The cctcc ride gradings are an objective endurance based system that takes ride speed, hills and distance to produce a numerical ride grade. Basically, a level ride of 20 km has a grade of 2; 30 km a grade of 3; and so on, with ride grade equal to a tenth of level distance in kilometres. Add in some hills, and a 30 km hilly ride may end up with the same grade as a 50 km level ride (i.e. grade 5).
The system applies to all recreational riding using recreational-type bicycles ridden at recreational speeds on paved surfaces such as roads and bike paths. It does not apply to racing, off-road or mountain bike riding.
The way you grade a ride depends partly on the ride profile and partly on your preference.
(1) Rides starting and finishing at the same altitude and having similar climb and descent profiles ("Symmetrical Rides") can be graded using the accompanying charts. In many cases these will be "out and back" rides, starting and finishing at the same point. If the altitude and profile requirements are not met then climbs and descents will be incorrectly handled and grade will be wrong.
(2) On the other hand, all rides, both those not meeting the "symmetry" requirements, as well as those that do, can be graded using our ride grading software. This software is made available free of charge for download under a gnu licence (requires Windows XL or Windows 7). To download it, click the download panel on the left of the screen. You can either save it or run it online. (You may be asked whether you trust this file. Please be assured that this is a straight .exe file and that, to the best of our knowledge, there is no malware attached to our software.)
A set of charts deals with rides from those involving all level riding up to those with a steepest gradient of 10%, for ride distances between 20 and 100 km.
The charts are self explanatory. Click the "How to grade a ride" panel at the left of the screen and follow the instructions. Alternatively, you can download a grading leaflet (1.8Mb pdf), incorporating the grading charts, by clicking here.The ride grade is read directly from the chart to give a ride grade between 1 and 11 (grade 12 is not charted). For information on how to read the charts, click "Understanding the Grading Charts" in the panel to the left of the screen.
Two options are available. (1) Symmetrical Rides; and (2) All other rides.
Option 1 requires inputs for ride distance, percentage of the ride that is level, steepest gradient, and percentage of climbs that are at a gradient less than 1%. Major outputs are ride grade, assumed level ride speed, and calculated height gain.
Option 2 requires inputs for ride distance, percentage of the ride that is level, percentage of the ride that is climbing, the steepest gradient, and the percentage of climbs that are at a gradient less than 1%. Major outputs are ride grade, assumed level speed, and calculated height gain.
Click the "Download the Computer Software" panel to the left of the screen to download the software.
Proceed to How to grade a ride