Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3, Cat 4 and Haut Catagory right? But what does that mean, and how is it determined?
There are some climbs where I vacation that seem to be pretty serious to my eye, but I wonder how they compare to what is on the tour. is there a calculation of some kind to assign catagory?
Some climbs are always HC. Others vary by their place in the race. How close they are to the finish, how close they are to the next climb, etc., and if there is a need to hand out KOM points on a particular day.
I found an article by Bruce Hildebrand with his interpretation of how you categorize climbs, here is a portion of it. I’ll provide a link at the bottom if you want to read it all. I’d post the whole article except that’s against forum rules…
One of the most frequently asked questions is how do the organizers
determine the ratings for the climbs in the Tour de France.
The Tour organizers use two criteria 1) the length and steepness of
the climb and 2) the position of the climb in the stage. A third,
and much lesser criteria, is the quality of the road surface.
It is important to note several things before this discussion begins.
First, the organizers of the Tour have been very erratic in their
classifications of climbs. The north side of the Col de la Madeleine
has flip-flopped between a 1st Category to an Hors Category climb,
even though it seems to be in the same position of a stage every
year.
You need to scroll about 3/4 of the way down to get info…
http://www.faqs.org/...faq/part1/index.html
I don’t know if this is the true starting point for rating climbs, but I’ve heard several people (including some on ST) say that the climbs were first categorized back in the old days using an old Citroen car. The climb was rated based on the gear required to get up the climb (4,3,2,1). If the car couldn’t make it up at all it was an HC. This may be one of those urban legend type stories, but it’s fun to think about an old car tryin’ to get up climbs like Galibier and Alpe d’Huez!!
Category 5 - I guess there was a hill there
Category 4 - Heartrate went up a little, gear dropped, speed stayed pretty much the same
Category 3 - A chance to pass the weak and really pull away
Category 2 - Whew, that was a good climb
Category 1 - What sick bastard put a road up the side of this?
Hors Category - You’ve got to be kidding! Mountain goats won’t even go up this
It’s all right here…
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=417423;search_string=Category%20climb;#417423
It is all very subjective. For example, on my commute I go over the Col du Billerica, which is a cat 1 climb of .5 miles gaining 100’ in elevation. If it were closer to work, I would call it an HC. I also have Plateau de Lexington, which is a long 3 mile climb on the bikepath at .5-1%. I consider this a Cat 2.
On the way home, I end with a Cat 3 climb up my driveway. It could be considered a cat 4, but sometimes my wife leaves the garden hose across it and at that point of the ride the bunny hop is tough with a handfull of mail.
I like that one 
the other explainations don’t really say anything except that 1 is harder than 4 and it is up to the race organizers to determine what number they are (what is it with the UCI and writing down rules that are applicable everywhere and not open to 90% interpretation?)
so from all of this if i were to ride a climb of 1 mile in distance from top to bottom that gained 500 feet (let’s say it is roughly a steady grade) would that even rate?
so from all of this if i were to ride a climb of 1 mile in distance from top to bottom that gained 500 feet (let’s say it is roughly a steady grade) would that even rate?
Climb ratings are subjective, and determined by the race director. They are based on the combination of length and grade. Here’s an example of how certain hills would be rated:
Category 4 - Easy hill, like 2 km at 5% grade, or maybe 5 km at 2-3%
Category 3 - Maybe 1-2 km at 10%, or 10 km at 4-5%
Category 2 - Maybe 5 km at 8%, or 15 km at 4%
Category 1 - Maybe 8 km at 8%, or 20 km at 5%
Hors Categorie - Longer and/or steeper than category 1, such as 10 km of 8%, or 25 km at 6%, or worse. A Cat 1 climb may also be upgraded to an HC if the race ends at the top of the climb (due to extra exertion for the finish line).
Again, since no two hills are identical, it is all subjective by the race director.
So to anser your question Ti T’war - a 1 mile climb of 500 feet is roughly the same as 1.5 km at 10%, so it would most likely be a Category 3 climb.