Sandbagging has no place in the MASS! Sandbagging is defined as racing in a class or level below that which a racer possesses. The sport of mountain biking is about sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is honor. Each racer is on his honor and is expected to know the rules and sign up for a class in which you would normally race.
The MASS will continue to rely on racer integrity, peer pressure and Team Directors to encourage and enforce upgrades. As an absolute last measure a MASS director may contact a racer and ask them to upgrade.
Racers showing complete domination from the beginning of the series in a class may be encouraged to move up before the completion of the series to make it more interesting for all others in that category. However, because points do not follow you into the next category, racers that have shown steady improvement from the beginning of the season and dominate a category later in the season may complete the series in that category.
A racer that dominated a class in the previous year will be expected to move up a category at the beginning of the next year. The Team Directors are expected to manage the upgrading of their racers. If necessary a MASS Director will ask a team director to have a dominating racer upgrade. The encouraged upgrade will not apply to the Junior Beginners ages 16 and under.
A racer cannot change out of his/her age class after the first race of season without permission of a MASS Director. It is understood that circumstances do arise (recovering from an injury or struggling results) where a racer would be better off racing at a lower level and this can be granted on an as-needed basis.
You must contact a MASS Director via email and get prior approval before racing in a downgraded category. You will need a new number plate.
In any case where a racer is making a category change that racer’s individual points will not follow them and they will start from zero in the new category. A team will not lose any points in the case of a racer upgrade or downgrade.