How a climb is categorized

celerilux said:

I have been searching all mornng and i cant find out how a climb is categorized. Also, what exactly does the gradient mean? Your help is appreciated!

This seems to be a good explanation
draco.acs.uci.edu5.3.htmlOpen ↗

Gradient is the rise over run of the road, so for example (this is extreme!, but an easy example to understand) if the road rises 1 foot (meters, inches whatever as long as you keep both measurments the same) for every 4 feet (etc) it goes forward the gradient is 25% or 1 divided by 4 or .25

hope that helps

Thats easy. Stupidly Hard, or Unbelievably Impossibly Hard.

shannons dad said:

Thats easy. Stupidly Hard, or Unbelievably Impossibly Hard.

I generally classify them by how much of my life flashes before my eyes before I get to the top.

celerilux said:

I have been searching all mornng and i cant find out how a climb is categorized. Also, what exactly does the gradient mean? Your help is appreciated!

Gradient, is how many feet you rise for every foot travelled. In other words if you travel 100 feet and you gain 10 feet of elevation, that is a 10% gradient. Climbs in the tour are categorized by the length and average gradient.

celerilux said:

I have been searching all mornng and i cant find out how a climb is categorized. Also, what exactly does the gradient mean? Your help is appreciated!

The commentators where talking about this on eurosport.

Apparently originaly climbs were classed 1 to 5, depending on what gear a car needed to be in order to get up it.

ergo: a very steep hill is 1 because you would need to be in 1st gear to get up it.

however apparently now its done on a general assessment by the judges and includes length, gradent, etc.

Although what i dont know is what the difference between a 1st cateregy climb and Hors cateregy anyone know?

complience said:

Although what i dont know is what the difference between a 1st cateregy climb and Hors cateregy anyone know?

Yes. The HC climb is so ridiculously hard that you just sit there and look at it, mouth agape, wishing you hadn't gone up that road.