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Competition Rules

Updated: May 6, 2026​

Note: Three significant changes have been adopted for the 2026 series:

  1. Award changes: All 3-event finishers of any route distance entered will receive a commemorative metal sculpture created by Lemmon artist Ethan Thom. Points series winners in each race division will receive a hand-tooled leather crown by Avery Schroeder of Copper Chute Leatherworks. Second and third place finisher award items will be commensurate with those awarded in 2025.

  2. Eligible routes: Only the longest distance route at each event is eligible for the points competition.

  3. Multi-event point multipliers have been eliminated for faster accurate results calculation across series events.

A change log is included following the rules below.

Format

Each event will include 3 STRAVA segments on its longest route for which riders can earn points to win the Grassland Triple Crown. Rider points for the 9 segments will be totaled to determine the winner for each race category.

 

Cost

There is no additional fee besides event registration to be included in the Grassland Triple Crown points series competition.

 

Event Registration

Riders may enter as many of the series events as they wish, using each event's registration site.

 

Riders must be registered for the longest-distance route for each event to earn series points at the event.

 

Note: Riders may enter any route distance at an event, but series points are only earned when registered for an completing the longest distance route. All riders who complete all three events, regardless of route, will receive a commemorative metal sculpture created by Lemmon artist Ethan Thom.

 

Eligibility

A rider must be registered for the event to be eligible to earn points for that event.

 

Event rides must be on the longest-distance route for each event to be included in the series points competition.

 

Note: Riders may enter any route distance at an event, but series points are only earned when registered for an completing the longest distance route. All riders who complete all three events, regardless of route, will receive a commemorative metal sculpture created by Lemmon artist Ethan Thom.

 

Event rides must follow a prescribed event route. Rides that deviate from a prescribed route are not eligible, regardless of their distance.

 

Only rides completed during the 2026 series events will be included in scoring.

 

Entering the Competition

Riders will be automatically entered if they upload their event ride to STRAVA following completion of any of the 3 events.

 

Riders must upload their event rides to STRAVA no later than 1 hour following their completion of the ride.

 

STRAVA uploads must be publicly visible in the segment leaderboard on STRAVA. It is the rider's responsibility to set their event STRAVA post to “public” before results are calculated.

 

Note: “only followers” posts do not publicly display in STRAVA segment comparisons and therefore cannot be included in scoring.

 

A rider’s STRAVA profile name must match their name as a registered rider (no pseudonyms). 

 

Rider Categories
  • Men's Open, ages 18 - 49

  • Men's Masters, ages 50+

  • Women's Open, ages 18 - 49

  • Women's Masters, ages 50+

 

Age category is determined by the rider's age as of the first series event the rider enters.

 

Note: each event may have different age/gender categories, but the points series will be calculated independently.

 

Points System

Top 10 segment finishers within each rider category earn:

 

1st = 13 points

2nd = 11 points

3rd = 9 points

4th = 8 points

5th = 7 points

6th = 6 points

7th = 5 points

8th = 4 points

9th = 3 points

10th = 2 points

 

Ties

On the segment: If two or more riders in the same category finish the segment with the same time (to the second), each rider will earn the total points for that place. For example, if two riders tie for first place on the segment, each will earn 13 points. This does not affect points available for other places on the segment.

 

For the series total: If two or more riders in the category finish with the same point total, the tie will be broken by the cumulative total time of the riders’ 3 segments at the Wheelin’ to Wall event. If a tied rider does not participate in Wheelin’ to Wall, the tie is won by the rider who does. If no tied riders participate in Wheelin’ to Wall, the tie will be broken by the cumulative total time of the riders’ 3 segments at the Thunderhawk Wide Open.

 

STRAVA Segments

There will be 3 STRAVA segments per event designated for the Grasslands Triple Crown competition.

 

STRAVA segments for each event are selected by the event’s director.

 

STRAVA segments will be publicly identified prior to each event and provided to event registrants in advance with other event rider information.

 

Prizes

The top 3 finishers in each race category will win an award.

 

All riders who complete all 3 series events will receive a special commemorative item.

 

E-bikes

Event rides on E-bikes are not eligible for the Grassland Triple Crown points series. E-bikes are otherwise welcome at each event according to the event’s rules.​​​​​​​

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Change Log:

 

Update: Wed May 6: Changes to format, registration, and eligibility sections to reflect that the series points competition is only on the longest distance route of each event.

​

Update: Sat March 6, 2026

  • Eliminated mutli-event point multipliers from scoring system

  • Added no pseudonyms for STRAVA profiles

  • Changed prizes to reflect 2026 awards for race podium finishers and 3-event finishers

  • Updated date references for 2026 season

 

Update: Sun Jul 13, 2025 to add "Event rides must follow a prescribed event route. Rides that deviate from a prescribed route are not eligible, regardless of their distance." to the Eligibility section.​

 

Original issue: Wed Feb 26, 2025

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The Grasslands Triple Crown is a joint effort by the event directors for the three independent series events. We love our prairies and are excited to share them with you! It's our first year trying this point series, so we're working things out as best we can as we go. Questions and suggestions are welcome using the contact form on the home page.

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