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ERS — The Event Rating System
Riding a century, in and of itself, is quite an accomplishment and certainly nothing to be taken lightly or dismissed off–hand. Successful completion of a century is cause for admiration and celebration.
There are a multitude of century events available to cyclists across the country and very many here in Southern California. Deciding which to participate in is not an easy task, especially for the novice century–rider. Descriptions of century events can be hard to understand as they tend to use ambiguous language.
Origins & Purpose
In helping organize the Santa Clarita Century this past spring, I found many riders understandably wanted to know how hard the route was before they signed up. It became somewhat difficult to describe this to them: one person’s hard is another person’s easy. So the idea for this rating system was conceived.
The objective of this chart is to give a general idea of how hard the terrain of a ride is by tracking its distance and elevation gain in relation to other events. This will allow any rider to compare the ride they are considering with one ride that they may have already done.
Other cyclists were solicited in its creation and the system maintains an open invitation: if you have a comment about a particular ride, or wish to see a particular ride on the chart, please let me know.
Details
Events to Include
The chart includes century events only. The rides listed are pretty much regarded as “century” events, whether or not they are exactly 100–miles. Although there is not a definite mileage cut–off, double centuries and other ultra–distance events are (generally) beyond the scope of this system. There are always, however, exceptions to these guidelines. For instance, while the 2–day Everest Challenge could be argued to be outside this parameter due to its 200–miles, it is essentially two successive 100–mile events and is therefore included. Either individual day would merit placement in the H.C. category as well.
Perceived Difficulty
The only variable that this rating system is concerned with is the generally-perceived course difficulty. While this is a subjective measure, it takes into account the multitude of variables riders will encounter, such as: amount of climbing, steepness of the climbs, altitude of climbs, sustained climbing, and where the climbs are located along the route. Other subjective variables, such as setting a fast pace, are not considered. Because pace is an individual effort, taking this factor into consideration would prohibit comparison of events. For example, many riders “race” El Tour de Tucson, making it very challenging (in spite of its low elevation gain). Many riders do not. How then, does one judge the effort made on the part of any one individual and expect the same effort of others?
Categories Instead of Rigid Ranking
Ask any two cyclists which ride is harder than any other and you will get a spirited debate. And there is no objective method for determining who’s opinion is correct. With this in mind, it was decided to place events in a category rather than a ranking list: rides are not dogmatically esteemed harder or easier than any other within the same category.
Many cyclist’s will agree that one ride is a category harder than others. This standard is the objective. Riders will be left on their own to determine whether one ride within a category is harder than any other. After all, respectful debate, is healthy.
Goal of the Chart
Lastly, although it may appear so, rigid adherence to numbers is not the goal: establishing how difficult a ride is in comparison to others is the goal. For instance, the Assault on Mt. Mitchell is not an over–whelming century based solely on numbers–it might fit closer to a Cat 2. Its challenging feature is that 6,000 feet of its elevation gain occurs during the last 25–miles. Breathless Agony could easily be argued to belong in the H.C. status because a large majority of it’s climbing is completed by mile–74 and much of that is at higher altitude with reduced oxygen levels, but its difficulty is still a notch below the other H.C. events.
Free to Use
This rating system has been designed for event organizers and promoters to use for the benefit of potential participants. Details on how to use this system will be posted shortly.