I completed my second Triple Bypass this past Saturday. On the last climb up Vail Pass, I was wondering how the 3 climbs would be rated if they were part of a stage in the Tour.
Thoughts?
I thought part of a climbs rating depended on where in the stage it was - later in the stage a 4 might become a 3.
I’m not sure what goes into the ratings. Altitude? Vertical ft.? Grade? What mile? More likely: S.W.A.G.
I think the big ones are length, grade, and location in the stage as far as the Tour is concerned. I would say the altitude of the triple bypass would raise the categorization in my mind.
This thread has some interesting plots of categorization vs length and grade.
I can’t answer your question but I also wonder how the altitude of the Triple would factor in. The lowest altitude of that ride is at about 7500 ft. It’s been years since I’ve done that ride but the stretch from Idaho Springs to the base of Loveland was always the worst part for me mentally. Relentless.
For the tour, I’d guess that would be two HC and a cat 1. As others have mentioned, the ratings are not just the difficulty of the single climb, but how they interact with the other climbs on the stage.
Interestingly enough, the Vuelta and Giro don’t have an HC category, so those would all be Category 1 climbs.
I think it’s tough to compare CO climbs to european climbs. Here, our climbs are longer but not generally as steep and our roads are generally better. Also, altitude plays a big factor. We start nearly the altitude most of the European climbs top out. Ride Mt Evans sometime … holy shit.
I guess 1, HC, 2.
In a flat stage Swan would get a 4, but in a mountain stage with lots of big climbs they usually don’t bother.
What’s the length and average gradient of the climbs?
Not sure how they would factor in the altitude, which is a big deal on the Triple and only a relatively minor deal on typical TdF climbs. But, ignoring the altitude, I’d guess that Juniper would be Cat 1, Loveland would be HC, Swan would be Cat 3 or 4 and Vail Pass would be Cat 2. Note that the last climb on the Friday stage of the TdF is much bigger than Vail Pass and gets a 1 even though it’s at the end of the stage. Summerson’s book calls Juniper a Cat 1. By the way, Climbbybike.com has ratings for thousands of climbs. It would be hard to find a rating for Loveland Pass, since most people wouldn’t ride it from Idaho Springs. All things considered, the Triple would be a hard day at the Tour, but probably not the very hardest.
Not riding both days kind of lowers your Slowtwich Rating
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Somewhat agree with others that where a climb comes in a stage matters. I think squaw and loveland would both be cat 1s. They’re both long but never really steep. As mentioned Idaho springs to the loveland ski area is a grind and is tough mentally (especially with a head wind) but not a hard climb. Vail pass might be a 4… the only thing that makes it hard is the altitude. It really doesn’t compare to the other two.
Though many think it’s easier, I think this route heading east is harder…there’s probably less climbing overall but the climbs are steeper and get progressively harder. But still I don’t think they hit HC. The steepest gradient of the whole ride is the short section of the bike path on vail pass after going under I70.
Every time I do that ride (in either direction) I’m reminded that I’m fucking fat and slow.
There is an old rumour that the hills are graded by the gear you would need to be in to drive a citroen 2cv up the hill. I am fairly sure it is nonsense but I like the image of some french dude trying but failing to get up a HC climb in his wee motor car.
The first one looks the steepest, and looks like it rises from about 7600’ to 11140’ (3500’ gain) over 16 miles. That’s about 1060 metres over 25km.
By contrast (rough figures), Alpe d’Huez rises 1100m over about 13.5 km. The Galibier rises 1245m over 18km. The Madeleine rises 1522m over 19km. Those three are consistently rated HC in the Tour, so provide a pretty good benchmark.
I really doubt Juniper would be HC. Maybe cat 1 due to its length.
ETA: here’s a comparison between the OP’s route and the Marmotte (a popular and unpleasant Euro sportive). The Telegraphe is generally classified as Cat 1; the Glandon is usually HC. The images have been stretched so that the scales more or less match - this should give a like for like comparison in terms of both distance and elevation between the two routes.
Not an official or definitive guide, but the following is excerpted from the ‘Making the grade: Mountain stages’ section from dummies.com.
In general terms, Category 4 climbs are short and easy. Category 3 climbs last approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), have an average grade of 5 percent, and ascend 150 meters (500 feet). Category 2 climbs are the same length or longer at an 8 percent grade and ascend 500 meters (1,600 feet). Category 1 climbs last 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) with an average 6 percent grade and ascend 1,500 meters. Beyond category climbs include an altitude difference of at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from start to finish and have an average grade of at least 7 percent.
Am I wrong in thinking that mapmyrun tells you the ratings?
http://www.mapmyride.com/us/evergreen-co/2012-triple-bypass-bergen-park-to-avon-route-36870588
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Though many think it’s easier, I think this route heading east is harder…there’s probably less climbing overall but the climbs are steeper and get progressively harder.
I agree with you, I think the east bound route is harder. The first grind out of Avon, topping out at Vail Pass would be a bitch. However, the Sunday, east bound ride skips Swan Mountain. It follows a flat bike path around Dillon Reservoir. Speaking of Swan Mountain, just as we started the climb this year, a “dry cell” blew over. 40-50 mph. full on head wind. No rain, but it looked like the end of the world. It was everything I could do to stay upright on my bike. Some guy was out on Dillon in a sailboat, he was having a bad day.
Here is a good read on the randomness of climb ratings,
I think it’s tough to compare CO climbs to european climbs. Here, our climbs are longer but not generally as steep and our roads are generally better. Also, altitude plays a big factor. We start nearly the altitude most of the European climbs top out. Ride Mt Evans sometime … holy shit.
I am glad you mentioned this because I, too, did the Saturday triple bypass ride and the hardest parts were the trails between Idaho Springs and the base of Loveland and the last 6 miles of Vail pass which were on a trail. Trails aren’t regulated by all the same engineering standards which roads are and they are narrower. The result are steeply undulating and curvy trails which make the ride wholly more technical which is draining.
http://halfirontri.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/2014-triple-bypass-ride-report/
Hmm, both days seemed pretty hard.
That was my first time at elevation though, so maybe the double was a bit aggressive.