Gone are the days of the Alberta Bicycle paper licence that came with a friendly reminder to affix your own photo and get it lamintated. In 2012, bicycle racers in Alberta can say hello to hard card licences. No more worrying about your ever-important race day document getting demolished in the washing machine or deteriorating in your wallet jammed between your bank card and health insurance information.
The Alberta Bicycle Association is under the umbrella of both the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) and the international governing body in cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale(UCI). A BMX racing licence for someone over the age of 19 costs 95 dollars in Alberta. Registrants are starting to see some of that dollar value returned to them in the form of a new hard card licence. This fee is separate from what each individual track charges for membership to their club. If riders do not declare a home track, a licence is still available to them at an added cost.
Riders are asked to email their favorite mug shot (sans sunglasses and hat) to Alberta Bicycle in conjunction with a licence application and, in return, get a nice black and white rendering on the back of the 2012 Alberta Bicycle licence. The cards themselves are simple white with black print. All other information on the new licence card seems to be consistent with what the licences possessed last year. Alberta Bicycle licences thousands of athletes each year in many cycling disciplines including cyclocross, BMX, mountainbiking, road and track bicycle racing.
In BMX racing, assigned numbers are earned by competing in selected races throughout the previous season and, officially, the highest ranking earned number must be run at races. Some exceptions are made at the district level, and races such as the Canadian National Championships and the UCI World Championships assign numbers for racers to use the day of the race only. Otherwise, the earned number is run on the bike handlebars throughout the year.
BMX number plate rankings from lowest to highest.
Provincial Series "P plates" -valid only in Alberta
Provincial Championship "AB plates"
Western Canadian Series "C plates"
Canadian National Championship "N plates"
World Championship "W plates"
If no plate is earned, riders are required to run a plate number that corresponds with a number of their licence (month and date of birth).
A few years ago, the UCI introduced career numbers for professional BMX racers. In Canada, elite and junior elite BMX racers can apply for a career number for them to use on their number plates.
BMX racing groups are further broken down by plate color, and corresponding numbering color.
Although it seems confusing, the rules for numbers and plates are useful for scoring races and identifying riders on the track.
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