Route grades...some interesting findings from a recent ride

rain-chaser

Hi all,

I thought I'd share my recent experience on a route that I found in the MBR 2008 Ride Guide....

As a relatively inexperienced rider I thumbed through the magazine and found a good route around Pately Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales area...the route was in Nidderdale and c.40km long. I judged that I and the group with me were fit enough to undertake the route which the magazine classed as "EASY".

On the day we found it quite a challenge in places with some steep downhills and a very steep climb or two... A friend of mine dug out their old guidebook which classified the route as a "Sport" (classifications range from beginer, sport and expert) route and a I recently purchased a route guide for the Dales, given my enthusiasm for the sport, which classed it as an "Enduro" (this book ranges from classics, epics, enduros and killers)!!! So three different sources...three different outcomes all able to affect 1. The fun of a ride and more importantly 2. the safety of riders

My main sport is white water kayaking and we have an internationally recognised (but still relatively subjective and dependent on river levels and conditions on the day) grading system of 1-6 where 1 is easy and 6 is near fatal!! This grading system is clear and explained in all guidebooks from different authors giving advice,...

Now...I'm thinking given the spread of "hardness" for the same ride...could we all be helped with a standardisation of difficulty, not only to help beginners like myself select the appropriate rides and choose to push ourselves when we feel able to, but also to help people moving/visiting from region to region able to select rides that they choose based on a sound knowledge??

Any thoughts would be good...!!

Thanks

Paul

michael_s45

The main problem with ratings is some are based on endurance/fitness level and some ratings are based on how technical the trail is. It sounds like the trail you were on was technically simple but it required higher endurance. The forestry commission system of rating seem to be reliable http://www.sevenstanes.gov.uk/forestry/infd-5sdml4.

pemsey

Grading something like the Nidderdale circuit is always going to be difficult - 90% of it is pretty easy going - though shouldn't be underestimated as it is on high moorland -with 10% of a more challenging nature - steep ups and downs etc. However I do agree that the writers of guides etc do need to consider carefully how they grade routes and how much emphasis they place on warning users about more difficult sections

Bikerbaboon

pemsey wrote:

Grading something like the Nidderdale circuit is always going to be difficult - 90% of it is pretty easy going - though shouldn't be underestimated as it is on high moorland -with 10% of a more challenging nature - steep ups and downs etc. However I do agree that the writers of guides etc do need to consider carefully how they grade routes and how much emphasis they place on warning users about more difficult sections

+1 for that

I would say to take all the guids with a pinch of salt as i have dont hte ride a few times and every ride i have found to have a different difficulty from how slippery the first big decent is through to a head wind going up to middle moor. ( that first climb just keeps going) If you are doing a ride for a first time look at a guide book but also have a good look at the map look at hte gradiants to see how steep or long a decnet or climbs going to be. as withte technical side of trails you cant realy cover all of hte affects of hte weather....... I would love to try that nid route in the winter under snow as i think it would be a hell of alot harder than in the warm summder days. Any one up for a winter snow based nid ride please send me a PM and we may beable to do it one weekend.

sniper68

We have done a variation of this ride:-Nidderdale 3 dales(nidderdale and north),50+km and i would say its medium.I'm not the fittest person and personally think the road climb to middlesmoor is just a steady grind.The difficulty with grading is the vast difference in terrain in the UK.A trail graded easy in Scotland might be too much for someone who's only ridden flat stuff in Lincolnshire etc.The stuff we ride in the Peak District is rocky so would possibly be graded Red/black at a trail centre,or graded hard,i would graded it medium to hard.We've had riders out with us who just say"No way am i riding that"

What you're used to riding has a big effect on how you cope on new terrain.As said before checking the contours of a map will give you a good idea of what to expect,wet weather IMO also makes an easy/medium ride much harder as does very windy weather.

Bikerbaboon

Did not mean just the road section its the off road after thats ace its just a slow crank up this nice tech sections to keep your mind from the lactic as you go.

sniper68

Bikerbaboon wrote:

Did not mean just the road section its the off road after thats ace its just a slow crank up this nice tech sections to keep your mind from the lactic as you go.

The off road section is a leg burner after the road climb,good the other way around aswell.For me the shooting house descent(before the landslip)was one of the highlights of the area.....STTTEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP 8)