flying wombat said:
Usually RR and crits both award points for placing, it depends on field size. Usually the points awarded are the same. From 3-2 and 2-1 you can use GC points for stage races as well. They do have some rules for forcing move ups if you score more than a certain amount of points. In Arizona at least these points dont apply to racers over 30, a local Cat 3 had 65 points one year but didnt move up because he was over 30. Most racers want to move up due to perceived "status" from being a higher category.
Not exactly. For 4->3 upgrades RR and Crits always award the same upgrade points. For 3->2 and 2->1, they never award the same points. The only way field size enters is in deciding whether the race qualifies for upgrade points or not. Below the minimum, no points are awarded, above the minimum, points are awarded according to the schedule linked in the second post.
There are no exceptions for age, and in fact, by definition age doesn't enter into ability (senior) based categories. If someone really got 65 points in qualifying races, they should have gotten the automatic upgrade, but 65 is only 5 points above the mandatory upgrade level, so it's possible one (or more) of the races didn't meet the qualifying limit.