Any thinking person who has bothered to look at it will find the ranking system developed by the governing body for cycling to be so statistically suspect, it’s just laughable. The universe of sanctioned races from which the statistics are drawn is so small, the measurement is meaningless. I’d like to blame USA Cycling for this (and I do, insofar as the fact that they invented the system), but the fault really lies with who isn’t reporting race results. Well, that, and which results count, as determined by the powers that be. And what’s up with the points system they’ve made up? It’s a mystery.
Nonetheless, as a sort of joke, I like checking out the ranking every now and then, just to see how far down (or up) the list they have me. Indeed, for several years, based on the one or two race results that managed to get into the system, I was number one in my zip code – first as a Cat 5, then as a Cat 4. Somebody who doesn’t know how meaningless the ranking is could be forgiven for being impressed by that.
The system is responsive at least, constantly recalculating the results. Why, just this morning, I noticed they had the wrong zip code for me. The simple act of updating that number moved me from number 1 to number 2 in my zip code for Masters, and from number 7 to number 2 in Cat 4 road racing. Victory can't be too far behind!
The problem is this: When there’s crap being entered into the system, there’s crap that comes out. In my case, the one crit result they have listed for me is Carl Dolan, where indeed I’m listed in 21st place in the Masters 40-49 race. This, despite the fact that I did not even participate in that race! From the ridiculous to the sublime. It has been suggested to me that this system of standings also show that Clinton has more delegates then Obama; I think it's more like Kucinich has beaten them all to the line.
-- posted by Chris