If you want to determine the status of climbs by the numbers, we can look at the classification system used in most professional races. \u00a0That would mean climbs are classified as 4, 3, 2, 1 (and Hors Categorie or “HC” in the Tour de France.) \u00a0This determination is made by a combination of length in kilometers and average gradient, with position of the climb in the route and degree of road surface being lesser determinants. \u00a0See below:<\/p>\n

\n
• Category 4\u00a0\u2013 the lowest category, climbs of 200-500 feet (70-150m). Length is usually less that 2 miles (3km)<\/li>\n
• Category 3\u00a0\u2013 climbs of 500-1600 feet (150-500m). Between 2 and 3 miles (3km and 4.5km)\u00a0in length.<\/li>\n
• Category 2\u00a0\u2013 climbs of 1600-2700 feet (500-800m). Between 3 and 6 miles (4.5km and 10km)\u00a0in length.<\/li>\n
• Category 1\u00a0– climbs of 2700-5000 feet (800-1500m). Between 6 and 12 miles (10km and 20km)\u00a0in length<\/li>\n
• Hors (literally \u2018out\u2019 or \u2018above\u2019) Category (HC) \u2013 the hardest, climbs of 5000+ feet (1500m+). Usually more than 12 miles (20km) in length<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  As for gradients, typically to classify a climb, the average gradient has to be above 4%. \u00a0Hors Category (HC) climbs generally average >10% or have an extreme length at a slightly lesser grade.<\/p>\n

  Strava does a decent job of categorizing climbs by these general guidelines. \u00a0MapMyRide is less precise: they have climbs down to Cat 5 climbs but they don't seem to follow the rules as precisely.<\/p>\n

  So what do you think? \u00a0Does your local hill make the cut, or are you making mountains out of molehills?<\/p>\n

   <\/p>\n

   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  A lot of discussion in cycling revolves around the awesome climbs that separate race winners from also-rans. Amateur cycling is no different, with Sunday group rides and Tuesday Night Worlds all being known for the discussion of the “brutal climbs” on the routes. But everyone seems to have a different definition of what constitutes a “brutal climb” these days. So what makes your local hill an actual “climb?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,21],"tags":[157,175,60,67],"yst_prominent_words":[668,663,670,677,675,667,672,665,662,678,673,669,664,660,417,666,671,674,661,676],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/tappa_dettagli_tecnici_altimetria_20.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9782,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions\/9782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}