet again that I am a true MOP-L-FOP (Middle Of Packer that is Leaning to a Front of Packer)

I knew it!!

But lets look at this in more detail, the equation for coming up with that mystical figure at the end of the ranking ( in my case 69.7 something or other) is what my "score is"according to USAT:

"What is the equation?
The “par” time is calculated by taking the pacesetter’s finish time in the race multiplied by the pacesetter’s ranking and then divided by 100. We then drop the top and bottom 20% in order to create the most accurate “par” time as possible. Now that the par time has been calculated, it can be used to calculate a ranking for every participant. This is done by taking the “par” time in minutes divided by the member’s finishing time and then multiplied by 100 to calculate the athlete’s event ranking."

Well I don't know about you, but that sure cleared up alot for me! You may be wondering "who is this extremely important "Pacesetter"?

"All USAT members that received a ranking for the '06 season will be used as pacesetters in '07."

Well what do you know? I was a pacesetter!!

Anyhow, somehow using this they come up with a score and there you have it. But still I think they need to add a handicap to make it really fair.

For example: adding a point for every pound more than the average that your bike weighs ( For me that would be like 5 points right away!)

Then add the derivative of the additional air-drag that is caused by all of the unshaven hairs on my legs vs those athletes who have the benefit of shaved legs. Take this number and divide by 21 because thats the legal drinking age. Based on my calculations this would give me a score of 83.367. This would give me a national ranking of 367 which is clearly a FRONT of Packer!!

And so, until the USAT sees the folly of their ways and accepts my new and much improved (and just as understandable scoring methodology, it seems I will remain a firm Middle of Packer :)