Qualifying, points and season ranks
Racing any event puts you in the series
There is no separate BUMPS registration and no fee. Enter any event on the calendar, finish it, and you have BUMPS points, the series picks up your result automatically.
How an event is scored
Each event awards up to 100 points within your gender. The winner gets 100, and everyone else earns between 1 and 100 based on how their time compares to the field average, a rider finishing right at the field's average time scores about 50. Beating half the field soundly is worth real points even if the podium was never in reach.
This means points travel between events fairly: a mid-pack ride at Washington and a mid-pack ride at High Point are worth about the same, even though the mountains are wildly different.
Season totals: your best scores
Your season score is the sum of your best event scores, and the series has changed how many count more than once. Every standing on this site is computed under the rule that applied in that season, so a total from 2015 means what it meant in 2015.
| Seasons | Scores that count | Mt. Washington |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 to 2019 | Best 5 | Scored on a 120-point curve, and only your better Washington result counted when both the Auto Road Hillclimb and Newton's Revenge ran |
| 2021 to 2022 | Best 5 | Same 100-point curve as every other climb |
| 2023 | Best 3 | Same as every other climb |
| 2024 onward | Best 4 | Same as every other climb |
Two details in that table explain most of the old champions. Through 2019 a ride up Mt. Washington was simply worth more than a win anywhere else: the fastest rider there scored 120 rather than 100, which is why season totals from that era run past 500. And in 2013 to 2015, when Newton's Revenge and the Auto Road Hillclimb were both on the calendar, racing the mountain twice did not mean banking it twice: only your better score counted, and the other stayed on your record without adding to the total.
Racing more events than the counted number can only help, since an extra ride replaces your weakest counting score if it beats it.
Qualifying for a rank
To appear in the official season standings, finish at least two events in the season. One race makes you a participant; two make you a ranked rider, overall and in your age group.
Age groups and recognition
Standings are kept overall and by age group, in both raw and age-graded forms. Season awards and recognition are announced around the final event, follow the Substack for each year's specifics.
Scoring parameters are shown as configured for the current season; historical seasons on this site are scored under the rules of their era.