What makes a category 1 climb

Great blog by GrimpeurHeureux detailing how Strava climb classifications rate vs. The Strava point total is necessarily equal to the elevation gain in meters multiplied by , which I believe is a less convoluted means of describing the calculation. The multiplication by is due to using for instance 10, rather than 0.

The grade, 0. But since we use 10 and not 0. Thus, it is very easy to calculate category on the fly. Thanks SP. If you see a sign that says 9. Yes, if gradient formula is elevation difference divided by distance to ride, it is nonsense to multiply the gradient by distance, distances cancel themselves. So distance to ride is not a function of climbing category.

It is shown as having 5 categorised climbs. Have I misunderstood something here? In fact, in that ride you linked to, climb 2 seems tougher than 1, yet is rated 5 when climb 1 is rated 4. Very strange. This makes it possible to see how lesser known climbs weigh up against the big name giants.

In theory this sounds great, a simple formula that can categories any climb anywhere, no subjectivity. Unfortunately this method has its own flaws for a couple of important reasons. Very few climbs have a consistent gradient from start to finish, many will have a huge variety of pitches throughout the climb, some will have long flat sections, some may even have small descents.

This means that the average gradient over the whole climb can be misleading; a changing gradient can have a huge effect on how hard a climb is to ride. Take for example a climb like the Col du Glandon, starting from the Barrage du Verney at an altitude of m and finishing at m over a distance of At Your legs might tell you a different story. The climb is broken up with flat sections and several descents, two with a length of over a kilometre. Out of the total Most interstate highways in the U.

There are plenty of exceptions, of course, but that was the original goal. Posted by Lucas Wall at Tuesday, July 15, Labels: facts and figures.

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